Source Apportionment of Fine Organic and Inorganic Atmospheric Aerosol in an Urban Background Area in Greece

Abstract

Fine particulate matter (PM) originates from various emission sources and physicochemical processes. Quantification of the sources of PM is an important step during the planning of efficient mitigation strategies and the investigation of the potential risks to human health. Usually, source apportionment studies focus either on the organic or on the inorganic fraction of PM. In this study that took place in Patras, Greece, we address both PM fractions by combining measurements from a range of on- and off-line techniques, including elemental composition, organic and elemental carbon (OC and EC) measurements, and high-resolution Aerosol Mass Spectrometry (AMS) from different techniques. Six fine PM2.5 sources were identified based on the off-line measurements: secondary sulfate (34%), biomass burning (15%), exhaust traffic emissions (13%), nonexhaust traffic emissions (12%), mineral dust (10%), and sea salt (5%). The analysis of the AMS spectra quantified five factors: two oxygenated organic aerosols (OOA) factors (an OOA and a marine-related OOA, 52% of the total organic aerosols (OA)), cooking OA (COA, 11%) and two biomass burning OA (BBOA-I and BBOA-II, 37% in total) factors. The results of the two methods were synthesized, showcasing the complementarity of the two methodologies for fine PM source identification. The synthesis suggests that the contribution of biomass burning is quite robust, but that the exhaust traffic emissions are not due to local sources and may also include secondary OA from other sources.

Source Apportionment and Assessment of Air Quality Index of PM2.5–10 and PM2.5 in at Two Different Sites in Urban Background Area in Senegal

“…where X is the PM chemical composition matrix, G is the source contribution matrix, F the factor profile matrix, and E the residuals [36]. In PMF, G and F are constrained not to be negative (more accurately, only very slightly negative values are allowed).…”

“…For the calculation of the trajectories, the GDAS meteorological database was used, and the calculations were done every 3 h for 120 h back, at a height level of 500 m above ground level (AGL). The STM that was used was the Potential Source Contribution Function (PSCF) [36,43]. The PSCF is estimated as:…”

Secondary organic aerosol tracers and related polar organic compounds between urban and rural areas in the Eastern Mediterranean region: source apportionment and the influence of atmospheric oxidants

“…62 In AGM OC presented a mean concentration of 1.9 AE 0.45 mg m À3 which is quite higher than that measured in Azores, Portugal (0.33 AE 0.26) and Sonnblick, Austria (0.90 AE 1.0), 63 but lower than 2.85 AE 1.63 mg m À3 measured in an urbanbackground site in Patra, Greece, 64 and also lower than 3.5 AE 2.8 mg m À3 in a rural site in Brindisi, Italy 55 and than 3.8 AE 3.7 mg m À3 found in Gongga Mountain, China. 19 The average OC/EC ratio, in AGM, was 11.0 AE 3.3 which is nearly ten times higher than the ratio calculated in Thessaloniki (1.9 AE 1.4), an urban area of Eastern Mediterranean, 65 and also higher than that at two urban-background Greek sites in Thessaloniki and Patra (8.1 and 7.5, respectively) 64,65 but lower than those reported in Azores (13.5 AE 17.4). 63 In general, the OC/EC ratio can be used to characterize the relative contribution of secondary versus primary sources, with values > 2 being indicative of signicant SOA contributions.…”

Seasonal Variation and Sources of Elements in Urban Submicron and Fine Aerosol in Brno, Czech Republic

“…Atmospheric aerosol (particulate matter, PM) affects a number of atmospheric processes (for example radiation balance, reduction of visibility and climate changes) and also affects human health (Bates et al, 2019;Manousakas et al, 2020;Amit et al, 2013;Ren-Jian et al, 2015). The atmospheric aerosol has been found to be one of the most important ways of spreading elements (Desboeufs et al, 2005;Radzi bin Abas et al, 2004;Rushdi et al, 2017;Amit et al, 2013;Ren-Jian et al, 2015).…”