Abstract
The aerosol concentrations of ionic components were measured on a daily basis from a coastal monitoring site located at Kosan, Cheju Island from 26 September to 5 October 1997 as a field-intensive for a LRTAP project The chemical species we investigated include most of important inorganic species (i.e., Cl-, NO3-, F-, SO42-, Na+, NH4+, and K+) and some organic species (i.e. formats, acetate, and methanesulfonate (MSA) ions). The concentration data of those important inorganic and organic species obtained during this study were evaluated to properly address their chemical and physical characteristics. Most of major inorganic components including sulfate, sodium, chloride, and potassium ions exhibited very conservative relationships with each other such that the concentration ratios of any pair are quite analogous to that of seawater ratio. Since the oceans serve as the major sources of ionic constituents, their concentration changes appear to be senstively reflected by the factors affecting air-sea processes such as an increase in wind speed or changes in wind direction. A comparative analysis of sulfur-containing species such as seasalt (SS) and nonseasalt (NSS) sulfate and MSA were also made to assess the factors influencing the S cycling. An evaluation of NSS/SS ratios suggests that most of sulfate be associated with NSS fraction rather than 55 one. The finding of lower MSA/NSS-SO42- ratio along with a line of physical evidence such as intrusion of anthropogenically affected air mass suggests that the oxidation of S species have been promoted under the conditions encountered during the study period. Finally, the concentration data of carboxylic species (such as formats and acetate ions) were also analyzed. Although the existence of temporal trends were difficult to assess, these data indicate that their contribution to the precipitation acidity may not be significant enough.
