Observation of difference in the size distribution of carbon and major inorganic compounds of atmospheric aerosols after the long-range transport between the selected days of winter and summer

Abstract

This paper presents the results from a study conducted in two urban areas in Korea to compare the size distributions of atmospheric aerosols, focusing on carbonaceous and certain major inorganic compounds, after long-range transport between selected days in winter and summer. Size segregated aerosols were sampled for 3 consecutive days each in February and July, 2004, and were analyzed to obtain the 24-h averaged concentrations of total mass, elemental carbon, organic carbon, nitrate, and sulfate. Backward trajectories from the receptor site on the sampling days were calculated to estimate the elapsed time for the air parcel to travel between Wonju and the Seoul metropolitan area. The averaged elapsed time on the sampling days was 3–12 h in the winter and 10–19 h in the summer. The enrichment of fine particles as expressed in particulate matter (PM) 2/(PM 10–PM 2) was higher in the summer as compared to that in the winter. Size-fractionized concentration ratios of the organic to the elemental carbon at Wonju were two times as high as those at Seoul except for the particles with size <0.5 μm. This increasing trend was in proportional to the length of the elapsed time during the summer. Ultrafine particles in the summer were further enriched in carbon compounds, particularly in organic carbons and those in winter more enriched in the sulfates and nitrates. The mass fractions of organic carbon, elemental carbon, sulfate and nitrate became more significant with the decrease in the particle size.