Application of receptor modeling to atmospheric constituents at Potsdam and Stockton, NY

Abstract

Abstract A measurement program in this study has been undertaken to measure the concentrations of particles and Hg0 in rural areas of New York State during the summer of 2000 and 2001. Sampling was performed at sites in southwestern (Stockton, NY) and northern New York (Potsdam, NY) where these materials may be transported into the New York from the central United States and from Canada. The data from these measurements were used in paired receptor models to assess the origins of the measured concentrations. Factor analysis in the form of positive matrix factorization (PMF) was used to obtain information about possible sources of the aerosol. Six and seven sources were resolved from Stockton and Potsdam sites, respectively. Six of the sources are common to the two sites in these two summers. They are secondary sulfate, secondary nitrate, soil, wood smoke, zinc smelter and copper smelter. A nickel smelter source is also resolved at Potsdam. Potential source contribution function (PSCF) analysis which combines the aerosol data with the air parcel backward trajectories was applied to identify possible source areas and pathways from these sources at the two sites. The combination of the two receptor modeling methods, PMF and PSCF, provides an effective way in identifying atmospheric aerosol sources and their likely locations. Emissions from different anthropogenic activities as well as secondary aerosol production are the main source measured in Potsdam and Stockton.