Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Meteorological Modes Of Variability For Fine Particulate Matter (Pm2.5) Air Quality In The United States: Implications For Pm2.5 Sensitivity To Climate Change, A. P K. Tai, L J. Mickley, D J. Jacob, E M. Leibensperger, L Zhang, J A. Fisher, H. O T. Pye

Jenny A Fisher

We applied a multiple linear regression model to understand the relationships of PM2.5 with meteorological variables in the contiguous US and from there to infer the sensitivity of PM2.5 to climate change. We used 2004–2008 PM2.5 observations from ~1000 sites (~200 sites for PM2.5 components) and compared to results from the GEOS-Chem chemical transport model (CTM). All data were deseasonalized to focus on synoptic-scale correlations. We find strong positive correlations of PM2.5 components with temperature in most of the US, except for nitrate in the Southeast where the correlation is negative. Relative humidity (RH) is generally positively correlated with sulfate …