Includes CD/CD var:PM10 concentration in Northern Cyprus

Includes references(48-55 p.)

'ABSTRACT Air quality in the Mediterranean basin has been affected by PM10 pollution induced by transported desert dust and local emission. To date, the contributions of these sources to PM10 concentration have not been investigated in the TRNC. The study used PM10 data from Nicosia, Kyrenia, Guzelyurt and Famagusta urban representatives, Teknecik and Kalecik rural background and Alevkayasi regional background. HYSPLIT model and satellite data were used to identify dust days and a method suggested by the European Commission was used to quantify dust input. Anthropogenic background contribution of each site was estimated by subtracting the regional background concentrations. 35 dust days occurred in the island within the 3 years period, mostly during winter and spring. Daily PM10 concentration on dust days can reach up to 400 μg/m3. After removing dust effect, annual PM10 concentrations were 48-58 μg/m3 in Nicosia, 42-47 μg/m3 in Famagusta, 40-50 μg/m3 in Kyrenia, 33-41 μg/m3 in Guzelyurt, 21-28 μg/m3 in Alevkayasi, 32-38 μg/m3 in Kalecik and 26-29 μg/m3 in Teknecik. Concentrations were higher during winters in Famagusta, Nicosia and Kyrenia and higher in the other sites during summer. A good correlation was found to exist between satellite aerosol optical depth measurements and ground monitoring stations' measurements over TRNC. Despite the high frequency of dust events, only a fraction of standard limit exceedances in the urban sites were attributable to dust. Anthropogenic background sources contributions were 12.3 μg/m3 in Guzelyurt, 18 μg/m3 in Kyrenia, 18.4 μg/m3 in Famagusta, 27.8 μg/m3 in Nicosia and 9.7 μg/m3 in Kalecik. Effects of other natural sources which were not assessed here such as sea salt and local soil resuspended could be the reason for exceedances. Key words: PM10, Dust, HYSPLIT, Aerosol Optical Depth, Air Quality'