Aerosol and air pollution size distribution

The size distribution of aerosols was measured in a moderately industrial city, in a semi-arid zone on the Negev desert border. The aerosols in the city of Beer Sheva are from two sources: the dust coming from the desert and urban pollution. The size measurements were done with a cascade impactor. The elemental content of the aerosols was investigated by neutron activation analysis and X-ray fluorescence. The main elements of the dust are: Ca, Si, Fe, Na and the trace elements are: Sc, Se, La, Sm, Hf and others. The main elements of the urban pollution are S, Br, Pb, Cl, Hg and others. It was found that the elements belonging to each group can easily be classified by the size distribution. The analytical consideration of the aerosol size distribution of each group are discussed and two corresponding analytical expressions are suggested. It is shown that aerosols originating in the dust have a hump shape distribution around ~ 4μm, and those originating in urban pollution have a distribution decreasing with increasing aerosol diameter. Many examples are given to prove the conclusions.