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Abstract In a situation where various policy measures can be used to reduce atmospheric particulates, effectiveness and efficiency may vary depending on how the policy is designed. Therefore, this study evaluated the effectiveness and efficiency of atmospheric particulates reduction policy in order to contribute to effective and efficient policy design. To this end, this study demonstrated the effectiveness of 1st Basic Plan on Metropolitan Area Air Quality Improvement and explored the cause of the effectiveness. As a result of the study, this study did not confirm that the effect of reducing PM10 caused by the plan in the metropolitan area was significantly different from that of the non-metropolitan area where the policy was not implemented. In particular, distinct effect was not confirmed on the installation of DPF, which required a large number of costs. Based on the results, more effective and efficient policy measures will be used based on the causal relationship of atmospheric particulates generation.

Abstract This study aims to estimate the amount of air pollutants emitted from heavy industrial facilities in North Korea. The heavy industry sector in North Korea was classified according to the South Korean definition, and the air pollutant emissions that it generated were estimated for 2017. Emissions of carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and sulfur oxides (SOx) by the heavy industry sector in North Korea were 22, 73, and 31%, respectively, of those in South Korea’ air pollutant emissions. Moreover, the CO, NOx, and SOx emissions comprised 0.6, 124, and 24%, respectively, of the total air pollutant emission in North Korea estimated from the Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research version 5.0 (EDGAR v5.0). Geographically, the NOx emissions were concentrated in the western part of North Korea, while CO and SOx were concentrated in North Hamgyong Province.

Abstract The organic carbon in the ambient particulate matter (PM) is divided into primary organic carbon (POC) and secondary organic carbon (SOC) by their formation way. To regulate PM effectively, the estimation of the amount of POC and SOC separately is one of the important consideration. Since SOC cannot be measured directly, previous studies have evaluated the determination of SOC by the Elemental Carbon (EC) tracer method. The EC tracer method is a method of estimating the SOC value from calculating the POC by determining (OC/EC)pri which is the ratio of the measured values of OC and EC from the primary combustion source. In this study, three different approaches were applied to OC and EC concentrations in PM2.5 measured at Seoul for determining (OC/EC)pri: 1) the minimum value of OC/EC ratio during the measurement period; 2) regression analysis of OC vs. EC to select the lower 5-20% OC/EC ratio; 3) determining the OC/EC ratio which has lowest correlation coefficient value (R2) between EC and SOC which is reported as minimum R squared method (MRS). Each (OC/EC)pri ratio of three approaches are 0.35, 1.34, and 1.77, respectively from the 1-h data. We compared the (OC/EC)pri ratio from 1-h data with 24-h data and revealed that (OC/EC)pri estimated from 24-h data had twice larger than 1-h data due to the low time resolution of sampling. We finally confirmed that the most appropriate value of (OC/EC)pri is that calculated by a regression analysis of 1-h data and estimated SOC values at PM2.5 of the Seoul atmosphere.

Abstract Potential source density function (PSDF) is developed to identify, that is, locate and quantify, source areas of ambient trace species based on Gaussian process regression (GPR), a machine-learning technique. The PSDF model requires backward trajectories and sampling data at a receptor site in the calculation as in the conventional model to locate source areas of ambient trace species, such as the potential source contribution function (PSCF). The PSDF model can identify source areas quantitatively and provide information on the reliability of the estimation, while the PSCF model cannot. To verify and evaluate the capability of the PSDF model, tests are carried out using three scenarios based on ambient trajectory analysis data and simulated source distributions. The test results demonstrate that the PSDF model can identify the sources of ambient trace species more accurately than the PSCF model. The PSDF model can quantify the size of the source contaminating the air parcels passing through it, and the model can detect the variation of source intensity. Also, in the test, we evaluate reliability of the information provided by the PSDF model. In addition, future works are recommended to improve the model and increase its applicability.

