Data analysis tools for high time-resolved measurements to study air pollution chemistry

The widespread application of high time-resolved atmospheric observations to studying the impact of air pollution on human health and the environment has been limited by a lack of transparent and broadly accessible data analysis tools. The objective of this dissertation was to develop methods of using high time-resolved measurements of fine atmospheric particulate matter and elemental mercury to study air pollution source- receptor relationships.;A method for directly comparing light-absorption measurements generated by the two most commonly-used black carbon (BC) instruments, the Particle Soot Absorption Photometers (PSAP) and the Aethalometer, was developed. A technique for observing changes in the specific attenuation cross-section of ambient aerosols, an indicator of aerosol sources and aging, was also developed using a combination of thermal/optical and light-absorption measurements of elemental carbon (EC).;Methods for examining the temporal and spatial variability of aerosols sources in urban environments were developed that utilized measurements of carbonaceous aerosols and associated source tracers. Application of these methods in two cities in the Midwestern United States: Cleveland, Ohio and Detroit, Michigan, demonstrated that the relationship between urban and rural concentrations of fine particulate matter is more complex then has previously been represented in the literature. Measurements of the water-soluble fraction of organic carbon (WSOC) and levoglucosan, an established tracer for fine particulate emissions from biomass burning, were used to develop a relatively straightforward technique for estimating the contribution of secondary organic aerosols (SOA) and biomass burning to fine organic particulate matter.;Observations of atmospheric mercury were used to develop methods for observing boundary layer dynamics in the Los Angeles Basin. These methods demonstrated that the unique combination of meteorology, geography, and mercury sources in the Basin could be used to directly observe the break-up of the nocturnal inversion layer throughout Greater Los Angeles.;The impact of local sources of metals in particles was studied in East St. Louis, Illinois, and Methods were developed for using single-particle mass spectral data obtained from the Aerosol Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (ATOFMS) to identify point sources and to estimate their impact on the concentrations of toxic and environmentally relevant metals.