Chul H. Song

A three‐dimensional modeling investigation of the evolution processes of dust and sea‐salt particles in east Asia

The evolution of sea-salt and dust particles in East Asia is investigated using a three-dimensional transport and chemistry model. A kinetic approach under thermodynamic constraint is utilized to model the condensation/evaporation processes, and other important aerosol processes and influential components (e.g., dust/sea-salt generation, NH3 emissions, gravitational settling, nucleation) are taken into account in this analysis. The model is used to study the Pacific Exploratory Mission-West B period (March 1–6, 1994). It is found that (1) during strong continental outflow, in general, the fine aerosol mode ( 2 μm in aerodynamic diameter) attracts nitrate. However, in the dust plume, sulfate preferentially resides in the coarse mode due to larger coarse mode mass loading; (2) particulate nitrate coupled with particulate ammonium in the fine mode is predicted over regions where high gaseous NH3 mixing ratios are present (lower courses of the Huang river); (3) dust and sea-salt particles provide important reaction surfaces for sulfate production in the troposphere and increase sulfate production rates by 20–80%; and (4) soil dust and sea salt provide an important source of boundary layer and free troposhpere alkaline material, and these cations play an important role in controlling the partitioning of semivolatile HNO3 throughout large portions of the troposphere, increasing particulate nitrate levels 10–50%.

Assimilation of next generation geostationary aerosol optical depth retrievals to improve air quality simulations

Planned geostationary satellites will provide aerosol optical depth (AOD) retrievals at high temporal and spatial resolution which will be incorporated into current assimilation systems that use low-Earth orbiting (e.g., Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)) AOD. The impacts of such additions are explored in a real case scenario using AOD from the Geostationary Ocean Color Imager (GOCI) on board of the Communication, Ocean, and Meteorology Satellite, a geostationary satellite observing northeast Asia. The addition of GOCI AOD into the assimilation system generated positive impacts, which were found to be substantial in comparison to only assimilating MODIS AOD. We found that GOCI AOD can help significantly to improve surface air quality simulations in Korea for dust, biomass burning smoke, and anthropogenic pollution episodes when the model represents the extent of the pollution episodes and retrievals are not contaminated by clouds. We anticipate future geostationary missions to considerably contribute to air quality forecasting and provide better reanalyses for health assessments and climate studies.

Uncertainty in biogenic isoprene emissions and its impacts on tropospheric chemistry in East Asia.

In this study, the accuracy of biogenic isoprene emission fluxes over East Asia during two summer months (July and August) was examined by comparing two tropospheric HCHO columns (ΩHCHO) obtained from the SCIAMACHY sensor and the Community Multi-scale Air Quality (CMAQ v4.7.1) model simulations, using three available biogenic isoprene emission inventories over East Asia: i) GEIA, ii) MEGAN and iii) MOHYCAN. From this comparative analysis, the tropospheric HCHO columns from the CMAQ model simulations, using the MEGAN and MOHYCAN emission inventories (Ω(CMAQ, MEGAN) and Ω(CMAQ, MOHYCAN)), were found to agree well with the tropospheric HCHO columns from the SCIAMACHY observations (Ω(SCIA)). Secondly, the propagation of such uncertainties in the biogenic isoprene emission fluxes to the levels of atmospheric oxidants (e.g., OH and HO2) and other atmospheric gaseous/particulate species over East Asia during the two summer months was also investigated. As the biogenic isoprene emission fluxes decreased from the GEIA to the MEGAN emission inventories, the levels of OH radicals increased by factors of 1.39 and 1.75 over Central East China (CEC) and South China, respectively. Such increases in the OH radical mixing ratios subsequently influence the partitioning of HO(y) species. For example, the HO2/OH ratios from the CMAQ model simulations with GEIA isoprene emissions were 2.7 times larger than those from the CMAQ model simulations based on MEGAN isoprene emissions. The large HO2/OH ratios from the CMAQ model simulations with the GEIA biogenic emission were possibly due to the overestimation of GEIA biogenic isoprene emissions over East Asia. It was also shown that such large changes in HO(x) radicals created large differences on other tropospheric compounds (e.g., NO(y) chemistry) over East Asia during the summer months.

