Possible sources of atmospheric aerosol during 2005/06 Harmattan season at Kwabenya (Ghana)

Abstract

Principal component analysis has been used to characterize and model aerosol particulate matter collected during the 2005/06 harmattan period. Species parameters determined by gravimetric, energy dispersive X-rays fluorescence (EDXRF) and reflectometric techniques were mass, elemental and black carbon concentrations. More than 26 elements were identified in the aerosol samples, but only 17 were used for the coarse fraction and 7 for the fine fraction models, because of detection limitation or missing values. The coarse fraction contained over 90 % of the mass, but the fine particle fraction has higher contribution of black carbon particles than the coarse fraction. Two source profiles were identified in the fine fraction of the aerosol and four source profiles in the coarse fraction. The experimental and modeled particulate mass correlated well, with 0.93 ≤ R2 ≤ 0.95.

Journal of Applied Science and Technology Vol. 13 (1 & 2) 2008: pp. 55-63