title: Individual particle analysis of aerosols collected at Lhasa City in the Tibetan Plateau.
abstract: To understand the composition and major sources of aerosol particles in Lhasa City on the Tibetan Plateau (TP), individual particles were collected from 2 February to 8 March, 2013 in Tibet University. The mean concentrations of both PM2.5 and PM10 during the sampling were 25.7±21.7 and 57.2±46.7 μg/m3, respectively, much lower than those of other cities in East and South Asia, but higher than those in the remote region in TP like Nam Co, indicating minor urban pollution. Combining the observations with the meteorological parameters and back trajectory analysis, it was concluded that local sources controlled the pollution during the sampling. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) combined with energy-dispersive X-ray spectra (EDS) was used to study 408 particles sampled on four days. Based on the EDS analysis, a total of 8 different particle categories were classified for all 408 particles, including Si-rich, Ca-rich, soot, K-rich, Fe-rich, Pb-rich, Al-rich and other particles. The dominant elements were Si, Al and Ca, which were mainly attributed to mineral dust in the earth's crust such as feldspar and clay. Fe-, Pb-, K-, Al-rich particles and soot mainly originated from anthropogenic sources like firework combustion and biomass burning during the sampling. During the sampling, the pollution mainly came from mineral dust, while the celebration ceremony and religious ritual produced a large quantity of anthropogenic metal-bearing particles on 9 and 25 February 2013. Cement particles also had a minor influence. The data obtained in this study can be useful for developing pollution control strategies.
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention, Department of Environmental Science & Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China; Department of Chemistry & Environmental Science, Tibet University, Lhasa 850000, China.
authors.forename: Bu
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Duo
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention, Department of Environmental Science & Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China.
authors.forename: Yunchen
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention, Department of Environmental Science & Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China.
authors.forename: Lingdong
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention, Department of Environmental Science & Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China. Electronic address: fuhb@fudan.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Hongbo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention, Department of Environmental Science & Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China.
authors.forename: Yunjie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention, Department of Environmental Science & Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China. Electronic address: jmchen@fudan.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jianmin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Environmental Monitoring Center Station of Tibet Autonomous Region, Lhasa 850000, China.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Environmental Monitoring Center Station of Tibet Autonomous Region, Lhasa 850000, China.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Qiong
mesh_terms: D000336:Aerosols / Q000737:chemistry*; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000737:chemistry*; D002947:Cities; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000737:chemistry*; D018609:Tibet
chemical_list: D000336:Aerosols; D000393:Air Pollutants; D052638:Particulate Matter
keywords: Biomass burning; Fireworks; Individual particles; Lhasa; TEM