Article: Ultrafine particle and gas contamination of urban air in Seoul, Korea, during winter Journal: International Journal of Environment and Pollution (IJEP) 2010 Vol.41 No.1/2 pp.3 - 20 Abstract: To investigate the contamination characteristics of ultrafine particles and gases originating from vehicle exhaust, data were obtained from one-week intensive monitoring at an urban site in Seoul, Korea during the winter of 2003. The diurnal variations of size-segregated particle concentrations for both ultrafine particles (20–100 nm) and accumulation mode particles (100–600 nm) were very similar. Strong morning peaks and weaker evening peaks of ultrafine particles and NOx were observed at the site. The NOx concentration closely followed the trend of ultrafine particle concentration, resulting in a high determination coefficient (R² = 0.65) for the relationship between these two pollutants. When the wind conditions were favourable for the transport of the air pollutants from busy neighbouring roads to the monitoring site, the frequency of simultaneous observations was increased. Both ultrafine particles and NOx were determined to be good indicators of the transport of vehicle emissions from roads to urban surroundings. Inderscience Publishers - linking academia, business and industry through research

Title: Ultrafine particle and gas contamination of urban air in Seoul, Korea, during winter

Authors: Nguyen Tri Quang Hung, Gwi-Nam Bae, Seung-Bok Lee

Addresses: Centre for Environmental Technology Research, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 131, Cheongryang, Seoul 130-650, Republic of Korea; Water Resource and Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering, Korea University of Science and Technology, 113, Gwahangno, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-333, Republic of Korea. ' Centre for Environmental Technology Research, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 131, Cheongryang, Seoul 130-650, Republic of Korea. ' Centre for Environmental Technology Research, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 131, Cheongryang, Seoul 130-650, Republic of Korea

Abstract: To investigate the contamination characteristics of ultrafine particles and gases originating from vehicle exhaust, data were obtained from one-week intensive monitoring at an urban site in Seoul, Korea during the winter of 2003. The diurnal variations of size-segregated particle concentrations for both ultrafine particles (20–100 nm) and accumulation mode particles (100–600 nm) were very similar. Strong morning peaks and weaker evening peaks of ultrafine particles and NO_x were observed at the site. The NO_x concentration closely followed the trend of ultrafine particle concentration, resulting in a high determination coefficient (R² = 0.65) for the relationship between these two pollutants. When the wind conditions were favourable for the transport of the air pollutants from busy neighbouring roads to the monitoring site, the frequency of simultaneous observations was increased. Both ultrafine particles and NO_x were determined to be good indicators of the transport of vehicle emissions from roads to urban surroundings.

Keywords: ultrafine particles; nitrogen oxides; urban air; vehicle emissions; winter; Seoul; South Korea; gas contamination; air pollution; air quality; vehicle exhausts.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEP.2010.032242

International Journal of Environment and Pollution, 2010 Vol.41 No.1/2, pp.3 - 20

Published online: 17 Mar 2010 *

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Title: Ultrafine particle and gas contamination of urban air in Seoul, Korea, during winter

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