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Measurement report : Atmospheric fluorescent bioaerosol concentrations measured during 18 months in a coniferous forest in the south of Sweden

Petersson Sjögren, Madeleine LU ; Alsved, Malin LU orcid ; Šantl-Temkiv, Tina ; Bjerring Kristensen, Thomas LU and Löndahl, Jakob LU orcid (2023) In Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 23(9). p.4977-4992
Abstract

Biological aerosol particles affect human health, are essential for microbial and gene dispersal, and have been proposed as important agents for atmospheric processes. However, the abundance and size distributions of atmospheric biological particles are largely unknown. In this study we used a laser-induced fluorescence instrument to measure fluorescent biological aerosol particle (FBAP) concentrations for 18 months (October 2020-April 2022) at a rural, forested site in Sweden. The aim of this study was to investigate FBAP number concentrations (NFBAP) over time and analyze their relationship with meteorological parameters. NFBAP was highest in summer and lowest in winter, exhibiting a g1/4g5-fold difference between these seasons. The... (More)

Biological aerosol particles affect human health, are essential for microbial and gene dispersal, and have been proposed as important agents for atmospheric processes. However, the abundance and size distributions of atmospheric biological particles are largely unknown. In this study we used a laser-induced fluorescence instrument to measure fluorescent biological aerosol particle (FBAP) concentrations for 18 months (October 2020-April 2022) at a rural, forested site in Sweden. The aim of this study was to investigate FBAP number concentrations (NFBAP) over time and analyze their relationship with meteorological parameters. NFBAP was highest in summer and lowest in winter, exhibiting a g1/4g5-fold difference between these seasons. The median NFBAP was 0.0050, 0.0025, 0.0027, and 0.0126gcm-3 in fall, winter, spring, and summer, respectively, and constituted g1/4g0.1-0.5g% of the total supermicron particle number concentration. NFBAP was dominated by the smallest measured size fraction (1-3gμm), suggesting that the main portions of the biological particles measured were due to single bacterial cells, fungal spores, and bacterial agglomerates. NFBAP was significantly correlated with increasing air temperature (P<0.01) in all seasons. For most of the campaign NFBAP was seen to increase with wind speed (P<0.01), while the relationship with relative humidity was for most of the campaign nonsignificant (46g%) but for a large part (30g%) negative (P<0.05). Our results indicate that NFBAP was highest during warm and dry conditions when wind speeds were high, suggesting that a major part of the FBAP in spring and summer was due to mechanical aerosol generation and release mechanisms. In fall, relative humidity may have been a more important factor in bioaerosol release. This is one of the longest time series of atmospheric FBAPs, which are greatly needed for estimates of bioaerosol background concentrations in comparable regions.

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author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
volume
23
issue
9
pages
16 pages
publisher
Copernicus GmbH
external identifiers
  • scopus:85159268979
ISSN
1680-7316
DOI
10.5194/acp-23-4977-2023
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
adaa61d5-d7cc-42b6-9fe2-6843e2968576
date added to LUP
2023-08-10 14:37:13
date last changed
2023-11-08 08:26:38
@article{adaa61d5-d7cc-42b6-9fe2-6843e2968576,
  abstract     = {{<p>Biological aerosol particles affect human health, are essential for microbial and gene dispersal, and have been proposed as important agents for atmospheric processes. However, the abundance and size distributions of atmospheric biological particles are largely unknown. In this study we used a laser-induced fluorescence instrument to measure fluorescent biological aerosol particle (FBAP) concentrations for 18 months (October 2020-April 2022) at a rural, forested site in Sweden. The aim of this study was to investigate FBAP number concentrations (NFBAP) over time and analyze their relationship with meteorological parameters. NFBAP was highest in summer and lowest in winter, exhibiting a g1/4g5-fold difference between these seasons. The median NFBAP was 0.0050, 0.0025, 0.0027, and 0.0126gcm-3 in fall, winter, spring, and summer, respectively, and constituted g1/4g0.1-0.5g% of the total supermicron particle number concentration. NFBAP was dominated by the smallest measured size fraction (1-3gμm), suggesting that the main portions of the biological particles measured were due to single bacterial cells, fungal spores, and bacterial agglomerates. NFBAP was significantly correlated with increasing air temperature (P&lt;0.01) in all seasons. For most of the campaign NFBAP was seen to increase with wind speed (P&lt;0.01), while the relationship with relative humidity was for most of the campaign nonsignificant (46g%) but for a large part (30g%) negative (P&lt;0.05). Our results indicate that NFBAP was highest during warm and dry conditions when wind speeds were high, suggesting that a major part of the FBAP in spring and summer was due to mechanical aerosol generation and release mechanisms. In fall, relative humidity may have been a more important factor in bioaerosol release. This is one of the longest time series of atmospheric FBAPs, which are greatly needed for estimates of bioaerosol background concentrations in comparable regions.</p>}},
  author       = {{Petersson Sjögren, Madeleine and Alsved, Malin and Šantl-Temkiv, Tina and Bjerring Kristensen, Thomas and Löndahl, Jakob}},
  issn         = {{1680-7316}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{05}},
  number       = {{9}},
  pages        = {{4977--4992}},
  publisher    = {{Copernicus GmbH}},
  series       = {{Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics}},
  title        = {{Measurement report : Atmospheric fluorescent bioaerosol concentrations measured during 18 months in a coniferous forest in the south of Sweden}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-4977-2023}},
  doi          = {{10.5194/acp-23-4977-2023}},
  volume       = {{23}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}