Fine particulate source apportionment using data from the USEPA speciation trends network in Chicago, Illinois: Comparison of two source apportionment models

Data from two of the United States Environmental Protection Agency's speciation trends network fine particulate matter sites within Chicago, Illinois were analyzed using the chemical mass balance (CMB) and positive matrix factorization (PMF) models to determine source contributions to the ambient fine particulate concentrations. The results from the two models were compared to determine the similarities and differences in the source contributions. This included examining the differences in the magnitude of the individual source contributions as well as the correlation between the contribution values from the two methods. The results showed that both models predicted sulfates, nitrates and motor vehicles as the three highest fine particle contributors for the two sites accounting for approximately 80% of the total. The PMF model attributed a slightly greater amount of fine particulate to the road salt, steel and soil sources while vegetative burning contributed more in the CMB results. Correlations between the contribution results from the two models were high for sulfates, nitrates and road salt with very good correlations existing for motor vehicles and petroleum refineries. The predicted PMF profiles agreed well with measured source profiles for the major species associated with each source.