Composition and Pollution Characteristics of Precipitation in Jeju Island, Korea for 1997–2015

Jun-Oh Bu,Jung-Min Song,Won-Hyung Kim,Chang-Hee Kang,Hee-Jung Ko

doi:10.3390/atmos12010025

Jun-Oh Bu, Jung-Min Song + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12010025

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Abstract

This study focuses on the long-range chemical composition and pollution characteristics of precipitation components. Samples were collected from Jeju Island in 1997–2015, and their major ionic components were analyzed. Comparison of ion balance, electrical conductivity, and acid fraction of precipitation samples yielded correlation coefficients in the range of 0.937–0.980. The volume-weighted mean pH and electrical conductivity of the wet precipitation of the Jeju area were 4.81 and 21.7 μS/cm, respectively. Ionic strengths of the wet precipitation samples were within the range of 0.24 ± 0.26 mM, indicating that more than 30% of the total precipitation satisfied the pure precipitation criterion. Of the total precipitation in the Jeju area, 44% exhibited a pH in the range of 4.5–5.0, indicating weak acidity. The composition of sea salts and secondary pollutants in the precipitation were 56.8% and 28.7%, respectively, indicating that the precipitation in the Jeju area was affected by the surrounding coastal area. The acidity contributions by inorganic and organic acids were 92.3% and 7.7%, respectively, whereas, the neutralization factors for ammonia and calcium carbonate were 47.0% and 20.0%, respectively. Clustered back trajectory analysis indicates that the concentrations of most ionic components were higher in the airflow pathways to the Jeju area.

Highlights

IntroductionThe chemical composition of rainwater depends to a large extent on the chemical composition of the atmosphere
Precipitation is known to cause considerable damage to ecosystems and to contaminate soils and lakes by transporting the pollutants in the atmosphere to the Earth’s surface [1].The chemical composition of rainwater depends to a large extent on the chemical composition of the atmosphere
Becauseprecipitation precipitationcomponent component analysis requires the measurement of dissolved components, the results may vary significantly depending on the methods of collection trace components, the results may vary significantly depending on the methods of coland storage samples, pretreatment procedures, and analysis

Summary

Introduction

The chemical composition of rainwater depends to a large extent on the chemical composition of the atmosphere. Several factors, such as the type and distribution of atmospheric aerosol sources, the local and remote transportation of gases, the removal of chemical species by rain, and micro–meteorological factors, control the concentration of chemical species in precipitation [2,3]. The removal mechanisms of atmospheric pollutants caused by precipitation are classified as rainouts and washouts. A washout is a belowcloud scavenging process by which atmospheric pollutants are absorbed and adsorbed by the generated raindrops as they fall to the ground; this is known to be mainly affected by local factors [6,7]

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