Recent developments in receptor modeling

Receptor modeling is the application of data analysis methods to elicit information on the sources of air pollutants. Typically, it employs methods of solving the mixture resolution problem using chemical composition data for airborne particulate matter samples. In such cases, the outcome is the identification of the pollution source types and estimates of the contribution of each source type to the observed concentrations. It can also involve efforts to identify the locations of the sources through the use of ensembles of air parcel back trajectories. In recent years, there have been improvements in the factor analysis methods that are applied in receptor modeling as well as easier application of trajectory methods. These developments are reviewed. Copyright (C) 2003 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.