Importance of Anthropogenic Sources for Seasonal and Spatial Variability of Primary and Secondary Particulate Matter in Central Europe

In this study, the chemical transport model COSMO-MUSCAT (Wolke et al., 2012) is used to investigate the sources of particulate matter (PM). Model results are compared with observational data from winter and summer campaigns conducted at one site in Germany and two sites in the Czech Republic. These sites are located in a central European transition zone with a gradient from highly polluted to less polluted regions.

A non-reactive tagging approach was used to track primary organic matter (OM) and black carbon (BC) emissions by sector and country of origin at a high spatial resolution of about 2 km. In addition, sensitivity analyses were performed to assess the impact of volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions and associated secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation.

Source attribution showed that residential heating is a major contributor to primary particulate matter (PM2.5) in winter. Sensitivity tests indicated that the model likely underestimates SOA production from AVOCs emitted during wood and coal combustion. By adjusting the SOA yields and emission rates for these combustion sources, modeled OM concentrations increased by up to 40% on average at the monitoring sites.

The findings underscore the significant role of AVOC precursors in the SOA budget, which is currently underrepresented in the model. Comparison with summer campaign data provides further insights into model performance and highlights seasonal variations in PM composition and sources across this critical region of Central Europe.