• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.303-312
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• 2011

Data on the energy usage including biomass, emissions of air pollutants ($SO_x$, $NO_x$, CO), and the air quality in North Korea are analyzed. The energy usage in North Korea has decreased in the 1990s and thus, the emission amount of air pollutants. Coal and biomass constitute a major fraction of energy sources since the 1990s. It is identified that the emission amount of air pollutants per unit energy consumption in North Korea is much higher than South Korea for the period data are available (since 1990) implying that the air pollutant emission management system in North Korea is inadequate. In particular, the amount of biomass burning for household cooking and heating is significant with the huge emissions of air pollutants such as CO and organic species both in the gas and aerosol phase. Furthermore, it is found that the existing energy usage and air pollutant emission data are not consistent in biomass burning related data.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.97-109
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• 2007

Vertical distribution and optical properties of atmospheric aerosols above the Korean peninsula are quite important to estimate effects of aerosol on atmospheric environment and regional radiative forcing. For the first time in Korea, vertical microphysical properties of atmospheric aerosol obtained by inversion algorithm were analyzed based on optical data of multi-wavelength Raman lidar system developed by the Advanced Environmental Monitoring Research Center (ADEMRC), Gwangju Institute Science and Technology (GIST). Data collected on 14 June 2004 at Gwangju ($35.10^{\circ}N,\;126.53^{\circ}E$) and 27 May 2005 at Anmyeon island ($36.32^{\circ}N,\;126.19^{\circ}E$) were used as raw optical data for inversion algorithm. Siberian forest fire smoke and local originated haze were observed above and within the height of PBL, respectively on 14 June 2004 according to NOAA/Hysplit backstrajectory analysis. The inversion of lidar optical data resulted in particle effective radii around $0.31{\sim}0.33{\mu}m$, single scattering albedo between $0.964{\sim}0.977$ at 532 nm in PBL and effective radii of $0.27{\mu}m$ and single scattering albedo between $0.923{\sim}0.924$ above PBL. In the case on 27 May 2005, biomass burning from east China was a main source of aerosol plume. The inversion results of the data on 27 May 2005 were found to be particle effective radii between $0.23{\sim}0.24{\mu}m$, single scattering albedo around $0.924{\sim}0.929$ at 532 nm. Additionally, the inversion values were well matched with those of Sun/sky radiometer in measurement period.

• 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.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.159-172
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• 2019

To investigate the influence of pollution events on the chemical composition and formation processes of aerosol particles, 24-h integrated size-segregated particulate matter (PM) was collected during the fall season at an urban site of Gwangju, Korea and was used to determine the concentrations of mass, water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) and ionic species. Furthermore, black carbon (BC) concentrations were observed with an aethalometer. The entire sampling period was classified into four periods, i.e., typical, pollution event I, pollution event II, and an Asian dust event. Stable meteorological conditions (e.g., low wind speed, high surface pressure, and high relative humidity) observed during the two pollution events led to accumulation of aerosol particles and increased formation of secondary organic and inorganic aerosol species, thus causing $PM_{2.5}$ increase. Furthermore, these stable conditions resulted in the predominant condensation or droplet mode size distributions of PM, WSOC, $NO_3{^-}$, and $SO{_4}^{2-}$. However, difference in the accumulation mode size distributions of secondary water-soluble species between pollution events I and II could be attributed to the difference in transport pathways of air masses from high-pollution regions and the formation processes for the secondary chemical species. The average absorption ${\AA}ngstr{\ddot{o}}m$ exponent ($AAE_{370-950}$) for 370-950 nm wavelengths > 1.0 indicates that the BC particles from traffic emissions were likely mixed with light absorbing brown carbon (BrC) from biomass burning (BB) emissions. It was found that light absorption by BrC in the near UV range was affected by both secondary organic aerosol and BB emissions. Overall, the pollution events observed during fall at the study site can be due to the synergy of unfavorable meteorological conditions, enhanced secondary formation, local emissions, and long-range transportation of air masses from upwind polluted areas.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.124-138
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• 2017

Physico-chemical measurement of non-refractory submicron particles($NR-PM_1$) was conducted in Baengnyeong Island, Korea using Aerodyne High Resolution Time of Flight Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (HR-ToF-AMS) from 2012 to 2014. Organics and ammoniated sulfate were dominant species in $NR-PM_1$. The organics was found to have similar fractions(approximate 40%) of $NR-PM_1$ during the summer and winter, while the sulfate fractions of $NR-PM_1$ were calculated to be approximately 47% and 31% for the summer and winter, respectively, suggesting the possibility that particles provide non-acidic surfaces for condensation of nitric acid in the winter. The nitrate fractions of approximate 4% and 20% of $NR-PM_1$ were observed in August (summer) and November (winter), respectively, resulting that the relatively low concentration of sulfate in $NR-PM_1$ provided a non-acidic surface for nitric acid condensation and formation of particulate ammoniated nitrate is favored thermodynamically in winter. The new particle formation (NPF) event and particle growth rate were analyzed for each month in 2014 using Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer(SMPS). The Percent of NPF events was the highest in winter, but NPF event was not observed during summer due to relatively high temperature and frequent rainfall. The average particle growth rate was 3.5 nm/h and the highest particle growth rate was 5.5 nm/h in May. We observed the long-range transport of the anthropogenic sulfate from the East Asia during the intensive monitoring period of November between Qingdao and Baengnyeong Island in 2013. The relatively high concentrations of m/z 60 measured in HR-ToF-AMS was observed in May and June at Baengnyeong Island, suggesting the possibility of the influence of biomass burning from the East Asia to the Korean Peninsula.

