Interstitial equivalent black carbon concentration measured during the FAIRARI campaign, Po valley, Italy, February-May 2022
Marco Paglione, Matteo Rinaldi, Maurizio Busetto, Stefano Decesari, Angela Marinoni
The dataset provides measured black carbon concentrations in the air from 17 February to 11 May 2022 at San Pietro Capofiume, northern Italy, during the Fog and Aerosol InteRAction Research Italy (FAIRARI) campaign 2021/2022.
Using an optical method (Multi Angle Absorption Photometer - MAAP), we quantified the (equivalent) black carbon concentrations in ambient air.
Black carbon particles are produced by incomplete combustion processes, such as emissions from vehicles, ships, industrial activities, and forest fires. These particles can be transported in the atmosphere, where they influence both air quality (causing toxicity and health impacts) and the climate (by scattering and absorbing solar radiation or by acting as nuclei for cloud droplet formation, thereby affecting cloud properties).
AtmosphereAerosolsAtmosphereAerosolsBlack carbonAir qualityPo ValleyItalyFAIRARI
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References
Neuberger A, Decesari S, Aktypis A, Andersen H, Baumgardner D, Bianchi F, Busetto M, Cai J, Cermak J, Dipu S, Ekman A, Fuzzi S, Gramlich Y, Haslett SL, Heikkinen L, Joutsensaari J, Kaltsonoudis C, Kangasluoma J, Krejci R, Lupi A, Marinoni A, Matrali A, Mattsson F, Mohr C, Nenes A, Paglione M, Pandis SN, Patel A, Riipinen I, Rinaldi M, Steimer SS, Stolzenburg D, Sulo J, Vasilakopoulou CN, Zieger P (2025) From Molecules to Droplets: The Fog and Aerosol Interaction Research Italy (FAIRARI) 2021/22 Campaign. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 106:E23–E50. https://doi.org/10.1175/bams-d-23-0166.1
Petzold A, Schönlinner M (2004) Multi-angle absorption photometry—a new method for the measurement of aerosol light absorption and atmospheric black carbon. Journal of Aerosol Science 35:421–441. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaerosci.2003.09.005
Data description
The data are provided in one comma-separated values (csv) file with the following variables:
datetime_LTDate and time in Local time (CET). Format: yyyy-mm-dd HH:MM:SSeBC_MAAP_PM2.5Equivalent black carbon concentration measured by the MAAP (microgram per cubic meter) behind the PM2.5 inlet
The time resolution is 5-min (as average of 1-min resolution raw data). The eBC concentrations are given at ambient conditions and are stated as outputted by the instrument (no corrections due to differences in wavelengths applied).
Comments
Sampling
The instrument was placed in the CNR-container and sampled behind a PM2.5 inlet. Therefore, during fog events, the instrument sampled only the interstitial (non-activated) particles, while fog droplets (activated particles) could not reach the sampling line because of the smaller cutoff of the sampling head (Neuberger et al. 2025).
Measurement system
Equivalent black carbon (eBC) concentrations were measured behind a PM2.5 inlet using a Multi-Angle Absorption Photometer instruments (MAAP, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Germany, Model 5012).
FAIRARI campaign
The data was recorded from 17 February, 2022, until 11 May 2022, at the San Pietro Capofiume, Italy, as part of the FAIRARI 2021/22 campaign (see Neuberger at al. 20254). San Pietro Capofiume is located about 40 km north-east of the city of Bologna, Italy, in a rural area. Coordinates: 44.65° N, 11.62° E.
Please consult and cite Neuberger et al. (2024) when using the data.
Associated datasets
The current dataset is part of a collection of datasets from The fog and aerosol interaction research Italy (FAIRARI) campaign, November 2021 to May 2022.
Project
European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (project FORCeS under grant agreement No 821205)
Publisher
Bolin Centre Database
License
Open Data Commons Attribution License (ODC-By) v1.0
First name
Marco
Last name or organisation
Paglione
Email address
Address
Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (ISAC); National Research Council of Italy (CNR)
Postal code
IT-40129
City
Bologna
Province or state
Bologna (BO)
Country
Italy
GCMD science keyword
Earth science
GCMD location
Continent > Europe > Southern Europe > Italy
Begin date
2022-02-17
End date
2022-05-11