Diagnosis of dust- and haze pollution-impacted PM₁₀, PM_2.5, and PM₁ aerosols observed at Gosan Climate Observatory

Abstract. In East Asia, soil dust is a major component of aerosols and is mixed with various pollutants during transport, resulting in large uncertainty in climate and environmental impact assessment and relevant policymaking. To diagnose the influence of soil dust and anthropogenic pollution on bulk aerosol, we conducted long-term measurements of mass, water-soluble ions, and carbonaceous compounds of PM₁₀, PM_2.5, and PM₁ at Gosan Climate Observatory, South Korea, from August 2007 to February 2012. The principle component analyses of all measured species reveal that the impact of anthropogenic pollution, soil dust, and agricultural fertilizer accounts for 46 %, 16 %, and 9 % of the total variance, respectively. Particularly, the loadings of agricultural component were high in the warmer months with the least occurrence of high concentration events and have increased over time. In mode analysis of PM₁₀, PM_2.5, and PM₁ mass concentrations, the mean + σ was comparable to the 90th percentile and thus, suggested as a robust criterion that determines the substantial impact of soil dust and haze pollution on particulate matter. The results of this study imply that non-combustion sources such as soil dust will impose constraints to the reduction of PM_2.5 as well as PM₁₀ concentrations. In addition, questions are raised as to whether the yearly average concentration is suitable for environmental standard in northeast Asian region.