The importance of identifying dust sources in urban areas: HYSPLIT analysis and PM

The Mediterranean region has been prone to air quality and public health problems due to particulate matter originating from Sahara transboundary storms. In this study we combine information from World Air Quality Index platform, gravimetric sampling, and backward trajectory analyses via the NOAAH HYSPLIT model and data from MERRA 2, to identify the contribution of dust events in elevated particulate matter PM2.5 concentrations in Albania. The highest value of measured concentrations during January 2022 were on 8 and 17 January 2022, respectively 44.92 µg/m3 57.25 µg/m3. The WAQI-reported median PM2.5 concentration on January 8, along with the identification of individual trajectories and MERRA-2 (NASA Giovanni) reanalysis of dust-specific contributions, reached 35 µg/m3 on that day.