Sources and source regions effecting the aerosol composition of the Eastern Mediterranean

Positive matrix factorization (PMF) was used to deduce the aerosol sources at a rural site on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, using sample collected between February 1992 and December 1993. Approximately 600 daily aerosol samples were collected and 40 elements and compounds were analyzed by atomic absorption spectrometry, instrumental neutron activation analysis, ion chromatography and colorimetry.Seven factors were identified with PMF, namely local dust, Saharan dust, sea salt, long range transport, smelter, arsenic and fertilizer factors. The non-parametric bootstrapped potential source contribution function (PSCF) was then used to help identify likely locations of the regional sources of pollution. Besides, explained variance, enrichment factors, seasonal variation of G-score values and back trajectories were used to define the source regions of the factors. Results demonstrated that there are major potential source areas, for the pollution-derived component in aerosol mass, on the Aegean coast, Northwest Turkey, Balkan countries, Ukraine and regions located northern part of Ukraine.