European Commission
DeltaSA
  • Glossary
Delta tool for Source ApportionmentDeltaSAIt is an on-line tool to assess source apportionment model outputs. It works in two different modes. The first is the source chemical profiles similarity, the second mode consists in a complete test of the model performance (MP).
DeltaSA is an on-line tool to assess source apportionment model outputs. It works in two different modes. The first is the source chemical profiles similarity test (CPS) accomplished by comparing those obtained by the user with more than one thousand PM10/PM2.5 source measured chemical profiles from the online SPECIATE (US-EPA) and SPECIEUROPE repositories. This configuration is intended to support practitioners in the identification of factors during the execution of factor analytical tools. The second mode consists in a complete test of the model performance (MP) using a testing dataset and reference values generated in the framework of inter-comparison exercises organized by the European Commission- JRC.

The output of the source apportionment models are Source Contribution Estimates (sce), in other words, the estimation of the contribution from source categories (“candidate sources” or simply “candidates”) to the total mass of the studied pollutant(s). In the present release of the tool, are only available particulate matter testing datasets. The minimum data required for the chemical profiles similarity test are the chemical profiles for each candidate source, reporting the mass concentration of every species, plus the mass concentration (in the same unit mass) of the total pollutant (e.g. PM10 or PM2.5) apportioned by the user to each candidate source. For the model performance tests, the result of the source apportionment study on a testing dataset associated with a specific intercomparison exercise (provided in the tool), is required. A complete source apportionment result consists of: a) the chemical profiles (in general µg/m3 with the exception of INTERCOMP1 for which ng/m3 are needed), b) the time series of source contribution (µg/m3) for each candidate source, c) the uncertainty of the chemical profiles (µg/m3) and d) the contribution of candidate sources to every single chemical species in the profiles (“contribution-to-species”, in %). The first two set of parameters are essential while the last two are optional.
Download CSVDownload XLS
The DeltaSA input files can be either .csv (comma delimited) or xls/xlsx (excel) format. For a better understanding on how to prepare the source apportionment model output to be uploaded in the DeltaSA tool, an example of input data is provided for the two tool modes by clicking the buttons on the right.