Kelly Sabaliauskas

Mass Absorption Cross-Section of Ambient Black Carbon Aerosol in Relation to Chemical Age

Three differing techniques were used to measure ambient black carbon (BC) aerosols in downtown Toronto through 20 December 2006 to 23 January 2007. These techniques were thermal analysis, as performed by a Sunset Labs OCEC Analyzer (OCEC); light attenuation, as performed by an Aethalometer (AE); and photoacoustic analysis, as performed by a Photoacoustic Instrument (PA). These measurements of ambient PM 2.5 were used to investigate the effects of coating thickness on BC Mass Absorption Cross-section (MAC). MAC values were determined by comparing 880 nm and 370 nm AE measurements and PA measurements of b abs (absorption coefficient, Mm–1) to the OCEC measurements. Based on mass size distributions and supporting criteria, the PM 2.5 was classified as fresh, semi-aged, or aged. The average MAC values in these categories, based on the PA measurements, were 9.3 ± 1.8, 9.9 ± 2.0, and 9.3 ± 2.2 m 2 /g (mean ± standard deviation), respectively, suggesting that any difference in coating thickness as a result of aging, on the time scale observed, did not produce a difference in MAC. In a second type of experiment, a thermodenuder was installed upstream of the AE, PA, and OCEC and samples were heated to 340°C in order to evaporate volatile and semi-volatile components within the coating. Based on the PA measurements, the average MAC values of these heated samples, for the fresh, semi-aged, and aged categories were 7.7 ± 2.2, 6.9 ± 2.2, and 9.1 ± 2.0 m 2 /g, respectively. Similar differences in MAC were also observed by the AE. The decrease in MAC in the fresh and semi-aged samples was interpreted in terms of the degree of coating of the PM 2.5 . Results agreed well with predictions made by absorption amplification theory and had ramifications for calibration of filter-base attenuation and photoacoustic instruments.

Field Measurements of Gasoline Direct Injection Emission Factors: Spatial and Seasonal Variability.

Four field campaigns were conducted between February 2014 and January 2015 to measure emissions from light-duty gasoline direct injection (GDI) vehicles (2013 Ford Focus) in an urban near-road environment in Toronto, Canada. Measurements of CO2, CO, NOx, black carbon (BC), benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene-xylenes (BTEX), and size-resolved particle number (PN) were recorded 15 m from the roadway and converted to fuel-based emission factors (EFs). Other than for NOx and CO, the GDI engine had elevated emissions compared to the Toronto fleet, with BC EFs in the 73rd percentile, BTEX EFs in the 80-90th percentile, and PN EFs in the 75th percentile during wintertime measurements. Additionally, for three campaigns, a second platform for measuring PN and CO2 was placed 1.5-3 m from the roadway to quantify changes in PN with distance from point of emission. GDI vehicle PN EFs were found to increase by up to 240% with increasing distance from the roadway, predominantly due to an increasing fraction of sub-40 nm particles. PN and BC EFs from the same engine technology were also measured in the laboratory. BC EFs agreed within 20% between the laboratory and real-world measurements; however, laboratory PN EFs were an order of magnitude lower due to exhaust conditioning.

A year-long comparison of particle formation events at paired urban and rural locations

Ultrafine particle size distribution data were collected in downtown Toronto and rural Egbert from May 2007 to May 2008. Particle formation events were observed in both locations and contributed to increased concentrations of particles less than 25 nm in diameter. These events were more frequent in spring and fall and rarely occurred in winter. Stronger solar radiation and drier air were correlated with the occurrence of formation events at both locations. Nucleation events occurred simultaneously at both sites on 10% of the days, and these events involved a shared air mass. Half of these simultaneous events were associated with northern air masses and only a quarter with southerly air masses. The higher loading of aged particles in southerly air masses transported from upwind industrial sectors appeared to limit the occurrence of nucleation events. Formation events occurred less frequently in downtown Toronto than at the rural site, and the frequency was lower on weekdays. It is hypothesized that vehicular emissions were responsible for the suppression of nucleation events in downtown Toronto.

Handling inequality constraints in direct search optimization

The use of homotopic continuation, where the constraints are relaxed initially by a constraint relaxation parameter δ, can overcome the difficulty of obtaining feasible solutions for highly constrained optimization problems. During optimization, δ is systematically reduced in size until finally δ is put equal to zero. This then corresponds to the original optimization problem and an approximate optimal solution is now available. For refinement of this approximate solution, the active inequalities are identified and the optimization problem is reformulated so that the active inequalities are used as equalities. This simplifies the optimization problem and enables the optimal solution to be obtained very accurately. The viability of this two-step procedure is tested with several problems.

Metro Commuter Exposures to Particulate Air Pollution and PM2.5-Associated Elements in Three Canadian Cities: The Urban Transportation Exposure Study

System-representative commuter air pollution exposure data were collected for the metro systems of Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver, Canada. Pollutants measured included PM2.5 (PM = particulate matter), PM10, ultrafine particles, black carbon, and the elemental composition of PM2.5. Sampling over three weeks was conducted in summer and winter for each city and covered each system on a daily basis. Mixed-effect linear regression models were used to identify system features related to particulate exposures. Ambient levels of PM2.5 and its elemental components were compared to those of the metro in each city. A microenvironmental exposure model was used to estimate the contribution of a 70 min metro commute to daily mean exposure to PM2.5 elemental and mass concentrations. Time spent in the metro was estimated to contribute the majority of daily exposure to several metallic elements of PM2.5 and 21.2%, 11.3% and 11.5% of daily PM2.5 exposure in Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver, respectively. Findings suggest that particle air pollutant levels in Canadian metros are substantially impacted by the systems themselves, are highly enriched in steel-based elements, and can contribute a large portion of PM2.5 and its elemental components to a metro commuters daily exposure.