Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
www.atmos-chem-phys.net
1680-7316
1680-7324
9
18
2009
10.5194/acp-9-6793-2009
http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/9/6793/2009/
http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/9/6793/2009/acp-9-6793-2009.html
http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/9/6793/2009/acp-9-6793-2009.pdf
6793
6814
2009-09-18
Primary and secondary organic carbon downwind of Mexico City
X.-Y. Yu
xiaoying.yu@pnl.gov
R. A. Cary
N. S. Laulainen
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99352, USA
Sunset Laboratory Inc., 10160 SW Nimbus Ave., Tigard, OR 97223, USA
In order to study particulate matter transport and transformation in the
Megacity environment, fine particulate carbon was measured simultaneously at
two supersites, suburban T1 and rural T2, downwind of Mexico City during the
MILAGRO field campaign in March 2006. Organic carbon (OC), element carbon
(EC), and total carbon (TC=OC+EC) were determined in near real-time using a
Sunset semi-continuous OCEC field analyzer. The semi-empirical EC tracer
method was used to derive primary organic carbon (POC) and secondary organic
carbon (SOC). Diurnal variations of primary and secondary carbon were
observed at T1 and T2, which resulted from boundary layer inversion and
impacted by local traffic patterns. The majority of organic carbon particles
at T1 and T2 were secondary. The SOC<sub>TC</sub>% (SOC%=SOC/TC×100%) at
T1 ranged from 0.5–93.8% with an average of 63.5±17.2%. The
SOC<sub>TC</sub>% at T2 ranged from 9.3–98.1% with an average of
67.4±12.4%. The average EC to PM<sub>2.5</sub> percentage
(EC<sub>PM</sub>%=EC/PM<sub>2.5</sub>×100%) and OC<sub>PM</sub>% were 6.0% and
20.0% over the whole sampling time at T1. The POC to PM percentage
(POC<sub>PM</sub>%) and SOC<sub>PM</sub>% were 3.7% and 16.3%, respectively
at the same site. The maximum EC<sub>PM</sub>% was 21.2%, and the maximum
OC<sub>PM</sub>% was 57.2% at T1. The maximum POC<sub>PM</sub>% was 12.9%,
and the maximum SOC<sub>PM</sub>% was 49.7% at T1. Comparison of SOC and POC
at T1 and T2 showed similar characteristics under favorable meteorological
conditions, which indicated that transport from T1 towards T2 took place.
Strong correlations between EC and carbon monoxide (CO) and odd nitrogen
species (NO and NO<sub>x</sub>) were observed at T1. This indicated that EC had nearby
sources, such as local traffic emissions. The EC/CO ratio derived by linear
regression analysis, with units of μg C/m<sup>3</sup> and μg/m<sup>3</sup>,
respectively, was 0.004 at T1. Correlations were also seen between OC and SOC
vs. the sum of oxidants, such as O<sub>3</sub> and NO<sub>2</sub>, suggesting the
secondary nature of carbons observed at T1.
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