Receptor models application to multi-year ambient PM10 measurements in an industrialized ceramic area : Comparison of source apportionment results

Ambient PM10 data collected in one of the largest industrialised ceramic areas of Europe were used to study similarities and differences in the source apportionment results from three widespread receptor models: chemical mass balance (CMB), positive matrix factorisation (PMF) and principal component analysis (PCA). Particulate emissions were collected from a variety of sources including soil dust and different mixed raw materials used for the manufacture of ceramic tiles in the area. The chemical profiles of these emission sources are presented. The analysis of the PMF scaled residuals was used as a diagnostic tool for adjusting species uncertainties and to assess the PMF model fit by comparison with the robust CMB results. The Q robust value, the degree of correlation between the predicted and measured species concentrations, the sample-by-sample correlation of the PMF source contributions compared with the CMB improved after the new error structure was used within the PMF model.