Abstract View
Relative Impact of Schiphol Airport Activities in Comparison to Local Freeways on the Increased Particle Number Concentrations (PNCs) in the Nearby Communities
MILAD PIRHADI, Amirhosein Mousavi, Mohammad Sowlat, Nicole Janssen, Flemming Cassee, Constantinos Sioutas, University of Southern California
Abstract Number: 88
Working Group: Source Apportionment
Abstract
In this study, we utilized the positive matrix factorization (PMF) source apportionment model to quantify the impact of the Schiphol airport major activities and other local sources on total particle number concentrations (PNCs) in the nearby urban areas affected by the airport. Time-and size-resolved PNCs in parallel with the concentrations of auxiliary variables, such as black carbon, PM2.5, gaseous pollutants (CO and NOx), and number of departures/arrivals were measured over a 6-month period near the Schiphol airport to be employed in the model. Our results demonstrated that the airport activities, collectively, accounted for 79.3% of total PNCs in the area. “Aircraft departures” and “Aircraft arrivals” were characterized with mode diameters <20 nm and contributed to 46.1% and 26.7% of PNCs, respectively. “Ground service equipment (GSE)”, with a mode diameter of 60-90 nm, accounted for 6.5% of the PNCs. “Road traffic”, mainly associated with the surrounding freeways, was characterized with a mode diameter of 30-40 nm, and contributed to 18.0% of total PNCs although its absolute contribution to PNCs was close to that of areas extensively affected by traffic emissions. Finally, “Urban background” with a mode diameter at 150-225 nm, showed a negligible contribution (2.7%) to total PNCs; while it dominated the particle volume/mass concentrations with a contribution of 58.2%. The PNC pollution roses plotted for the identified factors corroborated their origin by providing critical information on the directionality of each identified source to the sampling site. We illustrated that each of the airport major activities as well as other sources present in the area (e.g., road traffic) are characterized by a single mode diameter. More importantly, our findings highlight the dominant role of the Schiphol airport activities in ambient PNCs in the surrounding areas, which could adversely affect the public health.