Source apportionment of size and time resolved trace elements and organic aerosols from an urban courtyard site in Switzerland

Abstract

Abstract. Time and size resolved data of trace elements were obtained from measurements with a rotating drum impactor (RDI) and subsequent X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. Trace elements can act as indicators for the identification of sources of particulate matter <10 μm (PM10) in ambient air. Receptor modeling was performed with positive matrix factorization (PMF) for trace element data from an urban background site in Zürich, Switzerland. Eight different sources were identified for the three examined size ranges (PM1−0.1, PM2.5−1 and PM10−2.5): secondary sulfate, wood combustion, fire works, road traffic, mineral dust, de-icing salt, industrial and local anthropogenic activities. The major component was secondary sulfate for the smallest size range; the road traffic factor was found in all three size ranges. This trace element analysis is complemented with data from an Aerodyne high-resolution time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS), assessing the PM1 fraction of organic aerosols. A separate PMF analysis revealed three factors related to three of the sources found with the RDI: oxygenated organic aerosol (OOA, related to inorganic secondary sulfate), hydrocarbon-like organic aerosol (HOA, related to road traffic) and biomass burning organic aerosol (BBOA), explaining 60 %, 22 % and 17 % of total measured organics, respectively. Since different compounds are used for the source classification, a higher percentage of the ambient PM10 mass concentration can be apportioned to sources by the combination of both methods.

Source apportionment of fine PM and sub-micron particle number concentrations at a regional background site in the western Mediterranean: a 2.5 year study

“…Bourcier et al (2012) studied PM 1 concentrations and seasonal variability over one year at the high altitude site of puy de Dôme in France. However, of the studies mentioned, source apportionment was only performed for PM 1 at urban sites by Vecchi et al (2008) and Richard et al (2011). Minguillón et al (2012) performed source apportionment of PM 1 at a rural site in Switzerland but only for short measurement campaigns during summer and winter.…”

“…Thus, understanding the chemical composition and sources of fine PM and sub-micron particles is vital. Of the few studies performed on PM 1 , most are concerned with the urban environment, and were characterised during short measurement campaigns (Vecchi et al, 2008;Richard et al, 2011). Cozic et al (2008) published results on organic and inorganic compounds in PM 1 for 7 years at a high alpine site in Switzerland (Jungfraujoch).…”

“…Most existing studies were performed at urban sites, such as that of Vecchi et al (2008) and Richard et al (2011). In the study by Vecchi et al (2008), PMF was performed on PM 1 samples from three different urban areas across Italy, but major chemical components such as OC, EC, NH + 4 and NO − 3 were not included.…”

Source Apportionment of Urban Particulate Matter using Hourly Resolved Trace Metals, Organics, and Inorganic Aerosol Components

“…Using one-or two-hour resolution metal data in receptor modeling analyses has proven to be useful in the identification of local aerosol sources in urban areas 30 (Richard et al, 2011;Dall'Osto et al, 2013). These previous studies found local urban dust factors such as road dust, brake dust, and local industrial sources, which typically occur sporadically and last only a few hours at most.…”

Real-Time Measurements of Ozone and UV Radiation during Pyrotechnic Displays

“…Particles in the accumulation mode (0.1-1 µm) can be used as tracers of pyrotechnic activity (Wehner et al, 2000; Nicolás et al, 2009;Richard et al, 2011;Crespo et al, 2014). In the present work, we have selected the particle number concentration (PNC) in the 0.25-0.28 µm size channel as an indirect indicator of the arrival of the plume to the sampling site.…”