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NARSTO Workshop on Innovative Methods for Emission Inventory Development and Evaluation University of Texas, Austin October 14-17, 2003 |
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Characterization of the Diurnal PM Peaks at Sunland Park, New Mexico
Nidia Cadenas 1,Wen-Whai Li 1,2, John Walton 1,2,Richard Arimoto 3,
Hugo Morales 1, David Trujillo 1
1Department of Civil Engineering
The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas 79968
2Environmental Science and Engineering Program
The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas 79968
3Carlsbad Environmental Monitoring & Research Center
New Mexico State University, Carlsbad, New Mexico 88220
Spikes of airborne particulate matter (PM) are routinely observed in the evening hours at Sunland Park, New México, one of the three sister cities in the Paso del Norte (PdN) border region. These PM episodes appear to be highly localized within the New México portion of the PdN air quality basin with no known sources in the area.
A study was conducted in the winter of 2002 to determine the composition of and identify potential sources for the evening PM (PM2.5 and PM10) peaks at Sunland Park. Continuous 5-minute average PM2.5 mass concentrations were recorded on 2 TEOMs. Twenty-four average PM2.5 and PM2.5-10 and time-resolved PM2.5 samples were collected on Teflon and quartz filters using dichotomous air monitors and TEOM/ACCU instruments, respectively, for element, ion, and carbon analyses. Concurrent meteorological monitoring was also conducted at the site.
The evening hourly PM concentration frequently peaked at levels 1 to 2 orders of magnitude higher than the 24-hr average. Elevated trace elements such as Pb and Sb were observed in some of the samples. Statistical analyses of the hourly PM2.5 data and other environmental parameters such as wind speed, wind direction, mixing height, humidity, and solar radiation were performed to determine the association of PM episode and other environmental factors. Results of the element, ion, and carbon (EC/OC) analyses will be used to assist in the identification of PM potential sources in the area.