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Source identification of coarse particles in the Desert Southwest, USA using Positive Matrix Factorization
Citation:
Clements, A., M. Fraser, N. Upadhyay, P. Herckes, M. Sunblom, J. Lantz, AND P. Solomon. Source identification of coarse particles in the Desert Southwest, USA using Positive Matrix Factorization. Atmospheric Pollution Research. Turkish National Committee for Air Pollution Research and Control, Izmir, Turkey, 8(5):873-884, (2017).
Impact/Purpose:
Highlights • Isolation of coarse particles from fine particle sources. • Unique chemical composition of coarse particles. • Role of primary biological particles on aerosol loadings.
Description:
The Desert Southwest Coarse Particulate Matter Study was undertaken to further our understanding of the spatial and temporal variability and sources of fine and coarse particulate matter (PM) in rural, arid, desert environments. Sampling was conducted between February 2009 and February 2010 in Pinal County, AZ near the town of Casa Grande where PM concentrations routinely exceed the U.S. National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for both PM10 and PM2.5. In this desert region, exceedances of the PM10 NAAQS are dominated by high coarse particle concentrations, a common occurrence in this region of the United States. This work expands on previously published measurements of PM mass and chemistry by examining the sources of fine and coarse particles and the relative contribution of each to ambient PM mass concentrations using the Positive Matrix Factorization receptor model (Clements et al., 2014).