Abstract We investigated the changes in the carbonaceous-aerosol sources and their effects on the long-term elemental carbon (EC) and organic carbon (OC) concentration trends at the Cape Hedo Atmosphere and Aerosol Monitoring Station (CHAAMS) in Okinawa, Japan, during the period 2004–2013. We obtained the EC and OC concentrations by conducting semi-real-time measurements using a carbon monitor, and performing an offline thermal/optical filter analysis according to the Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments (IMPROVE) protocol. The annual average concentration of the EC remained constant between 2004 and 2013, but that of the OC decreased at a rate of 0.11 µg C m−3 y−1 (α > 0.05). The secondary OC (SOC)/OC ratio showed an increasing trend from 2004 till 2011, which may have been caused by a reduction in primary emissions of OC and compositional changes in the organic compounds originating in China, from which air pollutants were frequently transported during spring and winter. Although the EC concentration did not change appreciably in either season, the OC concentration decreased at rates of 0.10 µg C m−3 y−1 and 0.11 µg C m−3 y−1 during spring and winter, respectively. We estimated the contributions from the various sources of carbonaceous aerosol, viz., biomass burning, fossil-fuel combustion, and air-pollutant transport from China, based on the OC/EC ratio, which decreased from 5.7 to 2.4 in terms of the annual average. The growing share from fossil-fuel combustion is responsible for the decline in biofuel-burning OC emissions transported from China to CHAAMS.

Abstract HUmic-LIke Substances (HULIS) consists of a significant fraction of water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) and optically active brown carbon. Understanding seasonality in their abundance and sources is an important step to quantifying their impacts on air quality and climate. In this study, we characterized the seasonal variation of HULIS-C (the carbon component of HULIS) and identified primary and secondary sources contributing to HULIS-C at an urban site in Seoul, Korea by analyzing 131 PM2.5 samples collected over a year from October 2012 to September 2013. The HULIS-C in Seoul had an annual average of 2.0 µg m−3, and displayed a seasonality of highest abundance in the winter (2.7 ± 1.3 µg m−3) and the lowest in the summer (1.7 ± 0.8 µg m−3). Its fraction in WSOC reached up to 0.96 in the summer while remained relatively constant in the range of 0.4–0.6 in other seasons. Sources of HULIS-C were resolved using Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) and checked using inter-species relationships between HILIS-C and aerosol components. Specifically, secondary processes including aging and heterogeneous reaction (26%) contributes to the year-round background concentration of HULIS-C and fresh biomass burning (38%) and incomplete combustion (16%) were the major sources of underlying seasonal variation. We also found aging process in the secondary process had an important role in HULIS-C formation and was a dominant contributor in the summer while heterogenous reaction contributed considerably in other seasons. It implies that the different secondary processes in forming HULIS should be considered when the radiative forcing of brown carbon is estimated. Because these processes can lead the different physicochemical properties of HULIS in aerosols.

Routine measurements of carbonaceous species in PM2.5 inculidng organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC), water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC), and humic-like-substance carbon (HULIS-C) in PM2.5 were performed at Anmyeon Island (AI) to clarify the seasonal variation and carbonaceous aerosol concentrations at a background site in Korea between 2015 and 2016. The annual average OC and EC concentrations were 4.52±3.25 μg/m3 and 0.46±0.28 μg/m3, respectively, and there were no clear seasonal variations in OC and EC concentrations. The average concentrations of WSOC and water-insoluble organic carbon (WISOC) were 2.56±1.95 μg/m3 and 1.96±1.45 μg/m3, respectively, and their composition in OC showed high temporal variations. A low correlation between WISOC and EC was observed, while WSOC concentrations were highly correlated with secondary organic carbon concentrations, which were estimated using the EC tracer method. The results indicate that the formation of secondary organic aerosols is a major factor for the determination of WSOC concentrations in this region. HULIS-C was the major component of WSOC, accounting for 39-99% of WSOC and the average concentration was 1.88±1.52 μg/m3. Two distinct periods with high carbonaceous speciess in PM2.5 were observed and characterized by their OC/EC ratios. The high concentration of OC with high ratio of OC/EC was due to the influence of a mixture of emissions from biomass burning and secondary formation transported from outside AI. While, the high concentrations of OC and EC with low OC/EC ratio were related to local vehicular emissions.

