Wintertime particulate pollution episodes in an urban valley of the Western US: a case study

Abstract

This study investigates the causes of elevated PM_2.5 episodes and potential exceedences of the US National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) in Truckee Meadows, Nevada, an urban valley of the Western US, during winter 2009/2010, an unusually cold and snowy winter. Continuous PM_2.5 mass and time-integrated chemical speciation data were acquired from a central valley monitoring site, along with meteorological measurements from nearby sites. All nine days with PM_2.5 > 35 μg m⁻³ showed 24-h average temperature inversion of 1.5–4.5 °C and snow cover of 8–18 cm. Stagnant atmospheric conditions limited wind ventilation while highly reflective snow cover reduced daytime surface heating creating persistent inversion. Elevated ammonium nitrate (NH₄NO₃) and water associated with it are found to be main reasons for the PM_2.5 exceedances. An effective-variance chemical mass balance (EV-CMB) receptor model using locally-derived geological profiles and inorganic/organic markers confirmed secondary NH₄NO₃ (27–37%), residential wood combustion (RWC; 11–51%), and diesel engine exhaust (7–22%) as the dominant PM_2.5 contributors. Paved road dust and de-icing materials were minor, but detectable contributors. RWC is a more important source than diesel for organic carbon (OC), but vice versa for elemental carbon (EC). A majority of secondary NH₄NO₃ is also attributed to RWC and diesel engines (including snow removal equipment) through oxides of nitrogen (NO_x) emissions from these sources. Findings from this study may apply to similar situations experienced by other urban valleys.