PM(2.5) source profiles for black and organic carbon emission inventories

Emission inventories for black or elemental (BC or EC) and organic (OC) carbon can be derived by multiplying PM(2.5) emission estimates by mass fractions of these species in representative source profiles. This study examines the variability of source profiles and its effect on EC emission estimates. An examination of available profiles shows that EC and OC ranged from 6-13% and 35-40% for agricultural burning, 4-33% and 22-68% for residential wood combustion, 6-38% and 24-75% for on-road gasoline vehicles, and 33-74% and 20-47% for on-road heavy-duty diesel vehicles, respectively. Source profiles from the U.S. EPA SPECIATE data base were applied to PM(2.5) emissions from the U.S. EPA National Emissions Inventory for 2005. The total estimated EC emissions of 432 Gg yr(-1) was apportioned as 42.5% from biomass burning, 35.4% from non-road mobile sources, 15% from on-road mobile sources, 5.4% from fossil fuel (e.g., coal, oil, and natural gas) combustion in stationary sources, 1% from other stationary industrial sources, and 0.5% from fugitive dust. Considering the variability in available source profiles, BC emission estimates for major sources such as open fires and non-road diesels ranged from 42 to 133 (a factor of 3) and 25 to 100 (a factor of 4) Gg yr(-1), respectively. The choice of source profiles can be a major source of uncertainty in national and global BC/EC emission inventories.</p

Comparison of four scanning mobility particle sizers at the Fresno Supersite

Size distributions of ambient aerosols at the Fresno Supersite were measured with four commercially available scanning mobility particle sizers (SMPS). TSI nano, TSI standard, Grimm, and MSP instruments were collocated at the Fresno Supersite and particle size distributions were measured continuously from August 18 through September 18, 2005. For particles with diameters between 10 and 200 nm, differences among hourly-average ambient particle concentrations ranged from 0% between the TSI nano and Grimm in the 30-50 nm size range to 39% between the Grimm and MSP in the 10-30 nm size range. MSP concentrations were 10-33% lower than those measured with the TSI standard for particles smaller than 200 nm. The TSI nano and TSI standard agreed to within 5% in their overlapping size range (10-84 nm). The TSI nano and Grimm agreed to within 40% for 5-10 nm particles.</p