An Integrated Source Apportionment Methodology and Its Application over the Yangtze River Delta Region, China

An integrated source apportionment methodology is developed by amalgamating the receptor-oriented model (ROM) and source-oriented numerical simulations (SOM) together to eliminate the weaknesses of individual SA methods. This approach attempts to apportion and dissect the PM_2.5 sources in the Yangtze River Delta region during winter. First, three ROM models (CMB, PMF, ME2) are applied and compared for the preliminary SA results, with information from PM_2.5 sampling and lab analysis during the winter seasons. The detailed source category contribution of SOM to PM_2.5 is further simulated using the WRF-CAMx model. The two pieces of information from both ROM and SOM are then stitched together to give a comprehensive information on the PM_2.5 sources over the region. With the integrated approach, the detailed contributing sources of the ambient PM_2.5 at different receptors including rural and urban, coastal and in-land, northern and southern receptors are analyzed. The results are compared with previous data and shows good agreement. This integrative approach is more comprehensive and is able to produce a more profound and detailed understanding between the sources and receptors, compared with single models.