Composition, size distribution, optical properties and radiative effects of re-suspended local mineral dust of Rome area by individual-particle microanalysis and radiative transfer modelling

Abstract. New information on the PM10 mineral dust from site-specific (Rome area, Latium) outcropped rocks, and on the microphysics, optical properties and radiative effects of mineral dust at local level were gained in this work. A multi-disciplinary approach was used, based on individual-particle scanning electron microscopy with X-ray energy-dispersive microanalysis (SEM XEDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis of dust, size distribution of mineral particles, and radiative transfer modelling (RTM).The mineral composition of Rome lithogenic PM10 varies between an end-member dominated by silicate minerals and one exclusively composed of calcite. The first is obtained from volcanic lithotypes, the second from travertine or limestones; lithogenic PM10 with intermediate composition derives mainly from siliciclastic rocks or marlstones of Rome area. Size and mineral species of PM10 particles of silicate-dominated dust types are tuned mainly by weathering and, to lesser extent, by debris formation or crystallization; chemical precipitation of CaCO3 plays a major role in calcite-dominated types. These differences are evidenced by the diversity of volume distributions, within either dust types, or mineral species. Further differences are observed between volume distributions of calcite from travertine (natural source) and from road dust (anthropic source), specifically on the width, shape and enrichment of the fine fraction (unimodal at 5 μm a.d. for travertine, bimodal at 3.8 and 1.8 μm a.d. for road dust). Log-normal probability density functions of volcanics and travertine dusts affect differently the single scattering albedo (SSA) and the asymmetry parameter (g) in the VISible and Near Infrared (NIR) regions, depending also on the absorbing/non-absorbing character of volcanics and travertine, respectively. The downward component of the BOA solar irradiance simulated by RTM for a volcanics-rich or travertine-rich atmosphere shows that volcanics contribution to the solar irradiance differs significantly from that of travertine in the NIR region, while similar contributions are modelled in the VIS.