Vehicle-induced fugitive particulate matter emissions in a city of arid desert climate

Abstract

This study investigates and proposes emission factors (EFs) and models for vehicle-induced exhaust (VEX) and fugitive (VfPM) particulate matter emissions representative of areas with arid climates. Particle number (PNC) and mass (PMC) concentrations and their integrated samples were collected for a period of three months for both PM10 and PM2.5 next to a trafficked road in the city of Doha, Qatar. Using Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) on the elemental data of the samples, six distinct PM sources were identified: traffic exhaust, dust resuspension, fresh and aged sea salt, secondary aerosols, and fuel oil/shipping. Dispersion modelling and regression analysis were combined to derive EFs (linear analysis) and models (non-linear analysis) for the total traffic fleet (heavy and light duty). The estimated EFs were between 620 and 730 mg VKT−1 (VKT; Vehicle Kilometer Travelled) (adj. R2 ~ 0.84) and between 1080 and 1410 mg VKT−1 (adj. R2 ~ 0.70) for VEX and VfPM, respectively. The integration of field measurements, chemical characterization, and dispersion modelling presented herein is one of the first similar studies conducted in the wider region, identifies the importance of fugitive PM (fPM), and marks the need for further studies to improve emissions modelling of VfPM in arid desert climates.