Spatiotemporal Analysis of Black Carbon Sources: Case of Santiago, Chile

Jessika Rodriguez, HECTOR JORQUERA, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile

     Abstract Number: 274
     Working Group: Carbonaceous Aerosol

Abstract
The use of aethalometers generates useful information on carbonaceous aerosols. Specifically, the aethalometer model provides an apportionment of black carbon (BC) from fossil fuels and wood burning sources. At any given receptor site, this apportionment is aggregated, that is, local and regional BC sources are lumped together in the outcome of the aethalometer analysis. However, for regulatory purposes, it is desirable to have quantitative estimates of both contributions. This is particularly relevant for remote locations or suburban monitoring sites.

We propose a spatiotemporal analysis of BC aethalometer results which is based on ambient measurements of BC fractions (fossil fuel plus wood burning) along with meteorological information. We apply this methodology to BC measurements in three suburban sites surrounding Santiago, Chile. The results show that the methodology can apportion BCff and BCwb into local and regional contributions. By using PM2.5 – BCX scatterplots for each spatiotemporal pattern, the associated edge lines show distinctive BCX/PM2.5 ratios: they are larger for the local sources (fresh emissions) than for the regional contribution (Santiago’s atmospherically processed emissions). These ratios are then used to apportion total PM2.5 at each monitoring site.

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