Two approaches were applied for characterization of organic compounds in the atmospheric aerosols. These were chemical and statistical grouping analysis. We applied chemical group analysis as a new approach using the GC×GC data. Based on the principle of GC×GC, analytes in two dimensional data were divided into 6 chemical group depending on their volatility and polarity. Using this classification standards, all analytes were classified as one of 6 chemical groups, HP-VOC, LP-VOC, HP-SVOC, LP-SVOC, HP-NVOC and LP-NVOC. The relationship between the sum of the peak areas of each chemical group with other variables such as the concentrations of OC, EC, OCPOC, OC/EC and OCSOC were studied. However, no apparent relationship was observed. The principle component analysis (PCA) was carried out to find out the relationship among the analytes based on their sources. The OVOCs were dominant compounds in 3 out of 4 factors in summer. In winter, factor 1 was related to secondary organic aerosol and factor 3 was related to primary emission sources. The proposed approach looks promising in characterization of chemical groups but have limitations at current stage which are discussed.

To identify and quantify the contribution of the major sources for the ambient carbonaceous aerosols at a Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) station in Korea, a receptor model, the Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) model was applied for the one-year long measurement data. Particulate matter less than or equal to 2.5 μm in aerodynamic diameter (PM2.5) aerosols were sampled at Anmyeon Island GAW station from June 2015 to May 2016 and carbonaceous species including ~80 organic compounds were analyzed. According to the performance parameter evaluation, 5 or 7 factors were considered as optimal number of factors. It was found out that the results of 7 factors gave less contribution from the factor designated as mixed sources which we could not separate clearly. The major sources with 7 factors were identified with various analyses including chemical characteristics and air parcel movement analysis. The 7 factors with their relative contributions are; anthropogenic Secondary Organic Aerosols (SOA) (14%), biogenic SOA (15%), primary biogenic source (8%), local biomass burning (13%), transported biomass burning (16%), combustion related source (15%), and mixed sources (19%). The air parcel movement analysis results also support the identification of these factors. Thus, the Anmyeon Island GAW station has been affected by both regional and local sources for the carbonaceous aerosols.

Particle-phase concentrations were measured at 10, 80, and 200 m from the roadside of a national highway near Seoul in January and May 2008. The highway has two lanes each way, with an average hourly traffic volume of 1,070 vehicles. In January 2008, PM10 concentrations decreased from 10 to 80 m but increased at 200 m. Black carbon (BC) decreased only slightly with distance due to the influence of biomass burning and open burning from the surrounding areas. In May 2008, the effect of secondary formation on both PM10 and PM2.5 was significant due to high temperatures compared with January. Because on-road emissions had little effect on secondary formation for a short time, variations in PM10 concentrations became smaller, and PM2.5 concentrations increased with distance. The effects of fugitive dust on PM concentrations were greater in May than in January when the mean temperature was below freezing. In the composition variations, the amounts of primary ions, organic carbon (OC), and BC were larger in January, while those of secondary ions and others were larger in PM10, as well as PM2.5 in May.

To establish area specific control strategy for ambient ozone in the Seoul Metropolitan Area (SMA), the maximum ozone concentration in each local government district in the SMA were estimated by using the OZone Isopleth Plotting Package for Research (OZIPR) model. The modeling period was June 2000 and the emission inventory data used were from National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER). Except the islands of Incheon, whole Seoul and Incheon areas were volatile organic compounds (VOCs) limited, i.e., decreasing the oxides of nitrogen (NOX) emission alone may increase the maximum ozone concentration upto certain point. In Gyeonggi, 12 areas were VOCs limited while 12 areas were in between VOCs limited and NOX limited, i.e., decreasing both NOX and VOCs emission may decrease the maximum ozone concentration. Majority of the estimated ozone values were lower than the measured values. The reason could be inaccuracy in emission inventories and/or transport from other areas. The same calculation was carried out for June 2004 and it was found that Seoul was still in the VOCs limited condition.

