An Improved Understanding of Ambient VOC Sources in New York City Metropolitan Area

LUCILLE JOANNA BORLAZA-LACOSTE, Md. Aynul Bari, Sarah Lu, Philip K. Hopke, University at Albany, SUNY

     Abstract Number: 509
     Working Group: Source Apportionment

Abstract
Due to changes in energy and environmental policies and energy markets in New York State over the last two decades, there has been interest in understanding the effect of these changes in emissions from different energy sources (e.g., power, transportation, and residential sectors) on air quality in New York City (NYC) metropolitan area. NYC metro area with its more than 23 million residents is an EPA nonattainment region for O₃ and likely is a VOC-limited region. It has a complex coastal topography and meteorology with low-level jets and sea/bay/land breeze circulation associated with heat waves, leading to summertime O₃ exceedances and formation of secondary organic aerosol (SOA). To date, no comprehensive source apportionment studies have been done to understand the contribution of local and potential long-range VOC sources in the NYC metro area. This study will address these gaps by applying an improved dispersion-normalized Positive Matrix Factorization (DN-PMF) model for source apportionment of VOCs in the NYC metro area. The study will use 24-hr VOC canister measurements collected from four urban sites (NY: Queens, Bronx, Kings, NJ: Elizabeth), one suburban site (Richmond) in NYC and one background site in New Jersey (Chester) for the period 2000–2021. The study will also investigate long-term trends in source contributions to O₃ and SOA formation over the study period 2000–2021 by coupling DN-PMF and piecewise trend analysis. The changes in source contributions for three periods of major changes in Federal and State actions regarding energy use and resultant emissions: before (2005–2007), during (2008–2013), and after (2014–2021) will be also examined. Findings will assist the regulatory agencies in developing appropriate policy and management initiatives to control O₃ pollution in NYC metro area.