• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.349-359
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• 2016

Researchers have traditionally assumed that aerosol particles containing secondary organic aerosols (SOAs) are to be in liquid state with low viscosity even at low relative humidity. However, recent measurements showed that SOAs can have high viscosity under certain conditions. Herein, new different techniques for measurements of viscosities of SOA particles are introduced. Moreover, laboratory studies for the viscosities and the phases of biogenic SOAs produced by ${\alpha}$-pinene, isoprene, limonene, and ${\beta}$-caryophyllene of atmospheric relevance are reviewed. Future studies for determination of the phases of atmospheric aerosol particles are also suggested.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.131-157
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• 2016

A smog chamber has been an effective tool to study air quality, particularly secondary organic aerosol (SOA), which is typically formed by atmospheric oxidation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). In controlled environments, smog chamber studies have validated atmospheric oxidation by identifying, quantifying and monitoring products with state-of-art instruments (e.g., aerosol mass spectrometer, scanning mobility particle sizer) and provided chemical insights of SOA formation by elucidating reaction mechanisms. This paper reviews types of smog chambers and the current state of smog chamber studies that have accomplished to find pathways of SOA formation, focusing on gas-particle partitioning of semivolatile products of VOC oxidation, heterogeneous reactions on aerosol surface, and aqueous chemistry in aerosol waters (e.g., cloud/fog droplets and wet aerosols). For future chamber studies, then, this paper discusses potential formation pathways of fine particles that East Asia countries (e.g., Korea and China) currently suffer from due to massive formation that gives rise to fatal health problems.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.823-832
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• 2004

Atmospheric aerosol particles collected in Seoul on four single days, each in every seasons of 2001, were characterized and classified on the basis of their chemical species using low-Z particle electron probe X-ray microanalysis (low-Z particle EPMA). Low-Z particle EPMA technique can analyze both the size and the chemical species of individual aerosol particles of micrometer size and provide detailed information on the size distribution of each chemical species. The major chemical species observed in Seoul aerosol were aluminosilicate, silicon dioxide, calcium carbonate, organic, carbon-rich, marine originated, and ammonium sulfate particles, etc. The soil originated species, such as aluminosilicate, silicon dioxide, and calcium carbonate were the most popular in the coarse fraction, meanwhile, carbonaceous and ammonium sulfate were the dominant species found in the fine fraction. Marine originated species such as sodium nitrate was frequently encountered, up to 30% of the analyzed aerosol particles.

• Particle and aerosol research
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.43-54
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• 2021

Size distributions of atmospheric particulate matter (PM) and its water-soluble organic and inorganic components were measured between January and February 2021 at an urban site in Gwangju in order to identify the major factors that determine their size distributions. Their size distributions during the study period were mainly divided into two groups. In the first group, PM, NO₃^-, SO₄^2-, NH₄⁺ and water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) exhibited bi-modal size distributions with a dominant condensation mode at a particle size of 0.32 ㎛. This group was dominated by local production of secondary water-soluble components under atmospheric stagnation and low relative humidity (RH) conditions, rather than long-range transportation of aerosol particles from China. On the other hand, in the second group, they showed tri-modal size distributions with a very pronounced droplet mode at a diameter of 1.0 ㎛. These size distributions were attributable to the local generation and accumulation of secondary aerosol particles under atmospheric conditions such as atmospheric stagnation and high RH, and an increase in the influx of atmospheric aerosol particles by long-distance transportation abroad. Contributions of droplet mode NO₃^-, SO₄^2-, NH₄⁺ and WSOC to fine particles in the second group were significantly higher than those in the first group period. However, their condensation mode contributions were about two-fold higher in the first group than in the second group. The significant difference in the size distribution of the accumulation mode of the WSOC and secondary ionic components between the two groups was due to the influx of aerosol particles with a long residence time by long-distance transport from China and local weather conditions (e.g., RH).

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.14 no.E
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• pp.27-40
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• 1998

The solubility characteristics of organic compounds were studied in terms of the extraction efficiency as a function of the polarity of the organic solvent, and the acidity of water in urban aerosol samples collected in University of East Anglia (UEA), Norwich, England. The extraction efficiency of organic compounds were evaluated with respect to the organic carbon, -nitrogen and -hydrogen by means of a wide range of solvent which include polar and nonpolar organic solvents as well as acids and alkaline water. In addition, after being dissolved in aqueous solution, the aqueous chemistry of organic compounds were studied in terms of the organic metal complexes in aerosol, which were studied with oxalic acid, copper, and zinc. The results of this study indicate that solubility characteristics of organic compounds depend on the polarity of the solvents and the acidity of the solvents. In particular, some organic compounds are water soluble, even though they are much smaller than acetone soluble fractions. In the comparison between polar organic solvent extraction and non- polar organic solvent extraction, it can be thought that significant fraction of organic compounds analysed in the aerosol samples, are polar organic compounds because of the higher extraction efficiencies of organic compounds in polar organic solvent extraction than in nonpolar organic solvent extraction. Regarding the study of the oxalic -metal complexes, it can be thought that most oxalic acids are present in the form of oxalic -copper complexes in the aerosols collected at UEA.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.497-507
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• 2015

