AAAR 32nd Annual Conference
September 30 - October 4, 2013
Oregon Convention Center
Portland, Oregon, USA
Abstract View
Wintertime PM2.5 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
MATTHEW PARSONS, Wally Qiu, Yayne Aklilu, Andrew Clayton, Amy MacTaggart, Rachel Mintz, Environment Canada
Abstract Number: 346 Working Group: Urban Aerosols
Abstract The Edmonton, Alberta area is located at the transition between boreal forest and northern Canadian prairies with a cold climate that can drop below -20 C in the winter but still receives among the most hours of sunlight in Canada. As the northern-most urban centre in North America with a population over 1 million and a hub for Alberta’s energy-based industries, the Edmonton area is home to many sources (i.e., transportation, industrial, residential, agricultural) of primary particulate matter and precursor gases for secondary particulate matter. Stagnant meteorological conditions—especially in the wintertime—can lead to significantly elevated concentrations of PM2.5 (and other pollutants) in the area. In an effort to identify the most effective PM2.5 reduction strategies, this study attempts to better understand the meteorological and air quality scenarios during episodes of high PM2.5 concentrations through the use of trends, source apportionment, and other analyses of continuous monitoring data and 24-hour integrated PM speciation data.