Abstract
This study investigated the source categories and emission areas of carbonaceous aerosols transported from East Asia to the East China Sea. Mass concentrations of heavy metals, ionic components, organic carbon, and elemental carbon (EC) were measured at the Cape Hedo Atmosphere and Aerosol Monitoring Station in Okinawa, Japan, throughout 2010. The relative influences of different categories of aerosols were determined by positive matrix factorization, and the source regions of each emissions category were evaluated by using the total potential source contribution function. Five source categories were identified: dust, sea salt and nitrate, secondary species, coal combustion, and oil combustion. The results showed that the major source of aerosols in North China is coal combustion, whereas the major source in South China, Japan, and Korea is oil combustion. The relative contributions of the five sources to EC concentrations at Cape Hedo were dust 7.0%, sea salt and nitrate 19.1%, secondary species 28.5%, oil combustion 12.8%, and coal combustion 32.6%. In particular, wintertime coal combustion in residential areas of North China contributed significantly to EC in 2010. The results also indicate that the contribution of coal combustion in source areas was higher in winter (52%), whereas the contribution of oil combustion was higher in spring (33%).
Highlights
Elemental carbon (EC), known as black carbon, originates from incomplete combustion of fuel during anthropogenic activities such as fossil fuel combustion, biomass burning, and biofuel burning for cooking and heating
The results indicate that the contribution of coal combustion in source areas was higher in winter (52%), whereas the contribution of oil combustion was higher in spring (33%)
Carbonaceous aerosols and heavy metal concentrations measured at Cape Hedo, Okinawa, in 2010 showed that concentrations of both metallic elements and ionic components in aerosols were high during spring and winter but low during summer
Summary
Elemental carbon (EC), known as black carbon, originates from incomplete combustion of fuel during anthropogenic activities such as fossil fuel combustion, biomass burning, and biofuel burning for cooking and heating. Reported As Ramana et al (2010) reported: Fossil-fuel-dominated blackcarbon plumes were approximately 100% more efficient warming agents than biomass-burning-dominated plumes. At present in Asia, under the auspices of the Atmospheric Brown Cloud (ABC) project of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), ABC observatories have been established to investigate the long-term effects of aerosols on climate in East Asia and South Asia (Lee et al, 2007; Miyazaki et al, 2007; Ramanathan et al, 2007; Stone et al, 2007). Observations by the Cheju ABC Plume Monsoon Experiment made during summer 2008 have been used to determine the dependence of the warming (or cooling) effect of ABCs on the source of the black carbon (Flowers et al, 2010; Ramana et al, 2010). Aerosols transported from East Asia to the East China Sea are known
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