Abstract
Just before midnight on August 12, 2015, violent explosions and massive fires occurred in the Tianjin Harbor, China, releasing extensive amounts of toxic gas and smoke, debris, and mineral dust into the atmosphere. Atmospheric damage resulted from the long-range transport of air pollutants (LRTAP) in neighboring areas and countries. It has been found that the smoke plumes circled around the Huabei Plain in the lee of the Taihang Mountains, the Shandong Peninsula, and the Bohai Sea before reaching the Yellow Sea and the Korean Peninsula. The transport of widespread smoke plumes in the Yellow Sea region was evidenced from detailed analyses of images from various satellites including NOAA, MODIS, Himawari, and MTSAT. Satellite images clearly showed the generation of smoke emissions from Tianjin, the entire covering of smoke plumes over the Yellow Sea and nearby shore areas, and the LRTAP to the Korean Peninsula. The deposit of soil dust after the trace of rainfall confirmed LRTAP from the explosions and large fires in Tianjin. Also, air quality measurements of particulate matter (PM) 10, PM2.5, O3, CO, and visibility showed the atmospheric impact of widespread smoke plumes from Tianjin.
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Chung, Y.S., Kim, H.S. On the August 12, 2015 occurrence of explosions and fires in Tianjin, China, and the atmospheric impact observed in central Korea. Air Qual Atmos Health 8, 521–532 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11869-015-0371-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11869-015-0371-2