Atmospheric source-receptor relationships: Concepts and terminology

摘要

This report reviews a number of conceptual bases for the interpretation of atmospheric source-receptor phenomena, including spatial attributes, nonlinearity, and temporal attributes. Source- receptor properties are commonly expressed and interpreted in terms of statistical parameters. Definitions of these parameters often vary from one user to the next, however, and the resulting potential for confusion suggests the need for a standard and accepted set of terms for applied use. Time-averaging is an important consideration in describing system linearity/nonlinearity as well as temporal and spatial variability. Unless expressed in terms of a conceptual model (such as a steady-state system) where a time-averaging is implied, explicit statement of the averaging time, or period of observation, is necessary for satisfactory definition of pertinent statistical features. This plus a number of additional contributing factors tend to complicate the description of source-receptor phenomena and underline the need for consistent terminology. This report provides a description of source-receptor linearity as well as several statistical measures of spatial and temporal variability in the source-receptor sequence. These are suggested for use as standard terminology in future source-receptor studies and in applied emission-control policy analyses. 8 refs., 8 figs.