Size distribution, directional source contributions and pollution status of PM from Chengdu, China during a long-term...

Long-term and synchronous monitoring of PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 was conducted in Chengdu in China from 2007 to 2013. The levels, variations, compositions and size distributions were investigated. The sources were quantified by two-way and three-way receptor models (PMF2, ME2-2way and ME2-3way). Consistent results were found: the primary source categories contributed 63.4% (PMF2), 64.8% (ME2-2way) and 66.8% (ME2-3way) to PM₁₀, and contributed 60.9% (PMF2), 65.5% (ME2-2way) and 61.0% (ME2-3way) to PM_2.5. Secondary sources contributed 31.8% (PMF2), 32.9% (ME2-2way) and 31.7% (ME2-3way) to PM₁₀, and 35.0% (PMF2), 33.8% (ME2-2way) and 36.0% (ME2-3way) to PM_2.5. The size distribution of source categories was estimated better by the ME2-3way method. The three-way model can simultaneously consider chemical species, temporal variability and PM sizes, while a two-way model independently computes datasets of different sizes. A method called source directional apportionment (SDA) was employed to quantify the contributions from various directions for each source category. Crustal dust from east-north-east (ENE) contributed the highest to both PM₁₀ (12.7%) and PM_2.5 (9.7%) in Chengdu, followed by the crustal dust from south-east (SE) for PM₁₀ (9.8%) and secondary nitrate & secondary organic carbon from ENE for PM_2.5 (9.6%). Source contributions from different directions are associated with meteorological conditions, source locations and emission patterns during the sampling period. These findings and methods provide useful tools to better understand PM pollution status and to develop effective pollution control strategies.