The sensitivity of aerosol light extinction coefficient to the aerosol chemical composition change is estimated by (1) calculating the aerosol water content and chemical concentrations by a gas/particle equilibrium model and (2) calculating the aerosol light extinction coefficient by a Mie theory based optical model. The major chemical species are total (gas and particle phase) sulfuric acid, total nitric acid, and total ammonia which are based on the measurement data at Seoul and Gosan. At Seoul, since there were enough ammonia to neutralize both total sulfuric acid and total nitric acid, the dry ionic concentration is most sensitive to the variation of the total nitric acid level, while the total mass concentration (ionic concentration plus water content) and thus, the aerosol light extinction coefficient are primarily determined by the total sulfuric acid. At Gosan, since the concentration of ambient sulfuric acid was the highest among the inorganic species, sulfate salts determined aerosol hygroscopicity. Thus, both ionic and total mass concentration, and resultant aerosol light extinction coefficient are primarily determined by the sulfuric acid level.

Enhancement of aerosol optical thickness (AOT) and surface aerosol mass concentration in Korea for an active forest fire episode in Northeast Asia were estimated by Community Multi-scale Air Quality (CMAQ) model. MODIS/TERRA remote detects of fires in Northeast Asia for May 2003 gave a constraint for estimation of wildfire emissions with an NDVI distribution for recent five years. The simulated wildfire plumes and enhancement of AOT were evaluated and well resolved by comparing multiple satellite observations such as MODIS, TOMS, and others. Scatter plots of observed daily mean aerosol extinction coefficient versus PM10 concentration in ground level in Korea showed distinctively different trends based on the ambient relative humidity.

Various aspects of the air quality problems caused by ambient particles in and around the city of Seoul are discussed. First, the trend of the air quality in Seoul over time is investigated along with the types and quantities of energy consumption in Seoul. It was found that the general air quality in Seoul has improved over the last twenty years because of a change in the primary fuel used in Korea. However, the visibility in Seoul, a representation of the ambient particle concentration, is still worse than in other cities in Korea. In the air around Seoul, secondary particle generation might be as important as particles directly emitted from within the city or transported from outside.

A comparison of analytical approaches for Levoglucosan (C6H10O5, commonly formed from the pyrolysis of carbohydrates such as cellulose) and used for a molecular marker in biomass burning is made between the four different analytical systems. 1) Spectrothermography technique as the evaluation of thermograms of carbon using Elemental Carbon & Organic Carbon Analyzer, 2) mass spectrometry technique using Gas Chromatography/mass spectrometer (GC/MS), 3) Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) for the identification of the particle size distribution and chemical composition, and 4) two dimensional Gas Chromatography with Time of Flight mass spectrometry (GC×GC-TOFMS) for defining the signature of Levoglucosan in terms of chemical analytical process. First, a Spectrothermography, which is defined as the graphical representation of the carbon, can be measured as a function of temperature during the thermal separation process and spectrothermographic analysis. GC/MS can detect mass fragment ions of Levoglucosan characterized by its base peak at m/z 60, 73 in mass fragment-grams by methylation and m/z 217, 204 by trimethylsilylderivatives (TMS-derivatives). AMS can be used to analyze the base peak at m/z 60.021, 73.029 in mass fragment-grams with a multiple-peak Gaussian curve fit algorithm. In the analysis of TMS derivatives by GC×GC-TOFMS, it can detect m/z 73 as the base ion for the identification of Levoglucosan. It can also observe m/z 217 and 204 with existence of m/z 333. Although the ratios of m/z 217 and m/z 204 to the base ion (m/z 73) in the mass spectrum of GC×GC-TOFMS lower than those of GC/MS, Levoglucosan can be separated and characterized from D (-) +Ribose in the mixture of sugar compounds. At last, the environmental significance of Levoglucosan will be discussed with respect to the health effect to offer important opportunities for clinical and potential epidemiological research for reducing incidence of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.