Source regions of ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulfate, and natural silicates in the surface aerosols of Moscow oblast

Abstract

Maps of potential source regions of ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulfate, and natural silicates in the surface aerosols in 2002–2005, 2010, and 2012–2015 are obtained based on measurements of the optical depth of 1–2 μm surface aerosol samples and the analysis results of backward trajectories of air parcels at the Zvenigorod scientific station (ZSS) of the A. M. Obukhov Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences. The most likely potential source regions of ammonium nitrate are in western and central Europe; those of ammonium sulfate are in southern Ukraine, southern Russia, and northwest Kazakhstan; and those of natural silicates are in the Caspian and Aral regions. The maps of potential source regions are consistent with EMEP fields of surface concentrations of nitrates and sulfates and natural aerosol concentration in PM2.5.