Ozone and air particulate measurements in mountain forest sites

Ozone and total suspended particulate (TSP) concentrations have been measured for two consecutive summer seasons (1994–1995) during a forest-survey campaign carried out in two lateral valleys of Valtellina (Italian Alps) characterized by a very different degree of novel decline symptoms. Sampling methods and experimental data relative to ozone, measured by passive samplers and continuous monitors, and particulate, determined by multielemental analysis using EDXRF techniques, are described. While PST levels were low and almost equal in the two sites, ozone concentration was much higher in the more damaged valley, where its values were above the toxicity threshold for many plant species.