Article Dans Une Revue Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Année : 2025

Complementary aerosol mass spectrometry elucidates sources of wintertime sub-micron particle pollution in Fairbanks, Alaska, during ALPACA 2022 

Brice Barrett
Slimane Bekki
Natalie Brett
Kathy Law

Résumé

Fairbanks, Alaska, is a subarctic city that frequently suffers from non-attainment of national air quality standards in the wintertime due to the coincidence of weak atmospheric dispersion and increased local emissions. However, significant uncertainties exist about aerosol sources, formation, and chemical processes during cold winter periods. We aim to determine the composition, size, and concentrations of atmospheric sub-micron non-refractory particulate matter (NR-PM­1) and quantify their sources in the urban centre of Fairbanks. As part of the Alaskan Layered Pollution and Chemical Analysis (ALPACA) campaign, we deployed a Chemical Analysis of Aerosol Online (CHARON) inlet coupled with a proton transfer reaction – time of flight mass spectrometer (PTR-ToF MS) and an Aerodyne high-resolution aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) to measure organic aerosol (OA) and NR-PM1, respectively. We used positive matrix factorisation (PMF) for source identification. PTRCHARON factorisation delineated four residential heating sources, including wood and oil combustion, that contribute 47 ± 20 % and 16 ± 9 % of OACHARON, on average, respectively. In contrast, only a single biomass burning-related factor was identified by AMS for both OA and NR-PM1, but it provided information on two additional factors that were rich in sulphur and nitrate. These results demonstrate that PTRCHARON can generate robust quantitative information with enhanced resolution of organic aerosol sources. When combined with suitable complementary instruments like the AMS, such evidence-based insights into the sources of sub-micron aerosol pollution can assist environmental regulators and citizen efforts for the improvement in air quality in Fairbanks and in the wider Arctic winter.

Fichier principal
Vignette du fichier
acp-25-11789-2025.pdf (8.65 Mo) Télécharger le fichier
Origine Fichiers éditeurs autorisés sur une archive ouverte
Licence

Dates et versions

insu-05210546 , version 1 (16-08-2025)
insu-05210546 , version 2 (06-10-2025)

Licence

Identifiants

Citer

Amna Ijaz, Brice Temime-Roussel, Benjamin Chazeau, Sarah Albertin, Stephen Arnold, et al.. Complementary aerosol mass spectrometry elucidates sources of wintertime sub-micron particle pollution in Fairbanks, Alaska, during ALPACA 2022 . Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 2025, 25 (19), pp.11789-11811. ⟨10.5194/acp-25-11789-2025⟩. ⟨insu-05210546v2⟩
600 Consultations
325 Téléchargements

Altmetric

Partager

  • More