The lab that studies LAG BAOMER

Public awareness of the detrimental health effects of the severe air pollution caused by the Israeli bonfire holiday, LAG BAOMER, has greatly increased in recent years. This custom, which used to be widely accepted, has become the subject of public debate, as more and more settlements across the country choose to diminish the extent of the bonfires, or give them up altogether. One lab at the Weizmann Institute has been studying the air pollution caused by particles and gases emitted from the LAG BAOMER bonfires for many years. Prof. Yinon Rudich’s group from the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences specializes in atmospheric chemistry, focusing in particular on the climatic and health effects of atmospheric aerosol particles. For the past 15 years the lab has been conducting groundbreaking research on LAG BAOMER, and published the results in numerous scientific journals, conclusively demonstrating that the LAG BAOMER bonfires cause air pollution with adverse effects on public health. You can find a partial list of the EPS aerosol group publications on LAG BAOMER and its effects on ambient atmospheric composition, climate, and public health:

https://doi.org/10.1029/2006JD007442

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-1491-2011

https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.7b02276

https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1206575109

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12989-020-0337-x

https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.9b05641

https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.0c05883

https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.0c04310

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-139-2019

The instrument setup for the LAG BAOMER 2021 measurement campaign on the roof of the EPS building.

Every year, as LAG BAOMER is approaching, the group starts preparing for a large scale measurement campaign that investigates the concentration, size, shape, chemical composition, and optical properties of the aerosol particles emitted from the bonfires. The lab explores the aerosol properties before, during, and after the bonfires to determine the ambient aerosol composition, and observe how it changes during and after the bonfire events. This year, we have a unique opportunity to follow the LAG BAOMER 2021 measurement campaign in real time. This year’s measurements will be particularly extensive and interesting, and will take place from Thursday the 29^th of April through Saturday, 1^st of May. You can join us, and follow the campaign on Facebook, Twitter, and on the EPS website. We will follow instrument preparations for the project, we’ll update on measurements in real time, and compare the results to past years. Good luck to the EPS aerosol group!