Abstract
The concentrations of dimethylsulfide (DMS) were determined using samples collected from a station located at Kosan, Cheju Island during two field campaigns held in December 1996 and January 1997. The atmospheric DMS concentrations measured at 6-hr intervals during the entire campaign periods, after excluding a few extreme values, spanned in the range of 14 to 410 pptv with mean and 1 SD value of 127 $\pm$ 94 pptv (N=42). Between two month periods during which the field campaigns were conducted, a notable reduction in DMS levels was observed which was comparable to the dramatic shift in air temperature. A considerable difference was also noted in DMS levels, when data were grouped by day/night basis. The cause of unexpected, high day-to-night DMS ratios is best explained in terms of high efficiency of daytime source processes relative to low efficiency of nighttime sink processes due to the characteristics of the study location. The surface water DMS of the study site, although scarcely measured, also behaved similarly to its atmospheric counterpart with its range from 0.3 to 19 nM (N=11). When correlation analysis was conducted between the atmospheric DMS concentration and other concurrently determined parameters, significant correlations were observed from most basic meteorological parameters such as windspeed, relative humidy, and air temperature. However, the existence of "not-so-strong" correlations between air temperature and DMS concentrations relative to other ones indicated that the effect of temperature on DMS behavior must be reflected in more complicated manners at the study site. The sea-to-air flux of DMS was approximated through an application of the mass-balance flux calculation method of Wylie and de Mora (1996) under the assumption that sink mechanism within the marine boundary layer is in steady-state condition with its counterpart, source mechanism. Based on this estimation method, we reached a conclusion that oceanic DMS emitted from the southwest sea of the Korean Peninsula can amount to approximately 9 $\sim$ 36 Gg S $yr^{-1}$.$yr^{-1}$.
