• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.722-733
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• 2013

Ground-based measurements were conducted from August 25 to September 8 of 2011 for understanding characteristics of carbonaceous aerosols measured at Gosan. Chemical components and their sources were discussed by analysis of organic compounds with identification of primary and secondary products in particulate matter. Thus, organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) based on the carbonaceous thermal distribution (CTD), which provides detailed carbon signature characteristics relative to analytical temperature, was used to improve the carbon fractionation of the analytical method. In addition, organic compounds by gas chromatography technique with the backward trajectories were discussed for characteristics of carbonaceous aerosols. Different air-masses were classified related to the OC thermal signatures and the organic molecular markers such as aromatic acids and PAHs. We concluded that the aging process was influenced by the long-range transport from East Sea area.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.259-268
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• 2018

The $PM_{2.5}$ samples were collected for every 6th day during one year at a suburban site in the Namwonsi, Jeollanamdo, Republic of Korea. Samples were analyzed for elemental carbon (EC), organic carbon (OC), and water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC), and levoglucosan. Although the water-soluble fraction of fine particulate OC consistently showed over a year, levoglucosan fraction of WSOC varied considerably from month to month. In this study, non-biomass-burning WSOC ($WSOC_{NBB}$) and biomass-burning $WSOC_{BB}$ were calculated with measurements of organic source tracer, levoglucosan, to better understand the temporal distribution and sources of WSOC. Two methods of predicting the secondary organic carbon from the biomass-burning $WSOC_{BB}$ Method and the EC-tracer Method were compared. Poor correlations between SOC estimated between two methods suggested that the use of the EC tracer method to estimate SOC may be significantly flawed. Direct measurements of levoglucosan and WSOC can provide a reasonable estimate of secondary organic carbon concentrations.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.237-250
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• 2013

At Gosan ABC superstation in Jeju Island, we measured organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) in $PM_{2.5}$ from October 2009 to June 2010 using a Sunset Laboratory Model-4 Semi-Continuous OC/EC Field Analyzer. It employs TOT (Thermal-Optical-Transmittance) method with NIOSH 5040 protocol and enables to continuously monitor OC and EC concentrations with 1-hour time resolution. The mean values of OC and EC for the entire period of measurements were $2.1{\pm}1.4{\mu}g/m^3$ and $0.7{\pm}0.6{\mu}g/m^3$, respectively. The OC/EC ratio was 3 and EC accounted $25{\pm}2.1%$ of total carbon (TC, TC=OC+EC). Although OC and EC showed similar trend in seasonal variation, the ratio of OC to EC was the highest in early summer when temperature was the highest and the air was affected by biomass burning in the southern part of China. In winter, the high OC and EC concentrations were likely influenced by increased coal combustion from residential heating. The high OC and EC concentrations were observed during events such as haze, dust, and the combination of the two. During the haze events, OC and EC were enhanced with increase in $PM_{10}$, $PM_{2.5}$, $SO_2$, and $NO_2$ with broad maxima. When dust occurred, both OC and EC started decreasing after reaching their maxima a couple of hours before $PM_{10}$ maximum. The peak separation of carbonaceous species and aerosol masses with time was more noticeable when haze event was followed by dust plume. These results confirm that OC and EC are key components of haze occurring in the study region.

• Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.102-111
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• 2009

In this study, Particulate carbon were determined from 1990 to 1995. The annual variation were investigated. The sampling was carried out using high volume air sampler. Average concentrations of EC and OC during the yellow sand event were $25.70{\mu}g/m^3$ and $13.91{\mu}g/m^3$, respectively, $22.10{\mu}g/m^3$ and $10.33{\mu}g/m^3$ during the non-yellow sand event. TC concentration of TSP were 10.7% during the yellow sand event and 20.6% during the non-yellow sand event. Average concentration rate of EC and OC of TC were 64.9% and 35.1%, respectively during the yellow sand event, 67.6% and 32.4% during the non-yellow sand event.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.578-592
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• 2015