Aerosol properties at gosan in Korea during two pollution episodes caused by contrasting weather conditions

We analyzed aerosol optical and chemical properties over Northeast Asia for two pollution episodes caused by contrasting weather conditions, stagnant anticyclone (November, 2011) and fastmoving continental outflow associated with migratory cyclone/anticyclone (February, 2003). Pollution levels were significantly high and even comparable with heavily polluted urban cities in China and Korea even though these levels were from the episodic measurements since Gosan is an internationally well-known remote background site. Space-borne MODIS measurements clearly show that the pollution plume with high aerosol optical depth (AOD) overlaid and very slowly moved over Northeast Asia during the stagnation episode. On the other hand, a strong synoptic wind transported the plume from eastern China to its downwind regions during the continental outflow episode. The two pollution episodes showed discriminative aerosol chemical compositions associated with different source characteristics. Concentrations of nss (non-sea-salt)-sulfates and ammonium in the continental outflow episode were almost two times higher than those in the stagnation episode due to the influence of anthropogenic emissions from China. A higher fraction of nitrate, accompanied with an increase of carbonaceous species in the stagnation episode, was attributable to vehicular emissions originated from Korea.

A budget analysis of NO x column losses over the Korean peninsula

In this study, the chemical and physical losses of nitrogen oxides (NOx) over the Korean peninsula were discussed in order to better understand the effects of the NOx losses on the tropospheric NO2 columns. Initially, it was found that the physical loss processes due to dry and wet depositions had almost negligible impacts on the NOx loss processes over the Korean peninsula. In contrast, the hourly NOx chemical column losses were large at ∼1014 molecules cm−2 h−1. The amounts of NOx removed for 1 hour account for approximately 33–35% of the episode-averaged tropospheric NO2 columns during summer over the Korean peninsula. The NOx chemical column loss rates were 24.1–70.9 times larger than the NOx physical column loss rates. In a budget analysis of the NOx chemical column losses, HNO3 formation via the reaction of OH + NO2 had the largest contribution toward the NOx chemical losses (42–55% during fall and winter seasons; 76–77% during spring; 92–93% during summer). Large amounts of NOx were also removed by heterogeneous nitrate formation via N2O5 condensation during the cold seasons (42–56%) over the Korean peninsula. The columnar NOx chemical losses took place mainly due to the two chemico-physical reaction processes, and also showed seasonal variations. PAN (Peroxyacetyl Nitrate) is another NO2 reservoir of potential importance. If the influence of the PAN-related chemistry on the NOx budget is considered, it can result in an approximate 69% increase in the NOx chemical column loss during summer. Such increases in the amounts of NOx removed for 1 hour due to the formation of PAN were equivalent to 56–58% of the episode-averaged tropospheric NO2 columns during summer over the Korean peninsula. Such active NOx chemical losses during summer are another main factor for the tropospheric NO2 columns exhibiting their smallest values during summer.

Ozone production efficiency of a ship-plume: ITCT 2K2 case study

Ozone production efficiency (OPE) of ship plume was first evaluated in this study, based on ship-plume photochemical/dynamic model simulations and the ship-plume composition data measured during the ITCT 2K2 (Intercontinental Transport and Chemical Transformation 2002) aircraft campaign. The averaged instantaneous OPEs (OPE(i)‾) estimated via the ship-plume photochemical/dynamic modeling for the ITCT 2K2 ship-plume ranged between 4.61 and 18.92, showing that the values vary with the extent of chemical evolution (or chemical stage) of the ship plume and the stability classes of the marine boundary layer (MBL). Together with OPE(i)‾, the equivalent OPEs (OPE(e)‾) for the entire ITCT 2K2 ship-plume were also estimated. The OPE(e)‾ values varied between 9.73 (for the stable MBL) and 12.73 (for the moderately stable MBL), which agreed well with the OPE(e)‾ of 12.85 estimated based on the ITCT 2K2 ship-plume observations. It was also found that both the model-simulated and observation-based OPE(e)‾ inside the ship-plume were 0.29-0.38 times smaller than the OPE(e)‾ calculated/measured outside the ITCT 2K2 ship-plume. Such low OPEs insides the ship plume were due to the high levels of NO and non-liner ship-plume photochemistry. Possible implications of this ship-plume OPE study in the global chemistry-transport modeling are also discussed.

Mobile MAX-DOAS observation of NO2 and comparison with OMI satellite data in the western coastal areas of the Korean peninsula.

