Spatial and Temporal Variations of Atmospheric Aerosol in Osaka

Abstract

It is well known that the aerosol distribution in Asia is complex due to both the increasing emissions of the anthropogenic aerosols associated with economic growth and the behavior of natural dusts. Therefore, detailed observations of atmospheric particles in Asian urban cities are important. In this work, we focus on the spatial and temporal variations of atmospheric particles around Higashi-Osaka in Japan. Higashi-Osaka is located in the eastern part of Osaka, the second-largest city in Japan, and is famous for small- and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises. For this study, we placed various ground measurement devices around the Higashi-Osaka campus of Kinki University including a Cimel sunphotometer supported by NASA/AERONET (Aerosol robotics network), suspended particulate matter (SPM) sampler and LIDAR (light detection and ranging). Individual particle analyses with a SEM (scanning electron microscope)/EDX (energy-dispersive X-ray analyzer) show the temporal variations of particle properties, such as size, shape and components, during a dust event on 21 March 2010. The simultaneous measurement using a portable sun photometer with AERONET was conducted from April to November 2011. A comparison of the data at each site and the combination of the observed LIDAR data and model simulations indicate the difference in the transportation processes between dust and anthropogenic particles. We suppose this difference is attributed to the differences in the vertical aerosol profiles, where one aerosol is transported over Mount Ikoma and the other is blocked by it.

Keywords

• atmospheric particles
• dust storm
• radiation simulation
• ground measurements
• SEM/EDX