The concentration levels of gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) in ambient air have been investigated from a monitoring station located in Yang Jae district of Seoul, Korea for a long-term period covering 1997 through 2002. The mean concentration of Hg, if computed based on its hourly measurement data for this six-year period, was $5.32\pm3.53 ng m^{-3} (N = 27,170)$. The inspection of the diurnal distribution patterns indicated the presence of notably high concentration levels during nighttime relative to daytime (e.g., the mean hourly value as high as $9 ng m^{-3}$ in winter nighttime). When divided seasonally, the highest mean of $6.12 ng m^{-3}$ was also observed during winter followed by spring, fall, and summer. The results of our analysis confirmed the relative dominance of winter (seasonally) or nighttime (diurnally), while exhibiting a complicated trend on a long-term basis. Examination of our data over a different temporal scale consistently indicated that dynamic changes in Hg concentrations occurred through time in line with changes in the strength and diversity of the source processes. It is thus acknowledged that the presence of unusually high Hg levels is the consequence of intense man-made activities, while such signatures can vary in a competitive manner.

Atmospheric concentrations of PCBs were monitored in Ansung-city, Kyonggi province during the 2001/2002 to characterize the concentration distribution and seasonal variation of particle polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Average concentration of particle bound PCB showed maximum value for penta-CBs and minimum value for octa-CBs. Seasonal contributions $(%\)$ of total particle PCBs showed the highest value in winter months and lowest value in summer month, This result indicated that concentration of total particle PCBs increased with decreasing temperature in the atmosphere. Therefore, particle PCBs were easily formed by the condensation of gas phase PCBs in winter months. The total particle PCBs exhibited an inverse correlation with temperature (p<0.01) which suggested that particle PCBs were easily formed by condensation of gaseous PCBs in winter months.

Size distribution of particulate water-soluble ion components was measured at Gosan, Korea using a micro-orifice uniform deposit impactor (MOUDI). Sulfate, ammonium, and nitrate showed peaks in three size ranges; Sulfate and ammonium were of dominant species measured in the fine mode ($D_{p} < 1.8 {\mu}m$). One peak was observed in the condensation mode ($0.218\sim0.532{\mu}m$), and the other peak was obtained in the droplet mode ($0.532\sim1.8{\mu}m$). Considering the fact that the equivalent ratios of ammonium to sulfate ranged from 0.5 to 1.0 in these size ranges, it is inferred that they formed sufficiently neutralized compounds such as ($NH_{4})_{2}SO_{4} and (NH_{4})_{3}H(SO_{4})_{2}$ during the long-range transport of anthropogenic pollutants. On the other hand, nitrate was distributed mainly in the coarse mode ($3.1\sim6.2{\mu}m$) combined with soil and sea salt. Two sets of MOUDI samples were collected in each season. One sample was collected when the concentrations of criteria air pollutants were relatively high, but the other represented relatively clean air quality. The concentrations of sulfate and ammonium particles in droplet mode were the highest in winter and the lowest in summer. When the air quality was bad, the increase of nitrate was observed in the condensation mode ($0.218\sim0.282{\mu}m$). It thus suggests that the nitrate particles were produced through gas phase reaction of nitric acid with ammonia. Chloride depletion was remarkably high in summer due to the high temperature and relative humidity.

It is well perceived that micrometeorological approach is one of the most reliable method for the quantification of vertical fluxes of trace components in the atmosphere. In this study, the feasibility of relaxed eddy accumulation (REA) method is discussed with respect to its reliability in the field application. Knowing that the use of micrometeorological approaches requires validation of analytical uncertainties involved, the problems and issues associated with its application are discussed to stimulate the proper employment of such technique in the field study.