title: Airborne pollutant characteristics in an urban, industrial and agricultural complex metroplex with high emission loading and ammonia concentration.
abstract: The size distribution of particulate mass and water-soluble ionic constituents and their gaseous precursors was investigated in a subtropical area, southern Taiwan. Field sampling and chemical analysis of particulate matter (PM) were conducted using a Micro Orifice Uniform Deposition Impactor (MOUDI) and a Nano-MOUDI, and gaseous pollutants were determined by a denuder-filter pack system. PM size mass distribution, mass concentration and ionic species concentration were measured during the day and at night in the winter and summer. Average PM concentrations in the winter were as high as 132 ± 42 μg/m(3), and PM mass concentrations in the summer were as low as 38 ± 19 μg/m(3). Generally, PM concentration was 111 ± 60 μg/m(3) at night, which was 20% higher than that in the daytime. The size-segregated mass distribution of PM mass concentration was over 85% in the 0.1-3.2 μm range. Ammonium, nitrate, and sulfate were the dominant water-soluble ionic species in PM, contributing 34%-48% of PM mass. High ammonia (12.9-49 μg/m(3)) and SO2 (2.6-27 μg/m(3)) were observed in the gas precursors. The molar ratio [Formula: see text] was 3.18 ± 1.20 at PM1.0, which indicated that the PM was rich in ammonium. Therefore, the excess ammonium could neutralize nitrate to form ammonium nitrate, after the more stable ammonium sulfate and ammonium bisulfate formation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Engineering, Sustainable Environmental Research Center, National Cheng-Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Jiun-Horng
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Engineering, Sustainable Environmental Research Center, National Cheng-Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Li-Peng
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Risk Management, China Medical University, Taichung, 40402, Taiwan. Electronic address: hlchiang@mail.cmu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Hung-Lung
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Chiang
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000641:Ammonia / Q000032:analysis*; D002947:Cities; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D007221:Industry; D010316:Particle Size; D013624:Taiwan
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D000641:Ammonia
keywords: Gas precursor; Particulate matter; Size segregated distribution; Water-soluble ionic species