Premium
Variability of Atmospheric Radon‐222 and Secondary Aerosol Components in Accordance with Air Mass Transport Pathways at Jeju Island, Korea, during 2011–2014
Author(s) -
Bu JunOh,
Song JungMin,
Kim WonHyung,
Kang ChangHee,
Chambers Scott D.,
Williams Alastair G.,
Lee Chulkyu
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
bulletin of the korean chemical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.237
H-Index - 59
ISSN - 1229-5949
DOI - 10.1002/bkcs.10784
Subject(s) - air mass (solar energy) , aerosol , radon , environmental science , fetch , atmospheric sciences , mass concentration (chemistry) , peninsula , pacific ocean , climatology , meteorology , oceanography , chemistry , geography , geology , physics , archaeology , boundary layer , quantum mechanics , thermodynamics
Real‐time monitoring of hourly atmospheric Radon‐222 concentration and three daily monitoring of the secondary aerosol components of PM 10 were performed throughout 2011–2014 at Gosan station, Jeju Island, in order to characterize their background levels and temporal variation. The annual mean radon and PM 10 mass concentrations were 2326 ± 1198 mBq /m 3 and 37.1 ± 19.5 µg/m 3 , respectively. Based on cluster analyses of air mass back trajectories, the frequencies of air masses originating from continental China, the Korean Peninsula, and North Pacific Ocean routes were 53, 28, and 19%, respectively. When the air masses were transported to Jeju Island from continental China, the concentrations of radon and secondary aerosol components (nss‐ SO 4 2 − , NO 3 − , NH 4 + ) were relatively high: 2577 mBq /m 3 and 14.4 µg/m 3 , respectively. In cases when the air masses have moved from the Korean Peninsula, the corresponding concentrations were 2247 mBq /m 3 and 11.4 µg/m 3 , respectively. On the other hand, when the air masses came from the North Pacific Ocean, their radon and secondary aerosol concentrations decreased much further, 1372 mBq /m 3 and 10.5 µg/m 3 , respectively. Consequently, the variability of atmospheric radon concentrations at Gosan station might be characterized by synoptic changes in air mass fetch as well as diurnal changes in atmospheric mixing depth.