title: Inorganic markers, carbonaceous components and stable carbon isotope from biomass burning aerosols in Northeast China.
abstract: To better characterize the chemical compositions and sources of fine particulate matter (i.e. PM2.5) in Sanjiang Plain, Northeast China, total carbon (TC), organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC), water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC), and inorganic ions as well as stable carbon isotopic composition (δ13C) were measured in this study. Intensively open biomass burning episodes are identified from late September to early October by satellite fire and aerosol optical depth maps. During the biomass-burning episode, concentrations of PM2.5, OC, EC, and WSOC are increased by a factor of 4-12 compared to those during the non-biomass-burning period. Non-sea-salt potassium is strongly correlated with PM2.5, OC, EC and WSOC, demonstrating an important contribution from biomass-burning emissions. The enrichment in both the non-sea-salt potassium and chlorine is significantly larger than other inorganic species, suggesting that biomass-burning aerosols in Sanjiang Plain are mostly fresh and less aged. In addition, the WSOC-to-OC ratio is lower than that reported in biomass-burning aerosols in tropical regions, further supporting that biomass-burning aerosols in Sanjiang Plain are mostly primary and secondary organic aerosols may be not significant. A lower average δ13C value (-26.2‰) is observed during the biomass-burning period, indicating a dominant contribution from combustion of C3 plants in the studied region.
authors.affiliation: Yale-NUIST Center on Atmospheric Environment, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 10044, China; Institute of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido University, N19 W08, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0819, Japan.
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 4888 Shengbei Road, Changchun 130102, China.
authors.forename: Shi-Chun
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido University, N19 W08, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0819, Japan.
authors.forename: Kimitaka
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kawamura
authors.affiliation: Yale-NUIST Center on Atmospheric Environment, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 10044, China; Institute of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido University, N19 W08, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0819, Japan. Electronic address: dryanlinzhang@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Yan-Lin
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000336:Aerosols / Q000032:analysis*; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D018533:Biomass; D002244:Carbon / Q000032:analysis*; D002247:Carbon Isotopes / Q000032:analysis; D002681:China; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005390:Fires; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D000336:Aerosols; D000393:Air Pollutants; D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D052638:Particulate Matter; D002244:Carbon
keywords: Aerosol; Biomass burning; Potassium; Source; Stable carbon isotope