The Seasonal Variabilities in the Concentration of Atmospheric Aerosols over Qingdao, China

Mass concentrations of Total Suspended Particles (TSP) and size-segregated particles were obtained from July 2001 to June 2002 in Qingdao to characterize the seasonal variations of atmospheric aerosols and to show the impact of dust events on the air quality in Qingdao. Data on size-segregated aerosols show that 73.74% of the TSP mass concentration is contributed by particles with diameters less than 11μm. Particles with diameters less than 1.1 μm have a higher concentration during the winter. In spring, larger particles tend to have higher mass concentrations. Bimodal particle size distributions have been observed, with maxima around 4.7-7μm and 0.43-0.65μm in the winter season, and 7-11μm and 0.65-1.1 μm in the autumn season. Measurements made during the dust events in March 2002 show high concentrations of particles in the size range 2.1 -μm.