Taehwa Research Forest: A receptor site for severe domestic pollution events in Korea during 2016

Two of these severe pollution events are thoroughly examined. The first, occurring on 17 May 2016, tracks transboundary pollution transport exiting eastern China and the Yellow Sea, traversing the Seoul Metropolitan Area (SMA), and then reaching TRF in the afternoon hours with severely polluted conditions.

This case study indicates that although outflow from China and the Yellow Sea were elevated with respect to chemically unperturbed conditions, the regulatory exceedance at TRF was directly linked in time, space, and altitude to urban Seoul emissions. The second case studied, which occurred on 9 June 2016, reveals that increased levels of biogenic emissions, in combination with amplified urban emissions, were associated with severe levels of pollution and a regulatory exceedance at TRF.