Characterization of visibility and atmospheric aerosols in urban, suburban, and remote areas

Visibility data from over the past four decades accumulated from urban areas of central Taiwan indicated that air pollutants have significantly degraded visibility in recent years. Currently, the annual average visibility in urban areas of the same region is approximately 8]10 km, while the visibility in remote areas is approximately 25]30 km. To understand how aerosols affect the visibility in this region, here we selected three sites in central Taiwan to measure the soluble ionic and carbonaceous species of PM2.5 and PM2.5] 10 during 1997]1998. A MOUDI cascade impactor was used to measure the size distributions of atmospheric sulfate, nitrate, and carbonaceous particles. The aerosol data were then analyzed together with meteorological and air quality data. Comparing the results obtained from urban, coastal suburban and remote sites revealed that sulfate, carbonaceous species and local wind speed significantly affected the visibility in the urban area. However, sulfate concentration and humidity influenced visibility in the coastal area of central Taiwan. The particulate concentration at the remote station was roughly one-fifth of that in the city. Regression analysis results indicated that humidity is a dominant factor affecting remote visibility.