To investigate characteristics and seasonal variations of carbonaceous species for $PM_{2.5}$ in Seoul metropolitan area, Korea, we measured organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) from January 2014 to December 2014 using a semi-continuous OC/EC Analyzer (Model-4, Sunset Lab.). Mean concentrations of OC and EC were estimated $4.1{\pm}2.7{\mu}g/m^3$ and $1.6{\pm}1.0{\mu}g/m^3$, respectively. The annual averaged OC/EC ratio was $2.9{\pm}2.7$. Concentrations of OC and EC comprised 13% and 5% of $PM_{2.5}$ and the mass fraction of both was the highest in fall. OC and EC showed similar trend in seasonal variations. Concentrations of those showed a clear seasonal variation with the highest in winter and the lowest in summer. The correlations between the two were the best during the winter ($r^2=0.88$). As results of carbonaceous species analysis, the dominant factor in view of fine particle ($PM_{2.5}$) is primary emission source such as mobile, fossil fuel combustion during commute time(08:00~10:00 or 17:00~21:00) and winter season. Continuous monitoring of atmospheric carbonaceous species is essential to provide the science-based data to policy-maker establishing the air quality improvement policy.

• Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.66-77
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• 2015

In order to survey the seasonal variation of the chemical composition of particulate matter of $2.5{\mu}m$ or less ($PM_{2.5}$), $PM_{2.5}$ was sampled from 8 February 2013 to 31 March 2014 in an industrial area of Chiba Prefecture, Japan. Chemical measurements of the sample included: ionic components ($Na^+$, $NH_4{^+}$, $Ca^{2+}$, $Mg^{2+}$, $K^+$, $Cl^-$, $NO_3{^-}$ and $SO_4{^{2-}}$), carbonaceous components - organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC), and water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC). Also, secondary organic carbon (SOC) was measured based using the EC tracer method, and char-EC and soot-EC were calculated from the analytical results. The data obtained were interpreted in terms of temporal variation. Of the overall mean value of $PM_{2.5}$ mass concentration obtained during the study period, ionic components, OC and EC accounted for 45.3%, 19.7%, and 8.0%, respectively. $NO_3{^-}$ showed a unique seasonal distribution pattern due to a dependence on temperature and absolute humidity. It was estimated that an approximate temperature of $14^{\circ}C$, and absolute humidity of $7g/m^3$ were critical for the reversible reaction of $NH_4NO_3(p){\leftrightharpoons}NH_3(g)+HNO_3(g)$. The amount of OC and EC contributing to the monthly $PM_{2.5}$ mass concentration was higher in autumn and winter compared to spring and summer. This result could be attributed to the impact of burning biomass, since WSOC and the ratio of char-EC/soot-EC showed a similar pattern during the corresponding period. From the comparison of monthly WSOC/OC values, a maximum ratio of 83% was obtained in August (summer). The WSOC and estimated SOC levels derived from the EC tracer method correlated (R=0.77) in summer. The high occurrence of WSOC during summer was mainly due to the formation of SOC by photochemical reactions. Through long-term observation of $PM_{2.5}$ chemical components, we established that the degree to which the above-mentioned factors influence $PM_{2.5}$ composition, fluctuates with seasonal changes.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.277-289
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• 2019

Herein, a case study discussing the effect of carbonaceous aerosol pollution, which is emitted during the charcoal kiln manufacturing processes or carbonization processes, on the atmospheric environment is presented . In South Korea, in situ analysis of different charcoal production plants specialized in the production of charcoal sauna indicate that the emitted organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) aerosols are significantly influenced by the nature of the biomass and technological processes, i.e., treatment or emissions abatement systems for the exhaust effluent gases. In detail, total carbon (TC), which is calculated as the sum of OC and EC emission factors, varied widely from a charcoal production site to another ranging from 21.8 to 35.8 gTC/kg-oak, where the mean value for the considered production sites was approximately 28 gTC/kg-oak (N = 7 and sum = 196.4). Results indicate that the emission factors from a modern charcoal production process in South Korea are quantitatively lower in comparison with the traditional kiln. This study aims to propose advanced wood processes for the production of charcoal from the viewpoint of environmental protection policy and green engineering.