Real-time and quantitative measurement of the chemical composition in ambient aerosols represents one of the most challenging problems in the field of atmospheric chemistry. In the present study, time resolved application by Aerosol-into-Mist System (AIMS) following by total organic carbon analyzer (TOC) has been developed. The unique aspect of the combination of these two techniques is to provide quantifiable water soluble organic carbon (WSOC) information of particle-phase organic compounds on timescales of minutes. We also demonstrated that the application of the AIMS method is not limited to water-soluble organic carbon but inorganic ion compounds. By correlating the volume concentrations by optical particle sizer (OPS), water soluble organic carbon can be highly related to the secondary organic products. AIMS-TOC method can be potentially applied to probe the formation and evolution mechanism of a variety of SOA behaviors in ambient air.

• Particle and aerosol research
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.187-197
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• 2013

To understand the characteristics of organic aerosol(OA) at the background atmosphere of Korea, an observation of atmospheric PM10 was conducted at a Global Atmospheric Watch(GAW) station operated by the Korean Meteorological Administration at Anmyon Island during 2010. Various organic compounds were analyzed from 26 samples by using a gas chromatography-mass spectrometer. Water soluble organic carbon(WSOC) was also analyzed by using a total organic carbon(TOC) analyzer. Among 6 classes with 68 target compounds detected, the classes of n-alkanoic and alkenoic acids ($326.67{\pm}75.40ngm^{-3}$) and dicarboxylic acids ($323.74{\pm}361.89ngm^{-3}$) were found to be major compound classes in the atmosphere of Anmyon Island. Compared to the previous results reported for 2005 spring samples at Gosan site, the concentrations of organic compounds at Anmyon Island were 3-10 times higher than Gosan site due to the difference of location and sampling period. The concentrations of organic compounds were varied with the atmospheric conditions. Significant increase of the concentrations of dicarboxylic and carboxylic acids in the smog episode indicated that secondary oxidation of organic compounds was major factor to increase OA concentration during smog episode in the Anmyon Island. It was found that the compositions of the OA measured at Anmyon Island were dependent on the air parcel trajectories.

• Proceedings of the Korea Air Pollution Research Association Conference
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• 2007.10a
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• pp.411-413
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• 2007

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.418-429
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• 2018

Measurements of 24-hr size-segregated ambient particles were made at an urban site of Gwangju under high pressure conditions occurred in the Korean Peninsula late in March 2018. The aim of this study was to understand the effect of air stagnation on mass size distributions and formation pathways of water-soluble organic and inorganic components. During the study period, the $NO_3{^-}$, $SO_4{^{2-}}$, $NH_4{^+}$, water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC), and humic-like substances(HULIS) exhibited mostly bi-modal size distributions peaking at 1.0 and $6.2{\mu}m$, with predominant droplet modes. In particular, outstanding droplet mode size distributions were observed on March 25 when a severe haze occurred due to stable air conditions and long range transport of aerosol particles from northeastern regions of China. Air stagnation conditions and high relative humidity during the study period resulted in accumulation of primary aerosol particles from local emission sources and enhanced formation of secondary ionic and organic aerosols through aqueous-phase oxidations of $SO_2$, $NO_2$, $NH_3$, and volatile organic compounds, leading to their dominant droplet mode size distributions at particle size of $1.0{\mu}m$. From the size distribution of $K^+$ in accumulation mode, it can be inferred that in addition to the secondary organic aerosol formations, accumulation mode WSOC and HULIS could be partly attributed to biomass burning emissions.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.179-190
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• 1992

This study was carried out to characterize sources of atmospheric total suspended particulates (TSP) in urban and sub--urban areas of metropolitan taegu. The sources were tentatively identified by a multivariate technique, i.e. principal component analysis (PCA), and the source contributions to the atmospheric concentrations of TSP were further estimated by stepwise multiple regression analysis. A total of 5 sources was identified in the urban area of Taegu (soil dust resuspension, fuel combustion, secondary aerosol, traffic related aerosol, and refuge burning), while 4 sources were found to be significant in the sub--urban area as following: fuel combustion/secondary aerosol, soil dust resuspension, traffic related aerosol, and wood/agricultural burning. The largest contributor to the atmospheric TSP appeared to be the soil dust resuspension in both areas. The source apportionment of the extractable organic matter (EOM) was also carried out for the Taegu data. The EOM was determined with respect to the solvent polarity, i.e. cyclohexane (non-polar), dichloromethane (semi--polar), and acetone (polar). In addition, the source profiles for the TSP in Taegu area were estimated using a PCA-based algorithm, and the validity was evaluated tentatively by comparing the data in the literature.