Coarse, fine and ultrafine particles of sub-urban continental aerosols measured using an 11-stage Berner cascade impactor

The main aim of this work is characterization of atmospheric aerosol using 11 stage cascade impactor. The first investigation of size-segregated sub-urban aerosols from the continental part of the Balkan peninsula in 11 fractions in the range of 0.0085 < Dp < 16 μm was performed from March 2012 to December 2013. Aerosols were measured at the Zeleno Brdo observatory (ϕ = 44°48’; λ = 20°28′–243 m above sea level), the highest landmark on the eastern side of Belgrade. Zeleno Brdo is surrounded by wooded vegetation and comprises of both southern facing rural and north-west orientated urban areas. About 70% of total aerosols are fine particles, belonging especially to the PM0.53–1.06 fraction which is found to be more pronounced in winter period. In this work, we applied tests of probability function models for three distributions: normal, log-normal and three-parameter Weibull, by comparing expected and observed values. We found that these models offer the possibility to determine whether the dominant emission source was the vicinity or distance of the measuring point. Results of this test could be a significant supplement to existing multivariate mathematical models for source apportionment, providing accurate estimation of the origin of emission sources and offering information on their position relative to the investigated area (local, regional or remote). In addition, the dependence of particle concentrations for each fraction investigated versus meteorological parameters was determined.