Chemical Characterization of Ambient Coarse Particulate Matter in Rural Areas of Arizona Impacted by Significant Population Growth

Chemical Characterization of Ambient Coarse Particulate Matter in Rural Areas of Arizona Impacted by Significant Population Growth Chemical Characterization of Ambient Coarse Particulate Matter in Rural Areas of Arizona Impacted by Significant Population Growth The objective of this project is to characterize the chemical composition of coarse and fine particulate matter (PM) to support source attribution and to quantify local sources and regional transport contributing to elevated PM levels in Pinal County (AZ). This proposal deals solely with the analysis of chemical constituents and will target a wide variety of organic species, ions and metals. The goal is to differentiate sources of coarse particles and fine particles, and identify candidate marker species that are unique to the coarse fraction of ambient particulate matter. The proposal will synergistically add to ongoing work funded by an EPA STAR grant on the contribution of agricultural soils to coarse PM being conducted in Prof. Frasers research group.