The effects of transboundary air pollution from China on ambient air quality in South Korea

This paper estimates the effects of wind direction on ambient air quality in South Korea (c.2006–2014) to provide insights into the impacts of the long-range transport of air pollutants from China. I find that the effect of transboundary air pollutants from China accounts for 19 percent of the weekly average PM10 concentrations, varying 12–30 percent by season. More specifically, winds blowing in the southwest direction have the largest year-round impacts on South Korea's ambient air pollution levels, which is consistent with the direction of emissions from Shanghai resulting in worse South Korean pollution levels. Further, the effects are differentiated seasonally according to the diverse activities that lead to the pollutants. Agricultural strawberry burning and coal-fired heating in northern Chinese cities lead to larger northwest wind effects in summer and winter, respectively. The winds from Shanghai have greater effects in spring due to the influence of dust storms passing from the deserts through mainland China.