Abstract View
Evaluating the Influence of Residential Wood Burning PM2.5 Emissions throughout the South Coast Air Basin
XIANG LI, Melissa Maestas, Kyrstin Fornace, Scott A. Epstein, South Coast Air Quality Management District
Abstract Number: 431
Working Group: Urban Aerosols
Abstract
The South Coast Air Basin (SCAB), which includes the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area, has had significant challenges meeting federal PM2.5 standards. As part of the fifth iteration of the Multiple Air Toxics Exposure Study (MATES V), levoglucosan measurements were conducted on over 900 filters at 10 monitoring stations over a 16-month period to serve as a marker of cellulose combustion. Extensive analysis of these measurements has provided critical insight into the spatial and temporal patterns of residential wood smoke, informing policy, PM2.5 forecasting, and outreach for the Check Before You Burn Program.
Levoglucosan measurements have also provided insight into the local influence of residential wood smoke at the Mira Loma monitoring station in Riverside County, the station with the highest annual 24-hour PM2.5 design value among all stations in the SCAB over the last decade. The monitoring station at Riverside is only about five miles away from Mira Loma. However, daily PM2.5 concentrations measured at Mira Loma were on average about 3-5 µg/m3 higher than Rubidoux from November to January.
To find out what contributes to this discrepancy, we analyzed hourly PM2.5 concentrations, levoglucosan concentrations, and meteorological data measured at both stations along with the PM2.5 speciation data (OC, EC, metals, inorganic ions) measured at the Rubidoux station over the past decade. In addition, we developed a model to predict the daily PM2.5 concentrations as a result of wood-burning based on PM2.5-to-levoglucosan ratios, meteorological conditions, and calendar parameters.
Preliminary results show that PM2.5 differences between stations are strongest in the winter months on days when the model predicted wood burning PM2.5 is elevated. This fact suggests that residential wood burning in direct proximity to the Mira Loma monitor may significantly influence the 24-hour PM2.5 design value for the SCAB. Additional levoglucosan measurements conducted simultaneously at Riverside and Mira Loma currently underway will provide further data to support or refute this hypothesis.