Based on the analysis of the pollution characteristics in the hourly data (January 2015-December 2023) of atmospheric particulate matter in Korla of the northeastern Tarim Basin, the backward trajectory model of HYSPLIT, cluster analysis, potential source contribution factor (PSCF), and concentration weight trajectory (CWT) were used to analyze the main transport pathways and potential source regions of PM10, and also revealed the potential source distributions and contribution levels of PM10 in different seasons in Korla during the study period. The results showed that the annual average values of PM2.5 and PM10 in 2015-2023 in Korla were 47.7±20.0 μg·m-3 and 162.2±102.4 μg·m-3, respectively, exceeding the national annual average secondary concentration limits by 132% and 36.3%. The PM10 was the main pollutant. The PM2.5/PM10 value was the lowest in spring (0.29) and the highest in winter (0.47), and the overall PM2.5/PM10 value showed a decreasing trend. The airflow transport path mainly came from the short west wind flow, followed by the east irrigation airflow from Turpan Basin. The Tarim Basin was the main contributing source area of particulate matter in Korla throughout the year, and the contribution level of particulate matter concentration was higher in spring and winter, and lower in summer and autumn. It is important for Korla to prevent the impact of sand and dust aerosols from the Tarim Basin on air quality, followed by the east-flooding airflow from the Turpan Basin and the west-flooding airflow from Central Asia.
Keywords:atmospheric particulate matter;cluster analysis;potential source contribution factor;concentration-weighted trajectory;Korla