Aerosol Characteristics at Tokchok Island in the Yellow Sea

Various air pollutants were measured at Tokchok Island in the Yellow Sea that is about 50 km distant from Incheon since April 1999. This study was undertaken to help understanding the level of air pollution and its distribution characteristics over the Yellow Sea. The geographical characteristics of the air pollution monitoring station and emission inventories of Tokchok Island are introduced. The mass concentrations and chemical compositions of TSP and P $M_{2.5}$ measured until March 2000 are discussed in this paper. The overall average mass concentrations are about 37.2 $\mu\textrm{g}$/㎥ for TSP and 18.7 $\mu\textrm{g}$/㎥ for P $M_{2.5}$ , respectively, which are similar to or a little lower than the values observed in other background sites at Kangwha and Taean. However, they are much lower than those observed at Qingdao in China. The low mass concentration and major anthropogenic ion concentrations in aerosols collected at Tokchok Island show that local sources are not dominant at Tokchok Island. The estimated average fractions of anthropogenic non-sea-salt sulfate to the total sulfate concentration of TSP and P $M_{2.5}$ are greater than 80% for both sizes. It hence suggests that the sulfate be mainly affected by anthropogenic sources. If we consider the average mass ratio of P $M_{2.5}$ to TSP, the mass fractions of anthropogenic species to P $M_{2.5}$ , and the molar ratio of nss S $O_4$$^{2-}$ to total N $O_{3-}$, it may be possible to infer that a part of anthropogenic species measured at Tokchok Island be transported from China. The characteristics of neutralization of nss S $O_4$$^{2-}$ and the particle size of major ions are also discussed.

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