Contributions of local and regional sources to fine PM in the megacity of Paris

Abstract

The particulate matter source apportionment technology (PSAT) is used together with PMCAMx, a regional chemical transport model, to estimate how local emissions and pollutant transport affect primary and secondary particulate matter mass concentration levels in Paris. During the summer and the winter periods examined, only 13% of the PM2.5 is predicted to be due to local Paris emissions, with 36% coming from mid-range (50–500 km from the center of the Paris) sources and 51% from long range transport (more than 500 km from Paris). The local emissions contribution to simulated elemental carbon (EC) is significant, with almost 60% of the EC originating from local sources during both summer and winter. Approximately 50% of the simulated fresh primary organic aerosol (POA) originated from local sources and another 45% from areas 100–500 km from the receptor region during summer. Regional sources dominated the secondary PM components. During summer more than 70% of the simulated sulfate originated from SO2 emitted more than 500 km away from the center of the Paris. Also more than 45% of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) was due to the oxidation of VOC precursors that were emitted 100–500 km from the center of the Paris. The model simulates more contribution from long range secondary PM sources during winter because the timescale for its production is longer due to the slower photochemical activity. PSAT results for contributions of local and regional sources were compared with observation-based estimates from field campaigns that took place during the MEGAPOLI project. PSAT simulations are in general consistent (within 20%) with these estimates for OA and sulfate. The only exception is that PSAT simulates higher local EC contribution during the summer compared to that estimated from observations.