Influence of Long-Range Transport Dust Particles on Local Air Quality: A Case Study on Asian Dust Episodes in Taipei during the Spring of 2002

Self Cite

ABSTRACT1 Research Center for Environmental Changes, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.* Corresponding author address: Dr. Shih-Chieh Hsu, Research Center for Environmental Changes, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC; E-mail: schsu@rcec.sinica.edu.tw Ambient aerosols, collected in Taipei in spring 2002, were measured for concentrations of 15 metals (Al, Ca, Na, Mg, K, Ti, Sr, Ba, Mn, Co, Zn, Pb, Cu, Cd, and Sb). Al was used as a mineral aerosol particle indicator, and based on temporal variations of Al concentration, seven Asian dust storm episodes were identified. The fraction of mineral dust in PM 10 was estimated to be around 80% during Asian Dust Storm (ADS) episodes and 15% in non-ADS periods. The metals were categorized into three groups based on their source of origin. The first group consisted of metals from crustal sources, Al, Ca, Sr, Ba, Ti, and Co, the second group was from anthropogenic sources, Pb, Zn, Cd, Cu, and Sb; and the third group was of mixed origins; Na and Mg from sea salt and crustal sources, and K and Mn from crustal and anthropogenic sources. The results of this study demonstrated significant variation in concentrations of metals during spring. Sharp increases in concentration were observed during ADS episodes, particularly for crust-derived elements, Al, Ca, Na, Mg, K, Sr, Ti, Ba, and Co. Metals of anthropogenic origin, Pb, Sb, Cd, and Zn, also increased with ADS episodes, which indicates that significant amounts of pollutant were transported with dust to reach Taiwan. Size-distribution analysis revealed that metals derived from crust and seawater sources (Al, Fe, Sr, Ba, Ti, Na, and Mg) tend to reside in coarse particles, and anthropogenic metals (Pb, Zn, and Cd) in fine particles. Air mass backward trajectory analysis suggested that deserts around Mongolia and the Loess Plateau were the dominant source regions of dust aerosols for ADS. Concentrations of metals in dust were found to change and the wet scavenging affect was strongly indicated. TAO, Vol. 15, No. 5, December 2004 926

Section: Metal Compositions and Aerosol Abundancementioning

confidence: 43%

Metal Compositions of PM10 and PM2.5 Aerosols in Taipei during Spring, 2002

Hsu¹,

Liu²,

Lin³

et al. 2004

Self Cite

“…The degeneration of fragile ecosystem in those areas is mainly due to over-agricultural cultivation and over-grazing, which has resulted in the emission of immense amount of soil dusts into the atmosphere, characterized as Asian dusts (Zhang and Wang 2001). Asian dusts could be transported easterly from their sources to west pacific countries such as Korea, Japan, and Taiwan (Kagawa et al 2001;Peng et al 2002;Chou et al 2004;Lin et al 2004). This could have significant environmental effects, including ambient air quality deterioration, atmospheric visibility impairment, radiation energy reduction, mineral deposition, and acid rain neutralization (Zhang and An 1999;Terada et al 2002;Chen et al 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mass Concentration and Size-Resolved Chemical Composition of Atmospheric Aerosols Sampled at the Pescadores Islands during Asian Dust Storm Periods in the Years of 2001 and 2002

Yuan¹,

Sau²,

Chen³

et al. 2004

“…Analysis of chemical composition of aerosols collected at this site also indicated the presence of a large proportion of sea salt (cf. Wang et al 2004;Lung et al 2004;Chou et al 2004). This would explain why the PM 10 concentration at Wanli during the dust incursion events frequently had higher peak values and rises much earlier than at the other stations.…”

Section: Case 1: a "Storm Trooper" With Returning Flow (March 18~22 mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To derive the travel time, the deflation time at the source region was established first, by analyzing the model results with confirmation from the dust-related weather reports. The arrival time of these events was determined by various methods, including the PM 10 hourly data from Taiwan EPA's monitoring network, weather reports on dust phenomena over the surrounding regions, satellite observations, and field campaign chemical analysis data presented in various other papers (e.g., Wang et al 2004;Lung et al 2004;Chou et al 2004). The travel time was obtained from the initial deflation time and arrival time and was double checked with the aid of backward trajectory analysis.…”

Section: General Characteristics Of Dust Transportmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simulations of Asian Yellow Dust Incursion Over Taiwan for the Spring of 2002 and 2003

Chen¹,

Wang²,

Young³

et al. 2004

Self Cite

Dust storms that occurred in East Asia during the spring of 2002 and2003 were simulated by a regional dust deflation and transport model. Particular focus was placed on dust incursion events over Taiwan. Two of the events were analyzed in detail to give a complete picture of the three dimensional transport patterns. The general characteristics of dust incursion events were summarized, including the source locations, transport route and distribution pattern in three dimensions, traveling time, duration of incursion, and the seasonal spatial distribution of dust concentration. Significant differences were also found in these characteristics between the two years, the main cause of which was a change in regional climate patterns. The performance of the model developed for this study was evaluated against other dust forecast models, and found to have superior capability for forecasting in the Taiwan area.