Concentration Variations in Particulate Matter in Seoul Associated with Asian Dust and Smog Episodes

Journal Article · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 2017 · Aerosol and Air Quality Research

DOI:https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.2016.09.0414· OSTI ID:1411024

Ghim, Young Sung ^[1]; Kim, Jin Young ^[2]; Chang, Young -Soo ^[3]

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1. Hankuk Univ. of Foreign Studies, Gyeonggi (Korea)
2. Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul (Korea)
3. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

In this study, particulate species were measured in April–May 2003 at two sites, one in the megacity of Seoul and the other in the Deokjeok Island to the west of Seoul, to examine the effects of long-range transport under the influence of prevailing westerlies. The effects of Asian dust were observed in April, and a severe smog episode occurred in late May. During May, all air pollutants showed negative correlations with wind speed at Seoul, particularly for NO₂ and CO, a large proportion of which result from vehicle emissions. SO₄^2– continued to increase in association with an inflow of air pollutants from China with heavy use of coal, with fluctuations depending on wind speed. The smog episode in late May occurred as emissions from Siberian forest fires were superimposed on pollutant inflows from China that had persisted since early May and local emissions accumulated under stagnant conditions. During the episode, Siberian forest fires increased K⁺ while local emissions primarily from vehicles increased NO₃^–, OC, and EC. The effects of an inflow of air pollutants from the outside were significant at Deokjeok, with small local emissions, resulting in substantial increases in Ca²⁺ during the Asian dust event and SO₄^2– during the smog episode, compared to those at Seoul. Because both sites were strongly influenced by the effects of long-range transport in May, PM_2.5 along with SO₄^2– and K⁺ exhibited a strong correlation between Seoul and Deokjeok.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: Korea Meteorological Administration Research and Development Program; National Research Foundation (NRF) of Korea; USDOE
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-06CH11357
• OSTI ID: 1411024
• Journal Information: Aerosol and Air Quality Research, Journal Name: Aerosol and Air Quality Research Journal Issue: 12 Vol. 17; ISSN 1680-8584
• Publisher: Chinese Association for Aerosol Research in Taiwan
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
Asian dust
Coal combustion
Local emissions
Long-range transport
Russian forest fires
Siberian forest fires