Seasonal and regional variations of source contributions for PM10 and PM2.5 in urban environment

Abstract

To characterize the sources of to PM10 and PM2.5, a long-term, speciate and simultaneous dataset was sampled in a megacity in China during the period of 2006–2014. The PM concentrations and PM2.5/PM10 were higher in the winter. Higher percentages of Al, Si, Ca and Fe were observed in the summer, and higher concentrations of OC, NO3− and SO42− occurred in the winter. Then, the sources were quantified by an advanced three-way model (defined as an ABB three-way model), which estimates different profiles for different sizes. A higher percentage of cement and crustal dust was present in the summer; higher fractions of coal combustion and nitrate+SOC were observed in the winter. Crustal and cement contributed larger portion to coarse part of PM10, whereas vehicular and secondary source categories were enriched in PM2.5. Finally, potential source contribution function (PSCF) and source regional apportionment (SRA) methods were combined with the three-way model to estimate geographical origins. During the sampling period, the southeast region (R4) was an important region for most source categories (0.6%–11.5%); the R1 (centre region) also played a vital role (0.3–6.9%).