Ground-based MAX-DOAS measurements have been used to retrieve column densities of atmospheric absorbers such as NO2, SO2, HCHO, and O3. In this study, mobile MAX-DOAS measurements were conducted to map the 2-D distributions of atmospheric NO2 in the western coastal areas of the Korean peninsula. A Mini-MAX-DOAS instrument was mounted on the rooftop of a mobile lab vehicle with a telescope mounted parallel to the driving direction, pointing forward. The measurements were conducted from 21 to 24 December 2010 along the western coastal areas from Gomso harbor (35.59N, 126.61E) to Gunsan harbor (35.98N, 126.67E). During mobile MAX-DOAS observations, high elevation angles were used to avoid shades from nearby obstacles. For the determination of the tropospheric vertical column density (VCD), the air mass factor (AMF) was retrieved by the so-called geometric approximation. The NO2 VCDs from 20 and 45 degree elevation angles were retrieved from mobile MAX-DOAS measurements. The tropospheric NO2 VCDs derived from mobile MAX-DOAS measurements were compared directly to those retrieved by the OMI satellite observations. Mobile MAX-DOAS VCD was in good agreement with OMI tropospheric VCD on most days. However, OMI tropospheric VCD was much higher than that of mobile MAX-DOAS on 23 December 2010. One probable reason for this difference is that OMI retrieval might overestimate NO2 VCD under haze conditions, when a pollution plume was transported over the measurement site. The mobile MAX-DOAS observations reveal much finer spatial patterns of NO2 distributions, which can provide useful information for the validation of satellite observation of atmospheric trace gases.

Current Status and Development of Modeling Techniques for Forecasting and Monitoring of Air Quality over East Asia

Current status and future direction of air quality modeling for monitoring and forecasting air quality in East Asia were discussed in this paper. An integrated air quality modeling system, combining (1) emission processing and modeling, (2) meteorological model simulation, (3) chemistry-transport model (CTM) simulation, (4) ground-based and satellite-retrieved observations, and (5) data assimilation, was introduced. Also, the strategies for future development of the integrated air quality modeling system in East Asia was discussed in this paper. In particular, it was emphasized that the successful use and development of the air quality modeling system should depend on the active applications of the data sets from incumbent and upcoming LEO/GEO (Low Earth Orbit/Geostationary Earth Orbit) satellites. This is particularly true, since Korea government successfully launched Geostationary Ocean Color Imager (GOCI) in June, 2010 and has another plan to launch Geostationary Environmental Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS) in 2018, in order to monitor the air quality and emissions in/around the Korean peninsula as well as over East Asia.

Development of a Reactive Plume Model for the Consideration of Power-Plant Plume Photochemistry and Its Applications

A reactive plume model (RPM) was developed to comprehensively consider power-plant plume photochemistry with 255 condensed photochemical reactions. The RPM can simulate two main components of power-plant plumes: turbulent dispersion of plumes and compositional changes of plumes via photochemical reactions. In order to evaluate the performance of the RPM developed in the present study, two sets of observational data obtained from the TexAQS II 2006 (Texas Air Quality Study II 2006) campaign were compared with RPM-simulated data. Comparison shows that the RPM produces relatively accurate concentrations for major primary and secondary in-plume species such as NO2, SO2, ozone, and H2SO4. Statistical analyses show good correlation, with correlation coefficients (R) ranging from 0.61 to 0.92, and good agreement with the Index of Agreement (IOA) ranging from 0.76 to 0.95. Following evaluation of the performance of the RPM, a demonstration was also carried out to show the applicability of the RPM. The RPM can calculate NOx photochemical lifetimes inside the two plumes (Monticello and Welsh power plants). Further applicability and possible uses of the RPM are also discussed together with some limitations of the current version of the RPM.

Aerosol monitoring by the Geostationary Ocean Color Imager

Atmospheric aerosols have important physical and chemical effects on Earth’s climate and on the radiation reaching its surface. The environment and climate of East Asia, in particular, are affected by the large amounts of aerosols in the region, which are of several types with different effects. Numerous studies have retrieved aerosol optical properties from multiple visible (VIS)/near-IR (NIR) channels, such as the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS), Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), and Medium-spectral Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS). However, all of these sensors, aboard low Earth orbit satellites, have provided aerosol information only once a day. The Geostationary Ocean Color Imager (GOCI) is the first multi-channel VIS/NIR ocean color sensor operating in geostationary orbit. It is located onboard the Communication, Ocean, and Meteorological Satellite (COMS) launched on 27 June 2010 to observe ocean color around the Korean Peninsula. The GOCI has eight spectral channels at 412, 443, 490, 555, 660, 680, 745, and 865nm, with spatial coverage of 2500km 2500km centered at 36N and 130E and a resolution of 500m.1 By taking advantage of a geostationary platform, GOCI can provide hourly spectral images that can be used for continuous monitoring of aerosols as well as ocean color over cloud-free areas. Aerosol optical properties can be retrieved from the reflectance measured by the GOCI. In this article, we introduce an aerosol retrieval algorithm that has been developed for the GOCI.2 The algorithm retrieves the aerosol optical depth (AOD), fine-mode fraction (FMF), and Figure 1. An example of a lookup table (LUT) computed by using the radiative transfer model rstar5b developed at the University of Tokyo for different aerosol loadings (AOD at 550nm) and FMF, assuming a combination of non-absorbing fine-mode and dust aerosols. TOA: Time of arrival.