Application of the Tracer-Aerosol Gradient Interpretive Technique to Sulfur Attribution for the Big Bend Regional Aerosol and Visibility Observational Study

Abstract

A simple data analysis method called the Tracer-Aerosol Gradient Interpretive Technique (TAGIT) is used to attribute particulate S and SO₂ at Big Bend National Park in Texas and nearby areas to local and regional sources. Particulate S at Big Bend is of concern because of its effects on atmospheric visibility. The analysis used particulate S, SO₂ , and perfluorocarbon tracer data from six 6-hr sampling sites in and near Big Bend National Park. The data were collected in support of the Big Bend Regional Aerosol and Visibility Observational (BRAVO) Study; the field portion was conducted from July through October 1999. Perfluorocarbon tracer was released continuously from a tower at Eagle Pass, TX, approximately 25 km northeast of two large coal-fired power plants (Carbon I and II) in Coahuila, Mexico, and approximately 270 km east-southeast of Big Bend National Park.

The perfluorocarbon tracer did not properly represent the location of the emissions from the Carbon power plants for individual 6-hr sampling periods and attributed only 3% of the particulate S and 27% of the SO₂ at the 6-hr sites in and near Big Bend to sources represented by the tracer. An alternative approach using SO₂ to tag “local” sources such as the Carbon plants attributed 10% of the particulate S and 75% of the SO2 at the 6-hr sites to local sources. Based on these two approaches, most of the regional (65–86%) and a small fraction (19–31%) of the local SO₂ was converted to particulate S. The analysis implies that substantial reductions in particulate S at Big Bend National Park cannot be achieved by only reducing emissions from the Carbon power plants; reduction of emissions from many sources over a regional area would be necessary.