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Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., 11, 3937-3976, 2011
www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/11/3937/2011/ doi:10.5194/acpd-11-3937-2011 © Author(s) 2011. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. |
Characteristics, seasonality and sources of carbonaceous and ionic components in the tropical Indian aerosols
1Institute of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido University, N19 W8, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0819, Japan
2National Physical Laboratory (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research), Dr. K. S. Krishnan Road, New Delhi 110012, India
3Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036, India
Abstract. To better characterize South and Southeast Asian aerosols, PM10 samples collected from tropical Chennai, India (13.04° N; 80.17° E) were analyzed for carbonaceous and water-soluble ionic components. Concentration ranges of elemental carbon (EC) and organic carbon (OC) were 2.4–14 μg m−3 and 3.2–15.6 μg m−3 in winter samples whereas they were 1.1–2.5 μg m−3 and 4.1–17.6 μg m−3 in summer samples, respectively. Concentration of secondary organic carbon (SOC) retrieved from EC-tracer method was 4.6 ± 2.8 μg m−3 in winter and 4.3 ± 2.8 μg m−3 in summer. SO42- (8.8 ± 2.5 μg m−3 and 4.1 ± 2.7 μg m−3 in winter and summer, respectively) was found as the most abundant ionic species (57% on average, n = 49), followed by NH4+ (15%) > NO3− > Cl− > K+> Na+ > Ca2+ > MSA− > Mg2+. The mass fractions of EC, organic matter (OM) and ionic species varied seasonally, following the air mass trajectories and corresponding source strength. Based on mass concentration ratios of selected components and relations of EC and OC to marker species, we found that biofuel/biomass burning is the major source of atmospheric aerosols in South and Southeast Asia. The high concentrations of SOC and WSOC/OC ratios (ave. 0.45; n = 49) as well as good correlations between SOC and WSOC suggest that the secondary production of organic aerosols during long-range atmospheric transport is also significant in this region. This study provides the baseline data of carbonaceous aerosols for southern part of the Indian subcontinent.
Citation: Pavuluri, C. M., Kawamura, K., Aggarwal, S. G., and Swaminathan, T.: Characteristics, seasonality and sources of carbonaceous and ionic components in the tropical Indian aerosols, Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., 11, 3937-3976, doi:10.5194/acpd-11-3937-2011, 2011.