title: Airborne iron across major urban centers in South Korea between 1991 and 2012.
abstract: In this study, the distribution of airborne iron (Fe), one of the most abundant heavy metals in the Earth's crust was investigated to describe the basic features of i'ts pollution in various urban locations. The spatiotemporal distribution of Fe concentrations in seven major South Korean cities exhibited unique patterns to reflect differences as to Fe sources reflected in the relative enrichment in coastal relative to inland areas. In addition, the analysis of long-term trends of different metal species indicated that Fe levels maintained a fairly constant trend, while there had been a noticeable decline in concentrations of other metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, and Ni). The relative robustness of our correlation analysis was assessed by comparing (1) the Fe concentrations among cities, and (2) Fe with other metals at a given city. Fe concentrations were also partly explainable by the frequency of Asian dust events in most cities, with the observed spatial gradients in such relationships.
authors.affiliation: Atmospheric Environment & Air Quality Management Lab., Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Han Yang University, 222 Wangsimni-Ro, Seoul 133-791, Korea. Electronic address: kkim61@hanyang.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Ki-Hyun
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Atmospheric Environment & Air Quality Management Lab., Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Han Yang University, 222 Wangsimni-Ro, Seoul 133-791, Korea.
authors.forename: Yoon-Jung
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: Atmospheric Environment & Air Quality Management Lab., Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Han Yang University, 222 Wangsimni-Ro, Seoul 133-791, Korea.
authors.forename: Jan E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Szulejko
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Chemistry, Jeju National University, Jeju, Korea.
authors.forename: Chang-Hee
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: ANSTO Institute for Environmental Research, Locked Bag 2001, Kirrawee DC, NSW 2232, Australia.
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chambers
authors.affiliation: Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550002, PR China.
authors.forename: Xinbin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Central Scientific Instruments Organisation (CSIR-CSIO), Sector 30 C, Chandigarh, 160030, India.
authors.forename: Akash
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Deep
authors.affiliation: Atmospheric Environment & Air Quality Management Lab., Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Han Yang University, 222 Wangsimni-Ro, Seoul 133-791, Korea.
authors.forename: Yong-Hyun
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Kim
keywords: Air pollution; Asian dust; Heavy metals; Iron; S. Korea; Spatial; Temporal