Abstract
Identification of major sources of airborne pollutants and their contribution to pollutant loadings are critical in developing effective pollution control and mitigation strategies. In this study, a comprehensive dataset of non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) collected from August 2001 to December 2002 at a polluted rural/coastal site in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) is analyzed to assess the relative contributions of major pollution sources to ambient NMVOC mixing ratios. A unique approach based on emission ratios of individual chemical species was used to classify the bulk air samples in order to apportion regional and local source contributions to the measured mixing ratios. The collected air samples fell into four major groups, including air masses from the inner PRD region and Hong Kong (HK) urban area. To estimate the source apportionment of NMVOCs, a principal component analysis/absolute principal component scores receptor model was applied to the classified data points. The results indicate that the regional and local source contributions to ambient NMVOC levels at the site were significantly different due to the differences in local versus regional energy use and industrial activities. For air masses originating from HK, vehicular emissions accounted for approximately 39% of the total NMVOC levels, followed by industrial emissions (35%), gasoline evaporation (14%) and commercial/domestic liquefied petroleum gas/natural gas use (12%). By contrast, for air masses originating from the PRD the industrial emissions accounted for 43% of the total NMVOC burden, followed by vehicular emissions (32%) and biomass burning (25%). In particular, the higher regional contribution of biomass burning found in this study as compared to existing emission inventories suggests that further efforts are necessary to refine the emission inventories of NMVOCs in the PRD region.
Highlights
The Pearl River Delta (PRD) is situated on the southern China coast and is home to approximately 40 million inhabitants
The bulk air samples were classified into inner PRD regional and Hong Kong (HK) local air masses based on the ratios of propane to carbon monoxide
A principal component analysis (PCA)/absolute principal component scores (APCS) receptor model was applied to the classified data points to identify the major sources of Non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) and to estimate the source contributions to NMVOC mixing ratios
Summary
The Pearl River Delta (PRD) is situated on the southern China coast and is home to approximately 40 million inhabitants. A comprehensive field measurement campaign was carried out at a polluted rural/coastal site in the PRD from August 2001 to December 2002, in order to understand the photochemical smog problem in this region. Using this data set, the causes of a multi-day ozone episode were analyzed (Wang and Kwok, 2003), the temporal variability and emission patterns of pollution plumes during October–December 2001 were characterized (Wang et al, 2003a), and the seasonal profiles and atmospheric processes of trace gases (including NMVOCs) at the study site were overviewed (Wang et al, 2005). The major local and regional pollution sources are identified and their contributions to ambient NMVOCs are quantified
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