Characteristics of fine particle carbonaceous aerosol at two remote sites in Central Asia

Central Asia is a relatively understudied region of the world in terms of characterizing ambient particulate matter (PM) and quantifying source impacts of PM at receptor locations, although it is speculated to have an important role as a source region for long-range transport of PM to Eastern Asia, the Pacific Ocean, and the Western United States. PM is of significant interest not only because of its adverse effect on public health but also due to its more recently realized role in climate change. To investigate the sources and characteristics of PM in the region, a series of PM2.5 and PM10 samples were collected on an every-other-day basis at two sites (termed “Bishkek” and “Teploklyuchenka”) in the Central Asian nation of the Kyrgyz Republic (also known as Kyrgyzstan) for a full year from July 2008 to July 2009. These samples were analyzed using standard methods for mass, organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC), water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC), water-insoluble organic carbon by difference (OC minus WSOC) and a variety of molecular marker chemical species to be used in a chemical mass balance (CMB) model to apportion the sources of OC. These analyses indicate that approximately 19 ± 6.4% of the PM2.5 mass at both sites throughout the year consists of OC. The carbonaceous component of PM2.5 is dominated by OC, with OC/Total Carbon (TC) ratios being around 0.8 in the winter to almost 0.95 in the summer months. The CMB analysis indicated that mobile sources, i.e., gasoline and diesel engine exhaust, biomass combustion, and biogenic secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation from isoprene and α-pinene precursors in the summer months were the dominant sources of OC. A strong positive correlation was observed between non-biomass burning WSOC and the un-apportioned OC from the CMB analysis, indicating that some of this un-apportioned OC is WSOC and likely the result of SOA-forming atmospheric processes that were not estimated by the CMB analysis performed. In addition, a comparison of the predominant contributors to OC between the two sites indicates that biomass combustion is a stronger relative source of OC at the Teploklyuchenka site, particularly in the winter, while contributions of isoprene- and α-pinene-derived SOA to the measured OC was relatively similar between the sites.

► Organic Carbon (OC) is a significant constituent of PM2.5 aerosol at 2 sites in the Kyrgyz Republic.
► The main sources of OC at both sites as determined by CMB were mobile sources and biomass combustion.
► Secondary Organic Aerosol was estimated to be a significant source of OC in the summer months.