• Particle and aerosol research
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.89-102
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• 2013

24-hr $PM_{2.5}$ samples were collected from January 19 through February 27, 2009 at an urban site of Gwangju and analyzed to determine the concentrations of organic and elemental carbon(OC and EC), water-soluble OC(WSOC), eight ionic species($Na^+$, $NH^{4+}$, $K^+$, $Ca^{2+}$, $Mg^{2+}$, $Cl^-$, ${NO_3}^-$ and ${SO_4}^{2-}$), and 22 elemental species. Haze phenomena was observed during approximately 29%(10 times) of the whole sampling period(35 days), resulting in highly elevated concentrations of $PM_{2.5}$ and its chemical components. An Asian dust event was also observed, during which $PM_{2.5}$ concentration was 64.5 ${\mu}g/m^2$. Crustal materials during Asian dust event contributed 26.6% to the $PM_{2.5}$, while lowest contribution(5.1%) was from the haze events. OC/EC and WSOC/OC ratios were found to be higher during haze days than during other sampling days, reflecting an enhanced secondary organic aerosol production under the haze conditions. For an Asian dust event, enhanced concentrations of OC and secondary inorganic components were also found, suggesting the further atmospheric processing of precursor gases during transport of air mass to the sampling site. Correlations among WSOC, EC, ${NO_3}^-$, ${SO_4}^{2-}$, and primary and secondary OC fractions, which were predicted from EC tracer method, suggests that the observed WSOC could be formed from similar formation processes as those of secondary organic aerosol, ${NO_3}^-$ and ${SO_4}^{2-}$. Results from principal component analysis indicate also that the observed WSOC was strongly associated with formation routes of the secondary organic and inorganic aerosols.

• Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.246-258
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• 2012

Particulate matter deposited on leaf surfaces may cause erosion/abrasion of epicuticular wax and the malfunction of stomata. However, the deposition processes of particulate matter, such as elemental carbon (EC), has not been studied sufficiently in Asian forest ecosystems. Deposition processes for particulate ${SO_4}^{2-}$ and EC were studied in a Japanese cedar forest in Kajikawa, Niigata Prefecture, Japan, and in a dry evergreen forest and a dry deciduous forest in Sakaerat, Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand. The ${SO_4}^{2-}$ fluxes attributed to rainfall outside the forest canopy (RF), throughfall (TF), and stemflow (SF) showed distinct seasonalities at both sites, increasing from November to February at the Kajikawa site and in March/April at the Sakaerat site. Seasonal west/northwest winds in winter may transport sulfur compounds across the Sea of Japan to the Kajikawa site. At the Sakaerat site, pollutants suspended in the air or dry deposits from the dry season might have been washed away by the first precipitations of the wet season. The EC fluxes from RF and TF showed similar variations by season at the Kajikawa site, while the flux from TF was frequently lower than that from RF at the Sakaerat site. Particulate matter strongly adsorbed onto leaf surfaces is not washed away by rainfall and contributes to the EC flux. At the Kajikawa site, Japanese cedar leaf surfaces accumulated the highest levels of particulate matter and could not be neglected when calculating the total flux. When such leaf-surface particles were considered, the contribution of dry deposition to the total EC flux was estimated to be 67%, 77%, and 82% at the Kajikawa site, and at the evergreen and deciduous forests of the Sakaerat site, respectively. Leaf-surface particles must be included when evaluating the dry and total fluxes of particulate matter, in particular for water-insoluble constituents such as EC.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.345-355
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• 2015

Carbonaceous compounds in the atmospheric particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of less than or equal to a nominal $10{\mu}m$ ($PM_{10}$) were analyzed for the samples collected during the period of August 2006 to August 2007 at Jongro in Seoul. A total 18 dicarboxylic acids (DCAs) and levoglucosan, as well as organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC), and water soluble organic carbon (WSOC), were analyzed. Distinctive seasonal patterns of the concentrations of OC, EC, and WSOC including levoglucosan were observed with the highest concentrations in winter and the lowest concentrations in summer. In addition, OC, WSOC, and most of DCAs showed also higher concentration in summer than in winter. Using the seasonal patterns and relevant indicative ratios (WSOC/EC and $OC_{sec}/OC_{tot}$) of the carbonaceous compounds, it was verified that (1) primary emission sources were elevated in winter, and (2) the formation of secondary OC increased due to the prompted photochemical reaction in summer. Results from this study also suggest that some organic compounds were likely attributed to longrange transport.