On the variation of aerosol properties over Finland based on the optical columnar measurements

Long-range aerosol transport over Finland has been studied using ground-based sunphotometer measurements of aerosol optical properties. Cimel sunphotometers were used at an urban site (Helsinki), a rural site (Hyytiala) and a semiurban site (Kuopio) and PFR sunphotometer measurements were made at two rural sites, Jokioinen and Sodankyla. The CIMEL measurements are part of the AERONET (Aerosol robotic network) network and Jokioinen and Sodankyla are GAW-PFR (Global Atmosphere Watch-Precision Filter Radiometer) Associate Stations. Sunphotometers provide information on local columnar aerosol properties such as aerosol optical depth (AOD) and Angstrom exponent (AE) that were used to investigate the aerosol content and aerosol type in this region. A set of representative event days, i.e. days with high turbidity, covering the time period between March 2006 and June 2010 has been selected for further analysis. For these days the AOD results were combined with air mass back trajectories to provide information about the air mass origin, especially for cases with moderate turbidity produced by long-range transported aerosols from mid latitudes to Finland. As expected, episodes with high AOD are connected with the transport of polluted air masses originating from the east or southeast or from industrial areas in Central Europe. We distinguished events with long range transported air pollution from cases where pollution was accumulated in the area due to the local meteorological factors. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.