Source Apportionment of PM2.5 in Delhi, India Using PMF Model

• DOI: 10.1007/s00128-016-1836-1
• Publication Date: 2016-05-23T19:03:41Z
• Authors: S. K. Sharma; T. K. Mandal; Srishti Jain; Saraswati; A. Sharma; Mohit Saxena
• Keywords: Apportionment; Seasonality

Chemical characterization of PM2.5 [organic carbon, elemental carbon, water soluble inorganic ionic components, and major and trace elements] was carried out for a source apportionment study of PM2.5 at an urban site of Delhi, India from January, 2013, to December, 2014. The annual average mass concentration of PM2.5 was 122 ± 94.1 µg m(-3). Strong seasonal variation was observed in PM2.5 mass concentration and its chemical composition with maxima during winter and minima during monsoon. A receptor model, positive matrix factorization (PMF) was applied for source apportionment of PM2.5 mass concentration. The PMF model resolved the major sources of PM2.5 as secondary aerosols (21.3 %), followed by soil dust (20.5 %), vehicle emissions (19.7 %), biomass burning (14.3 %), fossil fuel combustion (13.7 %), industrial emissions (6.2 %) and sea salt (4.3 %).