PM10 Mass Concentration at Keumgangsan, North Korea - from September 2007 to May 2008 -

Abstract

As dust storms originated in Neimongu Plateau and Manchuria became more frequent in Korea, there was a growing need for Asian Dust (Hwangsa) monitoring stations in North Korea, which is a pathway of Asian Dust to South Korea. The South Korean and the North Korean Governments agreed to build the Automatic Weather System and the PM10 measurement instruments in the Gaeseong Industrial Zone and the Keumgangsan Tourist Region, North Korea in 2007. PM10 mass concentration data in the Keumgangsan Tourist Region could be collected only during the period from September 2007 to May 2008. In this study, daily, monthly and diurnal variations of PM10 mass concentration of the Keumgangsan are analyzed and compared with those of Sokcho and Gwangdeoksan. Three sites show similar variations in daily and monthly means. Correlation coefficients (r) between Sokcho and Keumgangsan, and between Gwangdeoksan and Keumgangsan are 0.89 and 0.67, respectively. But diurnal variation at Keumgangsan has a distinct feature compared to the other sites. Diurnal PM10 variation shows two peaks around 8 AM and 4-5 PM and very low at night. The difference between the daily maximum and minimum is during September to November 2007. Temperature, relative humidity and wind speed from the Keumgangsan AWS data were compared with those from the Changjon station, and showed good correlation each other except wind speed.