Abstract
The stable isotope of carbon, 13C, has been used in several studies for source characterization of carbonaceous aerosol since there are specific signatures for different sources. In rural areas, the influence of different sources is complex and the application of δ13C for source characterization of the total carbonaceous aerosol (TC) can therefore be difficult, especially the separation between biomass burning and biogenic sources. We measured δ13C from 25 filter samples collected during one year at a rural background site in southern Sweden. Throughout the year, the measured δ13C showed low variability (–26.73 to –25.64‰). We found that the measured δ13C did not correlate with other commonly used source apportionment tracers (14C, levoglucosan). δ13C values showed lower variability during the cold months compared to the summer, and this narrowing of the δ13C values together with elevated levoglucosan concentrations may indicate contribution from sources with lower δ13C variation, such as biomass or fossil fuel combustion. Comparison of two Monte Carlo based source apportionment models showed no significant difference in results when δ13C was incorporated in the model. The insignificant change of redistributed fraction of carbon between the sources was mainly a consequence of relatively narrow range of δ13C values and was complicated by an unaccounted kinetic isotopic effect and overlapping δ13C end-member values for biomass burning and biogenic sources. (Less)
Highlights
Atmospheric particulate matter (PM) can have a negative effect on human health (Dockery et al, 1993; Pope et al, 1995; Abbey et al, 1999; Brook et al, 2010)
We found that the measured δ13C did not correlate with other commonly used source apportionment tracers (14C, levoglucosan). δ13C values showed lower variability during the cold months compared to the summer, and this narrowing of the δ13C values together with elevated levoglucosan concentrations may indicate contribution from sources with lower δ13C variation, such as biomass or fossil fuel combustion
Overlapping distributions are especially pronounced between un-combusted biomass used for biomass burning and biogenic sources
Summary
Atmospheric particulate matter (PM) can have a negative effect on human health (Dockery et al, 1993; Pope et al, 1995; Abbey et al, 1999; Brook et al, 2010). These effects can be direct, such as increased scattering or absorption of incoming solar radiation, or indirect by increasing light scattering caused by altered cloud properties (Twomey, 1974; Albrecht, 1989). Carbonaceous aerosols, a significant contributor to PM, originate from both natural and anthropogenic sources. Fossil fuel and biomass combustion are two of the major ones (Dusek et al, 2014). Since many particle-types have specific origins, source apportionment of atmospheric aerosols can be used to reduce the overall uncertainty of the climate effects. An improved apportionment could make it easier to develop abatement strategies regarding the health aspects of aerosols
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