NMHC emissions from Asia: sources and transport

Recent rapid industrialization and economic growth in Asia changed the industrial structure, land use, and people's lifestyle resulting in a dramatic change in the amount and composition of the gas emissions from Asia. Because emissions can be transported very rapidly once convected to the free troposphere, Asian emissions can affect both local and regional air quality and climate. To access the impact of changing emission from Asia, an airborne observation campaign PEACE (the Pacific Exploration of Asian Continental Emission) phase-A and B were conducted in January and April - May 2002, respectively, sponsored by NASDA (National Space Development Agency of Japan). The concentrations of NMHCs (nonmethanehydrocarbons) and halocarbons were obtained by whole air sampling and subsequent gas chromatography analyses in the laboratory. Quantified onboard the aircraft were CO, CO2, O3, NO, NO2, NOy, H2O, SO2, aerosols, and condensation nuclei. The experiment was conducted in the vicinity of Japan and PEACE-A and B represent the local winter and spring weather conditions. The trace gas distributions in the lower troposphere were often influenced by local pollution (i.e. from Japan, Korea) while those of the long-range transport (i.e. from Europe) were occasionally seen in the upper troposphere. This is confirmed by the airmass age estimation using the ratios of short-lived gases (i.e. C2H4) vs. more stable compounds (i.e. CO). Emissions from China were distinguished using data obtained from ground-based sampling and measurements. Transport from China was seen both in the lower troposphere and upper troposphere. Some case studies on source identification will be discussed.