Studying Air Pollutants Origin and Associated Meteorological Parameters over Seoul from 2000 to 2009

Abstract

We investigate the temporal characteristics of major air pollutants collected from 44 air quality stations over the city of Seoul, Korea, namely, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, particular matter at 10 microns, and sulfur dioxide (SO2) between 2000 and 2009. The corresponding satellite datasets, namely, aerosol optical depth (AODsat), Ångström exponent, and fine mode fraction, collected from moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) as well as the Aeronet ground aerosol optical depth (AODaeronet), have been analyzed. Pollutants’ seasonal effect has been inferred from the precipitation and temperature. The four pollutants under study show varying temporal characteristics with different annual mean concentration patterns. The monthly mean of mentioned pollutants all show similar low concentrations during the summer season and high concentrations during the winter season. We found that pollution is strongly linked to temperature and precipitation variability, especially during the fall season. Satellite data analysis provides information on the pollutants origin whether of natural or anthropogenic type. Our results indicate that the anthropogenic aerosol is dominant in the summer season even though the concentration was lower than the other seasons. AODaeronetand Ångström exponent indicated high positive and negative correlation coefficients with PM10, 0.60, and −0.45, respectively. Both small and large sizes of aerosols existed in 2007; however coarse size of aerosols was the primary component in 2002.

Association between Ambient Air Pollution and Emergency Room Visits for Respiratory Diseases in Spring Dust Storm Season in Lanzhou, China

“…The correlation coefficients ranged from 0.39 to 0.72 during the period of 2001–2005 in Lanzhou [ 36 ]. A study in the Republic of Korea showed that the correlation coefficients ranged from 0.44 to 0.72 for the entire year and from 0.04 to 0.38 in spring [ 59 ]. Similar results about the correlation coefficients were found in this study, yet no report about the reasons for the regional differences in these correlation coefficients has been documented.…”

Analysis of aerosol absorption properties and transport over North Africa and the Middle East using AERONET data

“…Solar Village, Bahrain, and Mezaira have α ext ≥ 0.3, indicating a possible incursion by other aerosols. This is more recognized at the Bahrain site due to the presence of fine particles produced from industrial activities similar to other locations (Gathman, 1983;Gras, 1995;Kalapureddy and Devara, 2008;Park et al, 2015). Cairo is known for its widespread biomass burning activities observed during fall when episodes of ash burning from agriculture waste take place (El-Askary and Kafatos, 2008;Marey et al, 2010Marey et al, , 2011; however, other factors could also contribute to pollution, such as traffic and industry.…”

Major air pollutants seasonal variation analysis and long-range transport of PM10 in an urban environment with specific climate condition in Transylvania (Romania)

“…nearby, increased traffic activities, or strong and persisted inversions during winter (Chen et al 2015a;Cichowicz et al 2017). Therefore, to understand even at a regional level the air pollutants origin, seasonal variation, and characteristics is an important issue (Park et al 2015). Previous studies have revealed that air pollution not only affects climate (Jeong et al 2011;Cholakian et al 2019) but subsequently many health problems are linked to high PM concentrations due to short-and long-term exposure (Brunekreef and Holgate 2002;Makra et al 2011;Yang et al 2015;Cha et al 2017;Faridi et al 2018;Bennett et al 2019;Zhong et al 2019).…”