NARSTO EPA Supersite: Pittsburgh Particulate Matter Composition, Summer 2001

Between June 30 and September 1, 2001, particulate matter composition data was collected in Pittsburgh during the Pittsburgh Air Quality Study. The dataset includes measurements of PM2.5 and PM10 nitrate, sulfate, organic and elemental carbon, water-soluble species, and elemental composition from various manual and semi-continuous instruments. It was produced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration as part of the NARSTO EPA Supersite program.

Use Cases

• Modeling source contributions to urban air pollution based on measured PM2.5 and PM10 elemental composition.
• Analyzing seasonal or diurnal patterns of organic and elemental carbon concentrations from semi-continuous measurements.
• Studying aerosol size distributions and chemistry using data from the MOUDI cascade impactor and fog chemistry measurements.
• Validating new atmospheric monitoring techniques against the manual filter-based measurements described.
• Investigating relationships between water-soluble aerosol species and gaseous precursors using the CMU steam sampler data.

Strengths

• Data collection covers a focused, intensive summer monitoring period from June 30 to September 1, 2001.
• Description specifies ten distinct measurement types, including PM2.5/PM10 elements, carbon, ions, size distributions, and fog chemistry.
• Data originates from a designated supersite in an urban park, designed for multi-disciplinary investigation.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is from a single summer in 2001; temporal and geographic generalizability may be limited.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Ambient monitoring at a central supersite and satellite sites using manual filter collection, semi-continuous analyzers, cascade impactors, and specialized samplers.

Time Range

June 30, 2001 to September 1, —2001

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-12 23:57:33.619490; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Pittsburgh region, Pennsylvania, USA. Central site located in a park approximately 6km east of downtown.