Global Sources of Fine Particulate Matter: Interpretation of PM 2.5 Chemical Composition Observed by SPARTAN using a Global Chemical Transport Model

• Published in: Environmental science & technology 2018-10, Vol.52 (20), p.11670, Article acs.est.8b01658
• Main Authors: Weagle, Crystal L, Snider, Graydon, Li, Chi, van Donkelaar, Aaron, Philip, Sajeev, Bissonnette, Paul, Burke, Jaqueline, Jackson, John, Latimer, Robyn, Stone, Emily, Abboud, Ihab, Akoshile, Clement, Anh, Nguyen Xuan, Brook, Jeffrey Robert, Cohen, Aaron, Dong, Jinlu, Gibson, Mark D, Griffith, Derek, He, Kebin B, Holben, Brent N, Kahn, Ralph, Keller, Christoph A, Kim, Jong Sung, Lagrosas, Nofel, Lestari, Puji, Khian, Yeo Lik, Liu, Yang, Marais, Eloise A, Martins, J Vanderlei, Misra, Amit, Muliane, Ulfi, Pratiwi, Rizki, Quel, Eduardo J, Salam, Abdus, Segev, Lior, Tripathi, Sachchida N, Wang, Chien, Zhang, Qiang, Brauer, Michael, Rudich, Yinon, Martin, Randall V
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0013-936X; 1520-5851
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.8b01658

Exposure to ambient fine particulate matter (PM ) is a leading risk factor for the global burden of disease. However, uncertainty remains about PM sources. We use a global chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem) simulation for 2014, constrained by satellite-based estimates of PM to interpret globally dispersed PM mass and composition measurements from the ground-based surface particulate matter network (SPARTAN). Measured site mean PM composition varies substantially for secondary inorganic aerosols (2.4-19.7 μg/m ), mineral dust (1.9-14.7 μg/m ), residual/organic matter (2.1-40.2 μg/m ), and black carbon (1.0-7.3 μg/m ). Interpretation of these measurements with the GEOS-Chem model yields insight into sources affecting each site. Globally, combustion sectors such as residential energy use (7.9 μg/m ), industry (6.5 μg/m ), and power generation (5.6 μg/m ) are leading sources of outdoor global population-weighted PM concentrations. Global population-weighted organic mass is driven by the residential energy sector (64%) whereas population-weighted secondary inorganic concentrations arise primarily from industry (33%) and power generation (32%). Simulation-measurement biases for ammonium nitrate and dust identify uncertainty in agricultural and crustal sources. Interpretation of initial PM mass and composition measurements from SPARTAN with the GEOS-Chem model constrained by satellite-based PM provides insight into sources and processes that influence the global spatial variation in PM composition.