Multi-site vs. supersite aerosol source apportionment in a lignite basin area.

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Atmospheric Chemistry
• Air Quality Research

Background:

• Central Europe's industrialized and coal-mining regions face significant air pollution challenges.
• Understanding particulate matter (PM₁₀) sources is crucial for effective environmental management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and quantify major aerosol sources contributing to PM₁₀ in a Central European industrial basin.
• To compare the effectiveness of multi-site offline measurements versus single-site online-offline measurements for source apportionment.

Main Methods:

• Conducted year-long offline aerosol measurements across four sites.
• Utilized a semi-annual combined online-offline dataset from a single supersite.
• Employed source apportionment techniques to analyze PM₁₀ contributions.

Main Results:

• Surface coal mining was the dominant PM₁₀ source, responsible for up to 30% of the mass.
• Secondary inorganic aerosols and residential heating were identified as other significant contributors.
• Multi-site measurements provided superior spatial differentiation of local, regional, and long-range sources compared to the single-site approach.

Conclusions:

• Targeted regional air quality strategies are essential, focusing on mining and residential heating emissions.
• Power plants and heat generation showed minimal local impact due to emission release height and dispersion.
• Consistent results from both measurement approaches validate their findings on PM₁₀ source contributions.