You are here:
EVALUATION OF THE CMB AND PMF MODELS USING ORGANIC MOLECULAR MARKERS IN FINE PARTICULATE MATTER COLLECTED DURING THE PITTSBURGH AIR QUALITY STUDY
Citation:
BULLOCK, K. R., R. M. DUVALL, G. A. NORRIS, S. R. MCDOW, AND M. D. HAYS. EVALUATION OF THE CMB AND PMF MODELS USING ORGANIC MOLECULAR MARKERS IN FINE PARTICULATE MATTER COLLECTED DURING THE PITTSBURGH AIR QUALITY STUDY. ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT. Elsevier Science Ltd, New York, NY, 42(29):6897-6904, (2008).
Impact/Purpose:
To inform public
Description:
This research investigated different strategies for source apportionment of airborne fine particulate matter (PM2.5) collected as part of the Pittsburgh Air Quality Study. Two source receptor models were used, the EPA Chemical Mass Balance 8.2 (CMB) and EPA Positive Matrix Factorization 1.1 (PMF). Searching for an optimal apportionment solution, several scenarios were tested with each model by varying either the chemical species or source profiles used as model input. Only individual molecular marker species with concentrations above their minimum quantitative limits were selected. Model results suggest that the molecular marker and source profile selection can strongly affect the model, as reflected in the source contribution estimates determined by both CMB and PMF. Biomass burning, meat cooking and mobile emission sources were identified by both models as being major source contributors in Pittsburgh.
