Baltimore Supersite: Highly time- and size-resolved concentrations of urban PM2.5 and its constituents for resolution of sources and immune responses

Abstract

Protection of public health from the effects of air particulate matter (PM) requires measurements and methods that assess the PM chemical constituents, physical properties, and their sources. Sampling was conducted at three sites in the Baltimore area: a source-oriented (industrial) area in south Baltimore (FMC site), and two receptor area sites (Clifton Park and Ponca Street). FMC measurements were made for the initial 1-month of the project; Clifton measurements lasted for about 2 months, while measurements at Ponca Street lasted for about 9.5 months. Pollutant samples were collected at intervals ranging from 5 min to 1 h using semi-continuous monitors for PM 2.5 mass, sulfate, nitrate, elemental and organic carbon, particle number size distributions (10-20,000 nm), CO, NO x , O 3 , 11 metals, and mass spectra of individual particles, throughout the project. In addition to standard meteorological measurements, a 3D-sonic anemometer and a LIDAR system were operated during selected periods as were a rotating drum impactor with 3-to 6-h resolution and a filter/PUF sampler for 3-h measurements of organic compounds. Standard speciation and FRM mass measurements were also made. This report describes the types of measurements that were made at the various sites of the Baltimore Supersite program as well as presents the summary statistics for some of the PM measurements that have been made. The measurements of aerosol mass, major components, and size distribution data for the three sites are compared. Results show comparable PM concentrations at Ponca Street and Clifton Park. Increased variability was observed at Ponca Street. r

Cluster Analysis of the Organic Peaks in Bulk Mass Spectra Obtained During the 2002 New England Air Quality Study with an Aerodyne Aerosol Mass Spectrometer

“…Some were observed to also contain meteoritic material and trends in these particles were used to determine their source and approximate residence time (Murphy et al, 1998). In the troposphere, a wider variety of distinct particle types have been detected (e.g., Sullivan et al, 2006;Pekney et al, 2006;Ondov et al, 2006). However, most particles in the troposphere are composed of internally-mixed sulphate/carbonaceous material .…”

Transport of Atmospheric Fine Particulate Matter: Part 1—Findings from Recent Field Programs on the Extent of Regional Transport within North America

“…21,22 In Baltimore, source attributions, performed using PMF analysis, at three urban sites identified 12 major sources: oil-fired power plant emissions, two secondary nitrate sources, local gasoline traffic, coal-fired power plants, secondary sulfate, diesel emissions/bus maintenance, a Quebec wildfire episode, nucleation, incinerator, airborne soil/roadway dust, and steel plant emissions. As shown in Figure 3, the relative strengths of the various sources were highly dependent on wind directions, and, at least on the days for which source attributions have been reported, local sources could dominate the total aerosol mass loadings.…”

Sources of PM<sub>2.5</sub> carbonaceous aerosol in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

“…As some emission sources release specific trace elements, these elements can serve as useful source markers in PM source apportionment studies Peltier and Lippmann, 2010;Han et al, 2005;Harrison et al, 2012;Karanasiou et al, 2009;Ondov et al, 2006;Querol et al, 2007;Viana et al, 2008;Yu et al, 2013). Elemental enrichments can also be used to roughly differentiate natural and anthropogenic sources (Khodeir et al, 2012;Rushdi et al, 2013).…”