This report contains a guide and a European harmonised protocol prepared within the framework of the Working Group 3 on source apportionment of the Forum for Air Quality Modelling in Europe (FAIRMODE). It has been initiated as a JRC initiative for the harmonisation of source apportionment with receptor models, in collaboration with FAIRMODE as well as with the European networks in the field of air...

For reducing health impacts from air pollution, it is important to know the sources contributing to human exposure. This study systematically reviewed and analysed available source apportionment studies on particulate matter (of diameter of 10 and 2.5 microns, PM10 and PM2.5) performed in cities to estimate typical shares of the sources of pollution by country and by region. A database with city s...

Source apportionments have become increasingly performed to determine the origins of ambient particulate pollution. The results can be helpful in designing mitigation strategies to improve air quality. Source specific particulate matter (PM) concentrations are also being used in health effects studies to be able to focus attention on those sources most likely to be responsible for the observed adv...

Ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is the world’s leading environmental health risk factor. Reducing the PM2.5 disease burden requires specific strategies that target dominant sources across multiple spatial scales. We provide a contemporary and comprehensive evaluation of sector- and fuel-specific contributions to this disease burden across 21 regions, 204 countries, and 200 sub-national are...

The Positive Matrix Factorization Model is a multivariate factor analysis tool that decomposes a matrix of speciated sample data into two matrices: factor contributions and factor profiles. These factor profiles need to be interpreted by the user to identify the source types that may be contributing to the sample using measured source profile information, and emissions or discharge inventories....

The Chemical Mass Balance (CMB) Model EPA-CMB v8.2 is one of several receptor models that has been applied to air quality problems over the last two decades. Based on an effective-variance least squares method (EVLS), EPA has supported CMB as a regulatory planning tool through its approval of numerous State Implementation Plans (SIPs) which have a source apportionment component. CMB requires speci...

The EPA Unmix 6.0 Fundamentals & User Guide provides references and details on how to use Unmix.Unmix seeks to solve the general mixture problem where the data are assumed to be a linear combination of an unknown number of sources of unknown composition, which contribute an unknown amount to each sample....

HYSPLIT is a complete system for computing simple air parcel trajectories, as well as complex transport, dispersion, chemical transformation, and deposition simulations. HYSPLIT continues to be one of the most extensively used atmospheric transport and dispersion models in the atmospheric sciences community. A common application is a back trajectory analysis to determine the origin of air masses a...

This page lists some known alternative models to the preferred/recommended models listed in the Guideline on Air Quality Models, Appendix W that can be used in regulatory applications with case-by-case justification to the Reviewing Authority (Section 3.2 of Appendix W). However, inclusion here does not confer any unique status relative to other alternative models that are being or will be develop...

The "Atmospheric Brown Clouds (ABC) - Emission Inventory Manual" addresses the formation and impacts of regional air pollution plumes comprised of various pollutants. The manual, developed by UNEP and AIT, outlines methodologies for creating detailed emission inventories, emphasizing the significance of biomass burning and fossil fuel combustion in Asia, and provides tools and guidelines for count...