Transfer Matrices From the AES‐LRT Model

Abstract

The Canadian Atmospheric Environment Service (A ES) Long‐ Range Transport (LRT) model has been used in the Canada‐United States Memorandum of Intent programme to compute transfer matrices in order to quantify the source‐receptor relationships between emission regions and selected receptor sites. Four‐day backward trajectories were computed from the selected sites for the year 1978 and were started from the 925‐mb level(～600 m). The Lagrangian concentration / deposition model computed sulphur concentrations and depositions for 9 receptor sites using an emissions inventory divided into 15 Canadian and25 United States emission regions.

The 40×9 source‐receptor matrices show that the greatest impact on a receptor site usually results from an emission region close to the site although the regions giving the greatest impact for air concentration and wet deposition are not necessarily identical. In addition, the matrices show the impacts of all the emission regions on all of the receptor sites ranked by the magnitudes of the matrix elements. The per cent contribution from each emission region at each receptor site is shown as well as the overall per cent contributions from both Canada and the United States.

These matrices are an attempt to quantify source‐receptor relationships in Canada and the United States for assessing emission control strategies. The uncertainties associated with the matrices are being studied.