AAAR 34th Annual Conference
October 12 - October 16, 2015
Hyatt Regency
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Abstract View
Integration of Source Apportionment Methods to Understand the Local and Regional Source Contributions to Fine Particulate Matter: A Case Study in a Coastal City in Southern China
YANJUN ZHANG, Jing Cai, Zifa Wang, Junyu Zheng, Limin Zeng, James Schauer, Mei Zheng, Peking University
Abstract Number: 683 Working Group: Source Apportionment
Abstract Source apportionment, with and understanding of local and regional source contributions, is needed for policy makers to mitigate fine particulate matter pollution but all source apportionment models have pros and cons. To address the shortcomings of source apportionment models, we have examined an integrated approach for source apportionment. This study employs spatial discrepancies and correlations in chemical species and sources of PM2.5 to understand local sources and regional contribution of PM2.5 using data from a one-year study conducted in the southern city of China of Zhongshan in Guangdong province. Samples were collected from May 2014 through April 2015 across five sites (two urban sites, QZ and ZML, and three suburban sites, XL, MZ and SX) within 50 km simultaneously.
Sources of PM2.5 was investigated with Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) and seven factors were identified including secondary sulfate, secondary nitrate, vehicle emission, coal combustion, industry, dust and oil combustion. Similar trends in PM2.5 mass concentration and chemical composition were observed across all sites. The component sulfate, ammonium, OC and nitrate and secondary sources like secondary sulfate, secondary nitrate and coal combustion source all showed high correlation coefficients (R2) among different sites with different distances, indicating for regional impact. Temporal trends of incremental excess of different components and sources were also investigated to infer local sources (e.g. dust in urban sites and industries in suburban sites) and regional transport. Back trajectory analysis was conducted to show the potential area of regional pollution. More details about the results will be discussed in the presentation along with a comparison to a source-oriented 3D air quality model for the region.