A new method to combine IBA of fine aerosols with Radon-222 to determine source characteristics

作者：Crawford Jagoda^*; Cohen David D; Zahorowski Wlodek; Chambers Scott; Stelcer Eduard

来源：Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms , 2011, 269(19): 2041-2051.

DOI：10.1016/j.nimb.2011.06.007

• Ion beam analysis
• PIXE
• Radon
• Fine particles

Accelerator based ion beam analysis (IBA) techniques were used to determine the elemental composition of aerosol samples from four sites near Sydney, Australia. Hourly measurements of atmospheric Radon-222 (radon) concentration were made at the same sites. We evaluate a new method for quantifying the degree of distribution of aerosol sources based on the correlation analysis of two consecutive years (2007-2008) of IBA and radon data.
Seasonal cycles and trends in concentrations of key elemental constituents of the sampled aerosols are characterised, and explained in terms of the regional Sydney climatology and proximity of measurement sites to the coast. Site-to-site correlation analysis was then undertaken between elements to quantify the extent to which a source had a regional impact or was only local to a site (site-specific). This was followed by correlation analysis of elements and radon at each site to identify the degree of spatial and temporal uniformity of the source at each site.
Silicon concentrations (usually associated with soil sources), were overall well correlated between three of the four sites, indicative of a regional source for three sites and a local source for the fourth site. Conversely, the highest sulfur correlations were observed between sites that were closest together.
On a site-by-site basis, radon was well correlated with black carbon and potassium and particularly during winter when domestic heating constitutes a distributed source. However, in summer the correlation of radon with BC and K was poor indicating that the distribution of these sources varies over the summer fetch region. Radon was also positively correlated with silicon and titanium, but the correlation coefficient for the entire data set was smaller than for black carbon. In summer and winter, when fetch regions were constrained by the prevailing meteorology, silicon and titanium showed a better correlation with radon. A small negative correlation was seen between sodium (a marker for sea salt) and radon.

• 出版日期2011-10-1