Characterization of Wintertime Atmospheric Aerosols in Seoul Using PIXE and Supplementary Analyzers

  • Ma, Chang-Jin (Energy and Environment, Graduate School of Energy Science, Kyoto University, Japan) ;
  • Mikio Kasahara (Energy and Environment, Graduate School of Energy Science, Kyoto University, Japan) ;
  • Hwang, Kyung-Chul (Department of Environmental Science, Dong-Nam Health College) ;
  • Yeo, Hyun-Gu (Department of Environmental Engineering, Kon-Kuk University) ;
  • Park, Kum-Chan (Division of Earth & Environmental Engineering, Dong-A University)
  • Published : 2000.05.01

Abstract

Particle Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) and Elemental Analysis Syztem (EAS) were applied to the investiga-tion of the Characteristics and sources of wintertime atmospheric aerosols in Seoul. Atmospheric aerosols were collected by both fine and coarse fractions using a two-stage filter pack sampler from Kon-Kuk university during the winter season of 1999. PIXE was applied to the analysis of the middle and heavy elements with atomic numbers greater than 14(Si) and EAS was applied to the measurement of the light elements such as H, C and N. The fact that 64.2% of mass of fine particles in Seoul consists of the light elements (N, C , and H) suggests that the measurement of light elements is extremely important. The average mass concentration is Seoul was 38.6$\mu\textrm{g}$m(sup)-3. Elements such as Ca, Fe, Mg, and Ti appeared to have very low Fine/Coarse ratios(0.1∼0.4), whereas che-mical components related to anthropogenic sources such as Br, V, Pb, and Zn were observed to accumulate in the fine fraction. In the Asian Dust Storm(ADS) event, the concentation of soil components increased dramatically. Reconstruction of the fine mass concentrations estimated by a newly revised simple model was fairly in good agreement with the measured ones. Source identification was attempted using the enrichment factor and Pearsons coefficient of correlation. The typical elements derived from each source could be classified by this method.

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