An Analysis of Aerosol Optical Properties around Korea using AERONET

This study investigates long-term trends and characteristics of aerosol optical depth ($\tau_a$) and Angstrom exponent (${\AA}$) around Korea in order to understand aerosol effects on the regional climate change. The analysis period is mainly from 1999 to 2006, and the analysis sites are Anmyun and Gosan, the background monitoring sites in Korea, and two other sites of Xianghe in China and Shirahama in Japan. The annual variations of $\tau_a$ at Anmyun and Gosan have slightly systematic increasing and decreasing trends, respectively. $\tau_a$ at Anmyun shows more substantial variation, probably because of it's being closer and vulnerable to anthropogenic influence from China and/or domestic sources than Gosan. Both values at Gosan and Anmyun are approximately 1.5 times greater than those at Shirahama. The monthly variation of $\tau_a$ exhibits the highest values at late Spring and the lowest at late-Summer, which are thought to be associated with the accumulation of fine aerosol formed through the photochemical reaction before the Jangma period and the scavenging effect after the Jangma period, respectively. Meanwhile, the episode-average $\tau_a$ for the Yellow dust period increases 2 times greater than that for the non-Yellow dust period. A significant decrease in ${\AA}$ for the Yellow dust period is attributable to an increase in the loading of especially the coarse particles. Also we found no weekly periodicity of $\tau_a$'s, but distinct weekly cycle of $PM_{10}$ concentrations, such as an increase on weekdays and a decrease on weekends at Anmyun and Gosan. We expect these findings would help to initiate a study on aerosol-cloud interactions through the combination of surface aerosol and satellite remote sensing (MODIS, Calipso and CloudSat) in East Asia.

지상원격관측(AERONET)을 통한 한반도 주변 에어로솔 광학특성 분석