Abstract
It is important to estimate the effects of the long-range transport of atmospheric pollutants for efficient and effective strategies to control air quality. In this study, the contributions of trans-boundary transport to the mean concentrations of SO2, NO2, CO, and PM10 in Seoul, Korea from 2001 to 2014 were estimated based on the conditional potential source contribution function (CPSCF) method. Eastern China was found to be the major source of trans-boundary pollution in Seoul, but moderate sources were also located in northeastern China. The contribution of long-range transport from Japan was negligible. The spatial distributions of the potential source contribution function (PSCF) values of each pollutant showed reasonable consistency with their emission inventory and satellite products. The PSCF values of SO2 and PM10 from eastern China were higher than those of NO2 and CO. The mean concentrations of SO2, NO2, CO, and PM10 in Seoul for the period from 2001 to 2014 were 5.34, 37.0, and 619.1 ppb, and 57.4 4 μg/m3, respectively. The contributions of long-range transport to the mean concentrations of SO2, NO2, CO, and PM10 in Seoul were 0.74, 3.4, and 39.0 ppb, and 12.1 μg/m3, respectively, which are 14%, 9%, 6%, and 21% of the mean concentrations, respectively. The annual mean concentrations of SO2 and NO2 followed statistically significant increasing linear trends (0.5 and 1.6 ppb per decade, respectively), whereas the trends in the annual mean concentrations of CO and PM10 were statistically insignificant. The trends in the ratio of the increased concentrations associated with long-range transport to the annual mean concentrations of the pollutants were statistically insignificant. However, the results indicate that the trans-boundary transport of SO2, NO2, CO, and PM10 from eastern China consistently affected air quality in Seoul over the study period (2001–2014). Regionally, the effects of the long-range transport of pollutants from Beijing and Harbin-Changchun on air quality in Seoul have become more significant over this period.
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