Quantification of secondary organic aerosol in an Australian urban location

Abstract

The contribution of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) to particulate mass (PM) in an Australian urban airshed is quantified for the first time in this work. SOA is estimated indirectly using the elemental carbon tracer method. The contribution of primary organic carbon (OC) to PM is determined using ambient air quality data, which is used to indicate photochemical activity and as a tracer for a general vehicular combustion source. In addition, levoglucosan concentrations were used to determine the contribution of wood heater emissions to primary OC. The contribution of bushfire smoke to primary OC emissions was determined from the organic and elemental carbon (OC/EC) ratios measured in bushfire source samples. The median annual SOA concentration determined in this work was 1.1 μg m-3, representing ∼13% of PM2.5 median concentrations on an annual basis (assuming a ratio of organic mass (OM) to OC of 1.6). Significantly higher SOA concentrations were determined when bushfire smoke affected the airshed; however, the SOA fraction of PM 2.5 was greatest during the autumn and early winter months when the formation of inversions allows build up of particles produced by domestic wood-heater emissions. © CSIRO 2011.