Source identification of PM2.5 at a port and an adjacent urban site in a coastal city of China: Impact of ship emissions and port activities

• Published in: The Science of the total environment Vol. 634; pp. 1205 - 1213
• Main Authors: Xu, Lingling, Jiao, Ling, Hong, Zhenyu, Zhang, Yanru, Du, Wenjiao, Wu, Xin, Chen, Yanting, Deng, Junjun, Hong, Youwei, Chen, Jinsheng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.09.2018
• Subjects: CPF; PMF; Port; Ship emissions; Source contribution; Source contribution; PMF; CPF; Ship emissions; Port
• ISSN: 0048-9697; 1879-1026
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.04.087

Daily PM2.5 samples were collected simultaneously at an urban site (UB) and a nearby port-industrial site (PI) on the coast of southeastern China from April 2015 to January 2016. The PM2.5 mass concentration at the PI (51.9μgm−3) was significantly higher than that at the UB. The V concentration at the PI was also significantly higher and well-correlated to the urban value, which suggests that shipping emissions had a significant impact on the PI and, to a lesser extent, on the urban area. A positive matrix factorization (PMF) analysis showed that secondary aerosols were the dominant contribution of PM2.5 at both sites (36.4% at the PI and 27.2% at the UB), while the contribution of industry and ship emissions identified by V, Mn, and Ba at the PI (26.1%) were double those at the UB. The difference in each source contribution among the trajectory clusters that included significant differences and insignificant differences from the UB to the PI provided insight into the role of local impacts. With regards to the UB, local potential sources play important roles in industry and ship emissions, traffic emissions, fugitive dust, and in their contributions to secondary aerosols. A conditional probability function further revealed that the ship emissions and port activities distributed in the NE, E, and SSE wind sectors were responsible for the source contributions of industry and ship emissions and secondary aerosols at the UB. This study provides an example of investigating the impact of ship emissions and port activities on the surrounding air environment using land-based measurements. [Display omitted] •A PM2.5 measurement was simultaneously performed in an urban and a port area.•Ship emission tracer (V) was elevated in port area and correlated to urban site.•Difference tests among trajectory clusters gave insight into the local impacts.•Potential source location of industrial and ship emissions was identified using CPF.•Contribution of industry and ship emissions at port was double that at urban site.