Effects of aerosol hygroscopicity on fine particle mass concentration and light extinction coefficient at Seoul and Gosan in Korea

Abstract

The sensitivity of aerosol light extinction coefficient to the aerosol chemical composition change is estimated by (1) calculating the aerosol water content and chemical concentrations by a gas/particle equilibrium model and (2) calculating the aerosol light extinction coefficient by a Mie theory based optical model. The major chemical species are total (gas and particle phase) sulfuric acid, total nitric acid, and total ammonia which are based on the measurement data at Seoul and Gosan. At Seoul, since there were enough ammonia to neutralize both total sulfuric acid and total nitric acid, the dry ionic concentration is most sensitive to the variation of the total nitric acid level, while the total mass concentration (ionic concentration plus water content) and thus, the aerosol light extinction coefficient are primarily determined by the total sulfuric acid. At Gosan, since the concentration of ambient sulfuric acid was the highest among the inorganic species, sulfate salts determined aerosol hygroscopicity. Thus, both ionic and total mass concentration, and resultant aerosol light extinction coefficient are primarily determined by the sulfuric acid level.