This study is divided into two works included in this issue. They tackle the characterization of different properties and aspects related to the atmospheric aerosol. Both share the same geographical domain, which is the Madrid area. The first one addresses the identification of the main sources of this type of pollution, based on receptor models that use the chemical composition and the typical profile of each source. For that, the chemical composition of the two size fractions PM10 and PM2.5, of great interest form the air quality point of view, has been characterized at three different sites. The main sources and their contribution to aerosol mass have been identified by applying a factor analysis followed by a multilinear regression analysis. The main sources of the atmospheric aerosol inhaled in Madrid are: traffic, crustal material, marine aerosol, a secondary inorganic background and in any particular case, some industrial source besides the biomass burning from forest wild fires. The second part of this study (Pujadas et al., 2009) is focused on the characterization of aerosol transport and transformation processes through the utilization of continuous monitoring techniques of some of its physical-chemical properties.
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