Measurement of Organic and Inorganic Chemical Tracers for Source Apportionment of Tropospheric Aerosols Collected During the ACE-Asia Experiment

Naturally occurring dust and anthropogenic air pollutants are important contributors to tropospheric aerosols and impact air quality and the radiative balance of the Earth's atmosphere. In order to better understand the relationship between the origin, chemical composition and ultimate impact of Asian aerosols on climate forcing, aerosol samples were collected as part of the ACE-Asia experiment for detailed chemical analysis. Atmospheric particulate matter samples were collected from March 27, 2001 through May 6, 2001 at the ACE-Asia ground station located on Cheju Island, Korea. During this period, this region is impacted by anthropogenic air pollution emissions from highly urbanized region of Asia and by desert dust originating from northeastern Asia. As part of the experiment, atmospheric particulate matter samplers were also collected in urban and desert locations in Asia that represent regional sources of particulate matter in Asia. Size resolved aerosol samples were analyzed for trace metals by using microwave assisted-acid digestion and ICP-MS analysis, speciated organic compounds using solvent extraction and GC-MS analysis, as well as soluble ions and elemental and organic carbon (ECOC). These measurements provide fingerprints for source apportionment of the atmospheric particulate matter samples collected at the Cheju Island sampling site. The use of these chemical tracers for apportionment of wind-driven long range transported desert dust, local crustal derived dust, biogenically and anthropogenically derived sulfate, specific urban combustion source, and fossil fuel combustion will be presented.