Local circulation and aerosol water-soluble ions - A case study in Taiwan during Mmei-yu season

Chung Te Lee, Neng Huei Lin, Wen Chuan Hsu, Yun Li Chang, Shyh Yuh Chang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

The Mei-yu (plum rain) season is a short but important period when the weather changes from spring to summer in Taiwan. In this study, size-segregated aerosols were collected alternately at 5 sampling sites in northwestern Taiwan from June 16 to 24, 1994. For the first time in Taiwan, this study revealed the aerosol mass spectra and water-soluble ions in the Mei-yu season. For all samples, a bi-modal aerosol mass spectra was found with modal diameters at 3.2 and 0.32 μm, respectively. The aerosol samples were able to be divided into different groups to show their mass and ion spectra according to the calculated 5-hr backward air trajectory. The utilization of enrichment factors showed that aerosol Cl-, Na+, and Mg2+ for all sizes, and super-micron SO42- were related to the sea. Both the scheme of 'chlorine loss' and a multivariate analysis for categorizing water-soluble ions showed that seasalts were major contributors in the prevalence of a sea breeze. In contrast, the secondary salts were significant for land breeze and a mix of land-sea breeze. In conclusion, the influence of local circulation on the distribution of aerosol mass and ionic species was found to be prominent.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)425-443
Number of pages19
JournalChemosphere
Volume38
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 1999

Keywords

  • Aerosol water-soluble ions
  • Backward air trajectory
  • Local circulation
  • Size-segregated aerosols

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