Abstract
Continuous visibility monitoring has been carried out inKwangju, Korea since May 1999. The total light extinctioncoefficient b ext measured by a transmissometer andreveals seasonal trends in urban visual air quality,especially under hazy conditions with a visual range of lessthan 15 km. Seasonal atmospheric visibility under lowrelative humidity during the winter was observed to be betterthan during any other seasons. Summertime visibility wasseverely degraded due to highly increased light scattering byhygroscopic particles under high humidity atmosphericconditions. Visibility during spring and fall was alsomoderate. However, yellow sand in spring caused the lowestvisibility conditions over the measurement area for a fewdays. With continuous monitoring using the transmissometer,the daily average seasonal visual range was measured to be13.1, 9.2, 11.0, and 13.9 km in spring, summer, falland winter, respectively. Under the atmospheric humiditycondition less than 60%, visual range was observed tobe 16.1, 13.9, 15.1, and 16.6 km in spring, summer,fall, and winter, respectively. The mean light extinctionbudget by sulfate and nitrate aerosols was determined to bethe highest value of 63.71% during the summer and thelowest value of 27.08% during spring. During the `yellow sand dust' period, a mean light extinction budget by soil particles was estimated to be at an unusually high value of 44.22%.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Charlson, R. J. and Heintzenberg, J.: 1995, Aerosol Forcing of Climate, John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, pp. 191–194.
Chow, C. Judith, Watson, G. John and Lowental, H. Douglas: 1996, ‘Sources and chemistry of PM10 aerosol in Santa Barbara county, CA’, Atmos. Environ. 30, 1489–1499.
Eldred, R. A. and Cahill, T. A.: 1994, ‘Trends in elemental concentrations of fine particles at remote sites in the United States’, Atmos. Environ. 28(5), 1009–1019.
Gray, H. A. and Cass, G. R.: 1998, ‘Source contributions to atmospheric fine Carbon particle concentrations’, Atmos. Environ. 32, 3805–3825.
Hegg, D. A., Ferek, R. J. and Hobbs, V.: 1994, ‘Light scattering and cloud condensation nucleus activity of sulfate aerosol measured over the Northeast Atlantic Ocean’, J. geophys, Res. 99, 25951–25954.
IMPROVE (Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments): 1993, ‘Spatial and temporal pattern and the chemical composition of the Haze in the United States’.
Iwasaka, Y., Yamato, M., Imasu, R. and Ono, A.: 1988, ‘Transport of Asian dust (Kosa) particles; importance of weak Kosa events on the geochemical cycle of soil particles’, Tellus 40B, 494–503.
Liou, Kuo-Nan: 1996, An Introduction to Atmospheric Radiation, Academic Press, California, pp. 50–86.
Parungo, F., Schnell, R., Kim, Y., Harris, J., Li, X., Zhou, M., Park, K., et al.: 1997, ‘Asian duststorms and their effects on radiation and climate’, STC Technical Report 3134, 40–43.
Pitchford, M. L., Green, M. C., Kuhns, H. P., Tombach, I., Malm, W. C., Scruggs, M., Farber, R. J. and Mirabella, V.: 1999, ‘Project MOHAVE Final Report’, 6–1 ~ 5–17.
Van de Hulst, H. C.: 1987, Light Scattering by Small Particles, Dover Publication, New York, pp. 383–453.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kim, Y.J., Kim, K.W. & Oh, S.J. Seasonal Characteristics of Haze Observed by Continuous Visibility Monitoring in the Urban Atmosphere of Kwangju, Korea. Environ Monit Assess 70, 35–46 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010675620318
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010675620318