Annual PAH Emissions for the Athabasca Oil Sands Region

Regional distributions of annual emissions for 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and 21 Alkylated PAHs were developed for the Athabasca oil sands region (AOSR) in northern Alberta, Canada, covering an area of approximately 300 by 420 km2. The dataset, provided by Environment and Climate Change Canada, is intended for use in air quality modeling studies to assess the cumulative environmental impacts of oil sands industrial activities. The emission inventory was validated by comparing dispersion model simulations with passive sampling measurements collected at 17 monitoring sites.

Use Cases

• Air quality modeling studies based on annual emissions of 37 PAH compounds.
• Assessing cumulative environmental impacts of oil sands activities based on regional emission distributions.
• Validating dispersion models based on passive sampling measurements from 17 monitoring sites.
• Analyzing spatial patterns of hydrocarbon pollution based on emissions estimated from VOC and PM data.

Strengths

• Covers a defined region of approximately 300 by 420 km2.
• Emissions inventory validated against measurements from 17 monitoring sites.
• Includes emissions for 37 distinct PAH and Alkylated PAH compounds.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

Environment and Climate Change Canada

Collection Method

Gas-phase emissions estimated from VOC emissions; particle-phase emissions estimated from PM emissions using U.S. EPA SPECIATE database and recent literature.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-15 15:14:57.291660; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Athabasca oil sands region (AOSR), Alberta, Canada, spanning 114°W–110°W and 55°N–59°N.