Spectroscopic characteristics and organic carbon contents in the aerosols collected in Okinawa, Japan

Abstract:

Organics in the atmospheric aerosols occupy 20 to 70% of the total mass. Since the proportion of organics is so large that it’s important to understand their detailed characteristics. Polymeric compounds called HUmic-Like Substance (HULIS) are known to be present in the atmospheric aerosols. Biomass burning can be a source of HULIS. In this study, atmospheric aerosols were collected at Cape Hedo, a northern tip of Okinawa Island, and we characterized overall features of the organics collected in different seasons. In Okinawa, continental air mass prevails in spring, fall and winter, while maritime air mass from Pacific Ocean prevails in summer. Thus, it is relatively straightforward to identify sources of organics in different seasons. We measured total organic carbon (TOC) and water soluble organic carbon (WSOC) concentrations, and absorbance and fluorescence intensity for the aerosol samples collected during Nov 2012 and July 2014 (n=90). As a result, TOC and WSOC showed almost the same trend, higher concentrations when continental air mass prevailed in fall and winter, while lower concentrations in summer. Percentages of WSOC in TOC accounted for 33-44%. Absorption efficiency, absorbance per 1 ppm organic carbon concentration, of the samples showed higher values in winter and fall, and lower values in summer. Fluorescence efficiency, normalized fluorescence with quinine sulfate per 1 ppm organic carbon concentration, were also different, it is likely that different types of organics were present in the aerosols from different seasons. We are also planning to measure HULIS in the aerosols and will be discussed a link between their contribution and trans-boundary air pollution in Asia.