Chemical composition and mass size distribution of PM1 at an elevated site in central east China

Abstract

Size-resolved aerosol chemical compositions were measured continuously for 1.5 years from June 2010 to January 2012 with an aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) to characterize the mass and size distributions (MSDs) of major chemical components in submicron particles (approximately PM1) at Mountain Tai (Mt. Tai), an elevated site in central east China. The annual mean mass concentrations of organic, sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, and chloride were 11.2, 9.2, 7.2, 5.8, and 0.95 μ/4g mg-3, respectively, which are much higher than those at most mountain sites in the USA and Europe, but lower than those at the nearby surface rural sites in China. A clear seasonality was observed for all major components throughout the study, with low concentration in fall and high in summer, and is believed to be caused by seasonal variations in planetary boundary layer (PBL) height, near surface pollutant concentrations and regional transport processes. Air masses were classified into categories impacted by PBL, lower free troposphere (LFT), new particle formation (NPF), in-cloud processes, and polluted aerosols. Organics dominated the PM1 mass during the NPF episodes, while sulfate contributed most to PM1 in cloud events. The average MSDs of particles between 30 and 1000 nm during the entire study for organics, sulfate, nitrate, and ammonium were approximately log-normal with mass median diameters (MMDs) of 539, 585, 542, and 545 nm, respectively. These values are slightly larger than those observed at ground sit.