• Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.57-65
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• 2015

We measured the concentrations of five aromatic hydrocarbons (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, m,p-xylene, and styrene) in the atmosphere during four seasonal campaigns at Deokjeok and Jeju Islands in the Yellow Sea from October 2005 to June 2006. Toluene was the most abundant aromatic hydrocarbon, with median of 0.24 ppb at Deokjeok and 0.20 ppb at Jeju, followed by benzene (0.21 ppb, 0.15 ppb) and m,p-xylene (0.06 ppb, 0.06 ppb). Aromatic hydrocarbon measurements exhibited the typical seasonality of the major emission sources, such as vehicle exhaust, solvent evaporation, and regional circulation patterns. The ratios of m,p-xylene/ethylbenzene of 1.57 at Deokjeok and 1.05 at Jeju reflected the degree of proximity to outflows of each source region, South Korea and China. The toluene/benzene ratios of 1.0 were consistently both on field observations and on the 3-D chemical model simulation, which is slightly higher than that in the Western Pacific area. It implied that the air over the Yellow Sea was influenced to a great extent by the surrounding areas. We confirmed that current emission inventories of aromatic hydrocarbons in Northeast Asia reasonably reproduced temporal and spatial variations of toluene and benzene over the Yellow Sea.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.501-511
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• 2008

The Objective of this study is to examine the characteristic of fine aerosol $(PM_{2.5})$ obtained at Ieodo Ocean Research Station, which lies between the eastern part of China and the south western part of Korea. The average mass concentration of $PM_{2.5}$ was $21.5{\pm}17.0{\mu}g/m^3$ during June $2004{\sim}June 2006$. The concentration was the highest in winter $(34.8{\mu}g/m^3)$ and lowest in summer $(16.5{\mu}g/m^3)$. Water soluble ions were measured for samples collected from December 2004 to September 2005. Among them, $SO_4^{2-}\;and\;NH_4^+$ were the most abundant species and accounted for 32.2% and 14.2% of the $PM_{2.5}$ mass, respectively. The mass fraction of $SO_4^{2-}$ was higher in winter (42%) than in spring (26%). Nitrate concentrations were much lower than those of sulfate due mainly to evaporation during sampling period. The cluster analysis of backward airmass trajectories showed that the high mass loadings $(26.9{\mu}g/m^3\;on\;average)$ were associated with air originating inland China. Also, the seasonal variation of $PM_{2.5}$ mass was well correlated with the frequency of westerly winds passing through the western part of China. During the ABC-EAREX2005 (March 2005), $PM_{2.5}$ mass and major ionic concentrations were higher at Ieodo, compared with $PM_{2.5}$ measurements at Gosan while they were similar in variation pattern. These results suggested that $PM_{2.5}$ mass and its ionic composition of Ieodo Ocean Research Station were greatly influenced by continental outflows from China.