Characteristics of aerosols and mass closure study at two WMO GAW regional background stations in eastern China

Abstract In the summer and winter of 2004 and 2005, size-segregated atmospheric aerosols were sampled with modified Andersen KA200 Multi-stage impactor at two regional background stations in the eastern China, the Shangdianzi station (SDZ) in the suburb of Beijing and the Lin'An station (LA) in the Yangtze river delta region, both are WMO Global Atmospheric Watch station, which represent the regional background of air pollutions of the two rapid developing economical zone of China, the Yangtze River Delta region (YRD) and Beijing-Tianjin region. The aerosol mass size distributions, ionic compositions, organic and elemental carbon (OC and EC), and elemental components were analyzed. The mass concentrations for TSP (total suspend particle), PM11 (aerodynamic diameter less than 11 μm), and PM2.1 (aerodynamic diameter less than 2.1 μm) at both sites showed obviously different between the winter and summer, with higher mass concentrations measured in the winter time. All seasonal mean mass concentrations of PM2.1 accounted for over 50% of PM11 at both sites. The aerosol mass closure study indicated that the total mass concentration reconstructed from the aerosol chemical composition agreed well with the measured gravimetric mass at the two stations. The fine aerosol particles at the two stations were composed mainly of sulfate and organic matter. In the summer, more than half of the PM2.1 mass was sulfate, suggesting a dominant contribution of secondary aerosol to the fine particles in these two regions. In the winter, the contribution of nitrate to the fine particles increased significantly due to the lower volatile losses under the cold weather. The proportions of soil type components in the PM2.1 showed similar magnitude in the winter and summer at Lin'An station but significant seasonal differences with higher fractions in the winter at Shangdianzi station. On average EC accounted for about 2%–6% of the fine particle mass (PM2.1) at both sites with proportionally lower EC values in the summer. The percentage of OM (Organic material) in TSP and PM2.1 showed less differences between winter and summer at Lin'An station, about 20%–30% in both TSP and PM2.1, however, the percentage at Shangdianzi station varied greatly from summer to winter, from 11% to 35% in PM2.1 and 12%–28% in TSP. Seasonal and geographical similarities and differences in PM2.1, PM11 and total suspended particles and comparison with previous studies at these regions are also discussed.