Receptor Oriented Methods of Air Particulate Source Apportionment

Receptor models have evolved rapidly over the past 13 years but have just recently been recognized as a distinct discipline. The general category of receptor models includes both microscopic and chemical methods of apportioning source contributions to ambient air particulates. The number and variations of these methods have grown rapidly over the past few years and include such methods as automated scanning electron microscopy, chemical mass balance and multivariate procedures. These methods as well as hybrid procedures such as target transformation factor analysis, are reviewed and their boundary conditions, strengths, and weaknesses discussed.