The regional nature of PM2.5 episodes in the upper Ohio River Valley

From October 1999 through September 2000, particulate matter (PM) with aerodynamic diameter > or =2.5 microm (PM2.5) mass and composition were measured at the National Energy Technology Laboratory Pittsburgh site, with a particle concentrator Brigham Young University-organic sampling system and a tapered element oscillating microbalance (TEOM) monitor. PM2.5 measurements had also been obtained with TEOM monitors located in the Pittsburgh, PA, area, and at sites in Ohio, including Steubenville, Columbus, and Athens. The PM data from all these sites were analyzed on high PM days; PM2.5 TEOM particulate mass at all sites was generally associated with transitions from locally high barometric pressure to lower pressure. Elevated concentrations occurred with transport of PM from outside the local region in advance of frontal passages as the local pressure decreased. During high-pressure periods, concentrations at the study sites were generally low throughout the study region. Further details related to this transport were obtained from surface weather maps and estimated back-trajectories using the hybrid single-particle Lagrangian integrated trajectory model associated with these time periods. These analyses indicated that transport of pollutants to the Pittsburgh site was generally from the west to the southwest. These results suggest that the Ohio River Valley and possible regions beyond act as a significant source of PM and its precursors in the Pittsburgh area and at the other regional sites included in this study.