Participation in the PANACEA Winter 2021–2022 Campaign

As part of its mission to advance air quality research in the Eastern Mediterranean and beyond, the Reactive Gases research group led by Prof.  Efstratios Bourtsoukidis partiipated in the PANACEA Winter 2021–2022 Campaign, a collaborative, high-resolution wintertime air quality study focused on the city of Ioannina, Greece.

Organized under the PANACEA RI, this campaign follows the successful Winter 2020 study, which revealed that Ioannina experienced some of the highest levels of particulate pollution from wood burning across monitored Greek cities. With Ioannina serving as a natural pollution observatory due to its topography and widespread residential biomass combustion in winter, the 2021–2022 campaign aimed to deepen understanding of the chemical composition, sources, and health impacts of wood-burning emissions. The reference site for the campaign was situated in the southern part of the city, consistent with prior studies.

In this collaborative effort, the team deployed a high-resolution PTR-ToF-MS (Proton Transfer Reaction – Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer), enabling comprehensive, near real-time characterization of oxygenated volatile organic compounds (OVOCs)—key constituents of wood-smoke and secondary organic aerosol formation. This contribution complements other advanced techniques used in the campaign.

For more information about the PANACEA infrastructure and its national activities, visit https://panacea-ri.gr.