Source apportionment

A labelling method has been developed to improve source apportionment of concentrations and deposition.

tpm10_nld_amsterdam_800 — Source apportionment of PM10 in Amsterdam during the episode with large contributions of desert and forest fires in Portugal and Spain in 2017.

LOTOS-EUROS can track emissions from specific sources through space and time by labeling them. This means that at every location the sources contributing to pollutant concentration and deposition can be identified and quantified. This is called source apportionment. Source apportionment with labelling is a strong method to investigate the potential impact of emission reduction measures. It can be applied in retrospective analysis and in air quality forecasting, thus offering the potential to anticipate.

During all the model processes, the labels are tracked, which means that for the non-linear processes, the labeling method is more accurate than comparing source reduction scenarios. Within CAMS, the model is used for source attribution for major European cities during periods of elevated pollution levels.

TNO has launched a prototype of the TNO Operational Pollution Apportionment Service (TOPAS) to show the source contributions for the main European cities over the past 6 weeks on a daily basis. The PM2.5 and PM10 model results on this interactive website are updated every day.