• Particle and aerosol research
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.135-144
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• 2018

Based on a two-year measurement data, major sources for the ambient carbonaceous aerosols at the Anmyeon Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) station were identified by using the Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) model. The particulate matter less than or equal to $2.5{\mu}m$ in aerodynamic diameter (PM2.5) aerosols were sampled between June 2015 to May 2017 and carbonaceous species including ~80 organic compounds were analyzed. When the number of factors was 5 or 6, the performance evaluation parameters showed the best results, With 6 factor case, the characteristics of transported factors were clearer. The 6 factors were identified with various analyses including chemical characteristics and air parcel movement analysis. The 6 factors with their relative contributions were (1) anthropogenic Secondary Organic Aerosols (SOA) (10.3%), (2) biogenic sources (24.8%), (3) local biomass burning (26.4%), (4) transported biomass burning (7.3%), (5) combustion related sources (12.0%), and (6) transported sources (19.2%). The air parcel movement analysis result and seasonal variation of the contribution of these factors also supported the identification of these factors. Thus, the Anmyeon Island GAW station has been affected by both regional and local sources for the carbonaceous aerosols.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.431-446
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• 2018

In this study, chemical characteristics of $PM_{2.5}$ samples collected in an agricultural area in Nonsan of Korea were investigated focusing on of black carbon, 3 inorganic ions and 22 trace elements. It was found that the relative error and relative standard deviation of many trace elements fell below 10%, which indicates good analytical accuracy and precision. The mean values of $PM_{2.5}$ in an agricultural area were exceeded by new Korean air quality standard of March 2018. The concentration of $PM_{2.5}$ was well correlated with those of black carbon and ions. The concentrations of trace elements were in a wide range of seven orders of a magnitude. Based on these $PM_{2.5}$ data sets, a total of 6 sources were identified using PMF (Positive Matrix Factorization; secondary aerosol (34.4%), soil/road dust (20.1%), biomass burning (16.9%), incineration/fuel combustion (13.2%), vehicle exhaust(12.2%), sea-salt (3.17%). Results of our study indicate that it is very important to control illegal burning activities in agricultural area.

• Proceedings of the KSRS Conference
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• 2007.10a
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• pp.298-301
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• 2007

Vertical distribution and optical properties of atmospheric aerosols above the Korean peninsula are quite important to estimate effects of aerosol on atmospheric environment and regional radiative forcing. For the first time in Korea, vertical microphysical properties of atmospheric aerosol obtained by inversion algorithm were analyzed based on optical data of multi-wavelength Raman lidar system developed by the Advanced Environmental Monitoring Research Center (ADEMRC), Gwangju Institute Science and Technology (GIST). Data collected on 14 June 2004 at Gwangju ($35.10^{\circ}N$, $126.53^{\circ}E$) and 27 May 2005 at Anmyeon island ($36.32^{\circ}N$, $126.19^{\circ}E$) were used as raw optical data for inversion algorithm. Siberian forest fire smoke and local originated haze were observed above and within the height of PBL, respectively on 14 June 2004 according to NOAA/Hysplit backstrajectory analysis. The inversion of lidar optical data resulted in particle effective radii around 0.32 ${\mu}m$, single scattering albedo between 0.97 at 532 nm in PBL and effective radii of 0.27 ${\mu}m$ and single scattering albedo of 0.92 above PBL. In the case on 27 May 2005, biomass burning from east China was a main source of aerosol plume. The inversion results of the data on 27 May 2005 were found to be particle effective radii between 0.24 ${\mu}m$, single scattering albedo around 0.91 at 532 nm. Additionally, the inversion values were well matched with those of Sun/sky radiometer in measurement period.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.520-529
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• 2015

The ambient $PM_{2.5}$ samples were collected by $PM_{2.5}$ sampler from September 2010 to December 2012 at Daegu University, Gyeongsan. A total of 260 samples were collected and 27 species were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma, ion chromatography, and thermal optical reflectance methods. Factor analysis identified four sources such as biomass burning source/secondary aerosol source, soil source, industry source, and incinerator source/mobile source. Also, backward trajectories were calculated using HYSPLIT 4 (Hybrid single-particle lagrangian integrated trajectory) model and PSCF (Potential source contribution function) model was applied to identify the possible source locations of carbonaceous species and water soluble ions species. PSCF results showed that the possible source locations of most chemical constituents measured in Gyeongsan were the industrial areas in the eastern coast of China, northeast regions of China, the Gobi Desert, and east sea of Korea.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.685-695
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• 2004

Size-segregated measurements of aerosol composition are used to estimate the transport of natural and anthropogenic aerosols at Gosan site during May 2002. The results of measurement show that not only soil dust but also anthropogenic aerosols, including sulfur and enriched trace metals such as Pb, Zn, Cu, are transported to Gosan. This study combines the size- and time-resolved aerosol composition measurements with factor analysis in order to identify some source materials. As a result, coarse particles (2.5${\mu}m$~12${\mu}m$) are influenced by soil, sea-salt, coal, coal combustion, and nonferrous sources. But fine particles have different sources. The fine particles, which the diameter is from 0.56${\mu}m$ to 2.5${\mu}m$, are more affected by road dust, oil combustion, industry. municipal incineration, and ferrous metal sources. The very fine particles, from 0.09${\mu}m$ to 0.56${\mu}m$, mainly supplied by biomass burning, oil combustion, nonferrous and ferrous metal sources.