Peroxyacetyl nitrate and ozone enhancement at taehwa research forest under the influence of Seoul metropolitan area

Junsu Gil, Meehye Lee, Jihyun Han, Joo Ae Kim, Saewung Kim, Alex Guenther, Hyunseok Kim, Soyoung Kim, Sanguk Lee, Danbi Kim

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

7 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) is produced by photochemical oxidation reactions with abundant NOx and volatile organic compounds (VOCs); therefore, it is considered as a photochemical pollution indicator. In this study, PAN, O3, and their precursors were measured at three heights (5.4, 23, and 40.5 m) on a 41-m tower in Taehwa Research Forest (TRF) near the Seoul Metropolitan Area (SMA) from August 25 to September 9, 2011. The PAN was determined every 2 minutes using gas chromatography with luminol chemiluminescence detection (GC-LCD). All reactive gases were measured for 15 minutes at each height. The mean and maximum PAN concentrations were 0.3 and 3.1 ppbv, respectively. The mean and maximum O3 concentrations were 13.1 and 79.8 ppbv, respectively. The average NOx concentration was 6.57 ppbv. At the TRF, PAN and O3 concentrations were well correlated (r = 0.8) and greatly elevated when the air mass was affected by urban outflows from the SMA, which was clearly demonstrated by an increase in NO2. These high NO2 concentrations were observed along with a shift in wind direction at 17:00 (KST) and resulted in the maximum observed values of PAN and O3 in the present study. In addition, the concentration enhancement was more pronounced for PAN and at heights above the canopy. These results highlight PAN as a robust tracer indicating urban impacts at peri-urban forest sites.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2262-2273
Number of pages12
JournalAerosol and Air Quality Research
Volume18
Issue number9
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018 Sept

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This research was supported by the National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER) and Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by Ministry of Science, Information, and Communications Technology & Future Planning (NRF-2017R1A2B4012143). A part of this study was done for the Master’s thesis of Hee-Yeon Shim.

Keywords

  • Ozone (O)
  • Peri-urban forest
  • Peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN)
  • Seoul metropolitan area
  • Taehwa research forest

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Environmental Chemistry
  • Pollution

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