Characterization of chemical properties of atmospheric aerosols over Anmyeon (South Korea), a super site under Global Atmosphere Watch

This paper reports aerosol chemical properties for the first time over a Korean Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) supersite, Anmyeon (36°32′N; 126° 19′E), during 2003–2004 period. Total suspended Particulates (TSP) showed significant seasonal variation with consistent higher mass concentrations during spring season (average of up to 230 ± 190 μg/m3). PM10 also followed similar trend with higher concentrations during spring (average of up to 170 ± 130 μg/m3) and showed reduced concentrations during summer. PM2.5 showed a significant increase during summer (average of up to 60 ± 25 μg/m3), which could be due to the influx of fine mode sea salt aerosols associated with the Changma front (summer monsoon). Chemical composition analysis showed enhanced presence of acidic fractions, majorly contributed by sulphates (SO42-) and nitrates (NO3-) in TSP, PM10 and PM2.5 during different seasons. Enhanced presence of Calcium (Ca2+) was observed during sand storm days during spring. The high correlation obtained on matrix analysis between crustal ions and acidic ions suggests that the ionic compositions over the site are mainly contributed by terrestrial sources of similar origin. The neutralization factors has been estimated to find the extend of neutralization of acidicity by main basic components, and found to have higher value for Ammonium (up to 1.1) in different seasons, indicating significant neutralization of acidic components over the region by NH4+. Back trajectory analysis has been performed during different seasons to constrain the possible sources of aerosol origin and the results are discussed in detail.