Relative source contribution analysis using an air trajectory statistical approach

Abstract

[1] An air trajectory statistical approach was developed to estimate the relative contributions of various sources within a planning domain for a receptor site during high air pollution. The proposed approach is based on the coupling of residence time analysis and a known emission inventory. The theoretical basis of the approach is detailed. The approach was applied to investigate the relative contributions of various anthropogenic volatile organic compound (VOC) sources to the ozone formation potential of a receptor site in southern Taiwan. One hundred and ninety-seven ozone events (defined as those with an hourly ozone concentration that exceeded 120 ppb standard) over 1994-1998 were selected to undergo the residence time analysis. The VOC emission inventory was adjusted to reflect the different ozone formation potentials of the various sources by considering the source VOC profiles and the maximum incremental reactivity scales of each VOC compound. The results show that the sources that influenced the evaluated receptor site were located in northwestern coastal regions; the relative contributions of the point, line, and area sources were in the ration of approximately 5:2:3. Two districts, Kaohsiung City and Kaohsiung Hsien, were the dominant contributors of the five investigated districts. The proposed method may act as a preliminary tool to efficiently select the potential source region/category, such that mitigation and control strategies can be targeted, and/or used to guide a comprehensive modeling study.

Vertical ozone distributions observed using tethered ozonesondes in a coastal industrial city, Kaohsiung, in southern Taiwan

“…2), the KS meteorological station and the sounding data from Pingtung airport and the measuring site. Detailed technical descriptions of the model can be found in Lin et al (2004b) and Lin and Chang (2002). Figure 8reveals the air masses arriving at the two most-polluted air stations, Choujau and Daliau, at 10:00-14:00 LST on March 26.…”

“…This analysis identifies the pathways and origins of air masses before they moved inland in southern Taiwan at different times on March 26, the episode day in this experiment. The back air trajectory model, constructed in southern Taiwan during a previous study (Lin et al, 2004b;Lin and Chang, 2002), was used. Back air trajectory was calculated based on an hourly wind field interpolated from the wind data measured at the air stations (Fig.…”

Variability in Transport Pathways and Source Areas of PM10 in Beijing during 2009-2012

“…Considering the qualitative nature of cluster analysis results, PSCF analysis has been recognized as extremely useful in investigating potential source areas, which are indicated by high PSCF values (Biegalski and Hopke, 2004). The PSCF value represents the probability of the air parcel residence time (Lin et al, 2002). On the basis of the results of trajectory and cluster analysis, the PSCF method was used to identify the potential sources of PM 10 .…”

Simultaneous Model Calibration and Source Inversion in Atmospheric Dispersion Models

“…A variety of different approaches have been proposed in the literature to solve source inversion problems [10,30]. Lin and Chang [21] used an air trajectory statistical approach to estimate the strength of different sources of volatile organic compounds of anthropogenic origin. Stockie and Lushi [22] used a Gaussian plume approximation to the governing PDEs to estimate ground-level deposition of zinc from a lead-zinc smelter, using linear least-squares to perform the source inversion.…”