PIXE ANALYSIS OF ATMOSPHERIC AEROSOLS FROM ASIAN CONTINENT

Abstract

A large amount of yellow sand dust from Asian continent transported to Japan by air, affecting traffic, climate and human health. The yellow sand is known as a natural phenomenon, but it is mixed with anthropogenic aerosols over the industrial area in East Asia and causes environmental pollution. In addition, atmospheric turbid phenomena are occasionally observed in spring of recent years over western part of Japan. This phenomenon is caused by the increase in the amounts of fine particles. For a better comprehension of such turbid phenomena, we collected aerosols at Nagasaki. At the same time, particle number concentrations were observed by OPC. The samples were analyzed by an in-air PIXE system at Tohoku University. Time series of elemental concentrations and particle number concentration were obtained. It found that the yellow sand dust phenomenon occurred when coarse particles reached high concentrations, and elemental concentrations of Si, Ca, Fe, Pb and Hg showed similar variations along with that of coarse particles. On the other hand, when fumes or mists were observed, concentrations of fine particles were also correlated with concentrations of S and Zn.