Characterization of Organic Aerosol Particles Observed during Asian Dust Events in Spring 2010

Seung Shik Park,Sung Yong Cho

doi:10.4209/aaqr.2012.06.0142

Seung Shik Park, Sung Yong Cho

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.2012.06.0142

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Abstract

Between 20 March and 4 April, 2010, 24-hr PM2.5 measurements were carried out at an urban site in Gwangju, Korea, to examine the variations in the composition of its chemical constituents among dust storm (DS) events, haze pollution, and typical sampling (TS) conditions. A very heavy Asian DS (DS1) and a minor DS (DS2) occurred at the site on 20 and 23 March, 2010, respectively. The concentrations of organic matter, NO3–, SO42–, and the predicted crustal material made a contribution to the observed PM2.5 of 12.9, 9.7, 12.9, and 36.9% for DS1, 23.8, 17.1, 9.9, and 29.7% for DS2, and 24.9, 20.2, 10.3, and 17.6% for the haze event, respectively. Over the study period, the water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC)/OC and hydrophilic WSOC (WSOCHPI)/WSOC ratios ranged from 0.35 to 0.54 and from 0.15 to 0.61, respectively, with the highest ratios occurring during DS1. The concentration of WSOCHPI during DS1 was about 2–3 times higher than that during the TS period. The strong correlation between WSOC/OC and WSOCHPI/WSOC (R2 = 0.84) clearly indicates that the increase in the WSOC/OC ratio can be attributed to the increased concentration of WSOCHPI, suggesting that the aerosol sample collected during DS1 was more aged or atmospherically processed than the samples collected during the TS. In addition to the association between the WSOC/OC and WSOCHPI/WSOC ratios, strong correlations between the oxalate and SO42– concentrations (R2 = 0.74), and between the WSOCHPI and SO42– concentrations (R2 = 0.69), suggest that the WSOCHPI observed at the site was produced by atmospheric transformation processes similar to those seen with SO42– and oxalate. In contrast, the hydrophobic WSOC (WSOCHPO) concentration dominated in the other sampling periods, except for DS1, and accounted for 71.1–84.7% of WSOC. Based on the results of previous studies, the higher WSOCHPO/WSOC ratio during the TS indicates that the primary combustion emissions were important sources of the WSOCHPO fraction at this site.

Highlights

The Asian continent is an important source of atmospheric aerosols and the increasing occurrence of Asian dust storms (DSs) has led to severe problems such as poor air quality, visibility degradation, respiratory illness, and damage to animals, plants, crops, historical buildings, monuments and industrial activities (Lee et al, 2006)
100 ± 10% was recovered for all elements, except Si, of which about 65% ± 10% was recovered. These results indicate that our analytical techniques for the determination of the elemental composition of atmospheric aerosols were reliable
The results indicated that the WSOCHPI fraction included aliphatic dicarboxylic acids and carbonyls (< 4 carbons), amines and saccharides, while WSOCHPO included aliphatic dicarboxylic acids (> 4–5 carbons), phenols, aromatic acids and cyclic acid, as well as Suwannee River fulvic acid

Summary

Introduction

The Asian continent is an important source of atmospheric aerosols and the increasing occurrence of Asian dust storms (DSs) has led to severe problems such as poor air quality, visibility degradation, respiratory illness, and damage to animals, plants, crops, historical buildings, monuments and industrial activities (Lee et al, 2006). 24-hr PM2.5 samples were collected between 20 March and 4 April 2010 at an urban site in Gwangju, Korea, and used to determine the concentrations of PM2.5 mass, elemental species, OC and elemental carbon (EC), ionic species, oxalate, WSOC, and two isolated water-soluble OAs. During the measurement period, the very strong DS1, a minor DS (DS2), and haze pollution event occurred on 20, 23 and 24 March 2010, respectively.

Results

Conclusion