Abstract for presentation at 14th IUAPPA World Congress

This study investigated the temporal variation and spatial distribution of air pollutants in the atmosphere around the coastal region of South Taiwan. Ambient air pollutants were simultaneously monitored both in-land and offshore. In-land monitoring was conducted at two sites associated with fourteen national air quality monitoring stations, while offshore monitoring was conducted at two sites both in an island and on the boat. A protocol of ambient air quality monitoring was conducted for forty-eight hours. Gaseous air pollutants (i.e. CO, SO₂, NO_x, THC, and O₃) were continuously monitored by instruments, whole PM₁₀ was measured by Beta-gauge monitors. Data obtained from both in-land and offshore monitoring was applied to plot the concentration contour by a software Surfer. Hourly variation of air pollutant concentrations was further used to study the influences of sea-land breezes on the transportation of air pollutants around the coastal region of South Taiwan for different seasons. Preliminary results showed that ambient air pollutants could be transported back and forth along the coastline. Particularly, high concentration of O₃ was observed at the far in-land sites at the daytime due to sea breeze, while O₃ could be also detected over the sea at the nighttime due to land breeze. It suggested that the accumulation of air pollutants in the atmosphere due to sea-land breeze cannot be ignored at the coastal region of South Taiwan. Moreover, a grid model CAMx will be applied to simulate the transportation of air pollutants and to compare with the ambient air quality monitoring data.