Persistent inversion dynamics and wintertime PM10 air pollution in Alpine valleys

The present study investigates persistent inversions dynamics during a whole winter in Alpine valleys of the area of Grenoble (French Alps), and their relationship to PM10 air pollution episodes and synoptic scale meteorology. For this purpose, hourly time series from November to March of PM10 concentration measurements at the bottom of the valleys and of ground-based temperature data at different altitudes are used. A methodology is developed to quantify a simple estimate of the inversion strength from temperature profiles deduced from the ground-based observations. This estimate is shown to be equivalent to the boundary layer heat deficit. A criterion based on this estimate is proposed to identify persistent (more than 3 days) inversions. Persistent inversions are found to occur from November to February and span 35% of the time. It is shown that they are closely related to PM10 pollution episodes, the PM10 concentration increasing with the boundary layer stability as the inversion develops. Polluted episodes are primarily driven by persistent inversions and consequently, pollution is of fully local origin from November to February. In March local dynamics become less important and long-range transport can dominate. Persistent inversions occur systematically during a high-pressure regime, which first triggers a synoptic scale elevated inversion due to the advection of warm air masses in the mid-troposphere. In valleys, the sheltered boundary layer becomes decoupled from the free troposphere, which allows a ground-based inversion to intensify in the following days. An inversion layer of quasi-constant temperature gradient, greater than 5 K km−1, then forms up to an altitude of about 1600 m, close to the average elevation of the summits. If the episode is sufficiently long, a stagnation stage is reached during which daytime insolation produces a shallow convective surface layer which does not destroy the persistent inversion. The inversion break-up occurs rapidly, in less than a day, because of synoptic scale advection of cold air masses in the mid-troposphere when a low-pressure regime approaches. The end-of-episode decrease in PM10 concentration is due to precipitation combined with an increased ventilation inside the boundary-layer.