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A Regional Assessment of Marine Vessel PM2.5 Impacts in the U.S. Pacific Northwest Using a Receptor Based Source Apportionment Method
Citation:
A Regional Assessment of Marine Vessel PM2.5 Impacts in the U.S. Pacific Northwest Using a Receptor Based Source Apportionment Method.
Impact/Purpose:
To quantify PM2.5 impacts from Marine Vessel activity.
Description:
This work reports the results of a regional receptor-based source apportionment analysis using the Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) model on chemically speciated PM2.5 data from 36 urban and rural monitoring sites within the U.S. Pacific Northwest. The approach taken is to model each site independently, to treat monitor datasets with a common data handling and preparation protocol, and to use a common modeling protocol. Complementary data from two monitoring networks, the urban Chemical Speciation Network (CSN) and the rural Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments (IMPROVE) Network, was modeled for the period of 2007-2011. 15 different factor types were found for CSN network sites and 17 for IMPROVE network sites, however many factors occurred at only a few locations. Only 3 factor types were common in both networks: sulfate/sulfur rich, nitrate rich, and soil. However, for coastal and near coastal monitoring sites, there were three additional factors common to both CSN and IMPROVE sites: sea salt, aged sea salt, and residual fuel oil combustion (RFO). This work presents annual average PM2.5 mass impacts for all sites and factors found and the results for RFO are explored in greater depth. The results for RFO are linked to marine vessel emissions based on similarities between factor chemical profiles and published emissions profiles, comparisons with emissions inventories, and the similarity in the spatial extent of RFO factor locations to that of the other marine aerosols found in this study, sea salt and aged sea salt. All 14 monitoring sites with marine vessel RFO factors showed a seasonal cycle of mass impacts, with lower impacts in winter months (monthly average PM2.5 between 0.1 g/m3 – 0.9 g/m3 in January) and higher impacts in summer months (monthly average PM2.5 between 0.3 g/m3 – 2.7 g/m3 in August). These results set a baseline to measure progress in emissions reductions that are expected from implementation of the North American Emissions Control Area (ECA) beginning in August 2012.
URLs/Downloads:
SHIP EMISSIONS-DRAFT MANUSCRIPT.PDF (PDF, NA pp, 441 KB, about PDF)ASSESSMENT MARINE VESSEL IMPACTS CHARGE.PDF (PDF, NA pp, 13 KB, about PDF)