A European aerosol phenomenology—1: physical characteristics of particulate matter at kerbside, urban, rural and background sites in Europe

This paper synthesizes data on aerosol (particulate matter, PM) physical characteristics, which were obtained in European aerosol research activities at free-troposphere, natural, rural, near-city, urban, and kerbside sites over the past decade. It covers only two sites in the semi-arid Mediterranean area, and lacks data from Eastern Europe. The data include PM10 and/or PM2.5 mass concentrations, and aerosol particle size distributions. Such data sets are more comprehensive than those currently provided by air quality monitoring networks (e.g. EMEP, EUROAIRNET). Data available from 31 sites in Europe (called ‘‘The Network’’) were reviewed. They were processed and plotted to allow comparisons in spite of differences in the sampling and analytical techniques used in various studies. A number of conclusions are drawn as follows: Background annual average PM10 and PM2.5 mass concentrations for continental Europe are 7.074.1 and 4.872.4m gm � 3 , respectively.