Abstract
Elevated particulate matter concentrations in urbanlocations have normally been associated with local trafficemissions. Recently it has been suggested that suchepisodes are influenced to a high degree by PM10sources external to urban areas. To further corroboratethis hypothesis, linear regression was sought betweenPM10 concentrations measured at eight urban sites inthe U.K., with particulate sulphate concentration measuredat two rural sites, for the years 1993–1997. Analysis ofthe slopes, intercepts and correlation coefficientsindicate a possible relationship between urban PM10and rural sulphate concentrations. The influences of winddirection and of the distance of the urban from the ruralsites on the values of the three statistical parametersare also explored. The value of linear regression as ananalysis tool in such cases is discussed and it is shownthat an analysis of the sign of the rate of change of theurban PM10 and rural sulphate concentrations providesa more realistic method of correlation. The resultsindicate a major influence on urban PM10 concentrations from the eastern side of the UnitedKingdom. Linear correlation was also sought using PM10 data from nine urban sites in London and nearby ruralRochester. Analysis of the magnitude of the gradients andintercepts together with episode correlation analysisbetween the two sites showed the effect of transportedPM10 on the local London concentrations. This articlealso presents methods to estimate the influence of ruraland urban PM10 sources on urban PM10 concentrations and to obtain a rough estimate of thetransboundary contribution to urban air pollution from thePM10 concentration data of the urban site.
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Grima, R., Micallef, A. & Colls, J.J. External Contribution to Urban Air Pollution. Environ Monit Assess 73, 291–314 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1013194403072
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1013194403072