Abstract
Transport and transformation of urban air pollutants are among the major factors driving the changes in the atmospheric composition in the downwind rural/remote areas of a megacity. Here, we assess the impacts of urban air pollution in a subtropical forest through characterization of the organic markers in submicron aerosol particles. The aerosol samples were collected and analyzed using TD-PTR-ToF-MS, where 163 ions were detected. The concentration of these extracted ions accounts for 83% of the mass of submicron organic aerosols, which are accordingly characterized by a median formula of C7H10O2. Molecular speciation indicates that urban and biomass burning pollution contributed substantially to the budget of organic aerosols, which were enhanced particularly by the liquid water content and acidity of the aerosols. Our results evidence that the footprint of urban air pollution was extended to its downwind forested areas and caused changes in the concentration and composition of submicron aerosols.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 96 |
| Journal | npj Climate and Atmospheric Science |
| Volume | 5 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 2022 |
Funding
The authors gratefully acknowledge the logistic support from the Experimental Forest, National Taiwan University, and the financial support from the Academia Sinica (AS-GC-110-01) and the Ministry of Science andTechnology of Taiwan through grants 105-2111-M-001-005-MY3, 104-2119-M-001-010 and 103-2111-M-001-003.