All three aethalometers planned within the ECOMAPS project for monitoring Black Carbon (BC) in the Venice area have now been installed and are currently online.
Measurements are being carried out in three different contexts, selected to represent different environmental conditions and emission sources:
- Marghera, as an industrial area;
- Meolo, as a rural area;
- the Scientific Campus of Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia in Mestre, as an urban area.
The instruments collect and transmit hourly atmospheric Black Carbon concentration values. The aethalometers have been installed inside thermally insulated and rain-protected structures.
After the first two months of monitoring, the recorded Black Carbon values have not reached levels considered critical, with maximum peaks around 5 µg m⁻³. However, there are currently no specific regulatory reference values for this pollutant.
These activities are part of ECOMAPS research on the relationship between air pollution and climate change in urban and peri-urban areas.
