Windblown Dust Contributes to High PM25 Concentrations |
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| Authors: | Candis S Claiborn Dennis Finn Timothy V Larson Jane Q Koenig |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Civil &2. Environmental Engineering , Laboratory for Atmospheric Research , Washington State University , Pullman , USA;3. Environmental Engineering , University of Washington , Seattle , USA;4. Department of Environmental Health , University of Washington , Seattle , USA |
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| Abstract: | ABSTRACT The revised National Ambient Air Quality Standards for PM include fine particulate standards based upon mass measurements of PM25. It is possible in arid and semi-arid regions to observe significant coarse mode intrusion in the PM2.5 measurement. In this work, continuous PM10, PM2.5, and PM1.0 were measured during several windblown dust events in Spokane, WA. PM2 5 constituted ~30% of the PM10 during the dust event days, compared with ~48% on the non-dusty days preceding the dust events. Both PM10 and PM2.5 were enhanced during the dust events. However, PM1.0 was not enhanced during dust storms that originated within the state of Washington. During a dust storm that originated in Asia and impacted Spokane, PM1.0 was also enhanced, although the Asian dust reached Washington during a period of stagnation and poor dispersion, so that local sources were also contributing to high particulate levels. The “intermodal” region of PM, defined as particles ranging in aerodynamic size from 1.0 to 2.5 um, was found to represent a significant fraction of PM25 (~51%) during windblown dust events, compared with 28% during the non-dusty days before the dust events. |
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