AAAR 33rd Annual Conference
October 20 - October 24, 2014
Rosen Shingle Creek
Orlando, Florida, USA
Abstract View
The Characteristics of Long-range Transboundary Inorganic Secondary Aerosols in Northeast Asia
YOO JUNG KIM, Gregory Carmichael, Jung-Hun Woo, Zhang Qiang, Young Sunwoo, Young-il Ma, University of Iowa
Abstract Number: 299 Working Group: Remote and Regional Atmospheric Aerosols
Abstract Northeast Asia is suffering recurrently severe air pollution issue due to large amounts of anthropogenic emissions. The emitted compound influences downwind region by long-range transboundary transport. Most of SO2 and NOx emissions come from the industrialized regions along the East China coast. The Korean Peninsula is located on the eastern edge of the continent of Asia and lies in a belt of prevailing westerlies. Korea is a suitable location for studying the interaction of emissions from the Northeast Asia region. According to many previous studies, the long-rang transport of air pollutants contributes to Korean, but there are many uncertainties regarding the impact of long-range transport.
Inorganic secondary aerosols (sulfate, nitrate and ammonium) are dominant ionic contributors to Particle matter. High relative contributions of inorganic secondary aerosols appear under westerly wind cases at Korea. The major pathway of inorganic secondary aerosols production is converting from SO2 and NOx during the long-range transport, but the contribution varies dramatically depending on season and wind pattern. So far, sulfate is the primary contributor to PM2.5, but nitrate levels are increasing because that NOx emissions in China are increasing dramatically since 2000 due to the growth in power, industry, and transport sector, while SO2 emissions are trending downward since 2005.
We will present inorganic secondary aerosol characteristics of PM2.5 by westerly long-range transport, tracking their transport pattern, and production pathway in order to better understand regional air quality modeling of the long-range transport. This study will be performed based on the international study, MICS-Asia phase III, initiated with many researchers. Results using CMAQ with the modeling domain covering Northeast and Southeast China, Korea, and Japan with 15km resolution will be discussed.