Application of a long-path differential optical absorption spectrometer (LP-DOAS) on the measurements of NO2, SO2, O3, and HNO2 in Gwangju, Korea

A differential optical absorption spectrometer (DOAS) technique has been applied to monitor airborne trace pollutants including NO2, SO2, O3, and HNO2 in the ultraviolet (UV) region (290–350 nm) over a 1.5 km beam path (two ways) during an intensive measurement campaign held at Gwangju, Korea (March 2002). Their mean mixing ratios (and standard deviations) were computed as 11.3 (8.8), 1.9 (1.7), 17.1 (19.3), and 0.5 (0.4) ppbv, respectively.As a means to evaluate the performance of the long-path DOAS (LP-DOAS) system with conventional point monitoring systems (PMS), correlation analysis was conducted between the two data sets. These data sets were then inspected to account for the influence of the environmental conditions on the correlation strength between the two systems, especially with respect to light level and wind speed. To facilitate the comparison, correlation analyses were conducted after dividing the data sets for those parameters into several classes. The strength of the correlations between DOAS and meteorological parameters was also examined to evaluate their effects on the DOAS performance. It was found that, among the four pollutant species, O3 is the most sensitive to changes in meteorological conditions in relation with atmospheric mixing conditions. The overall results of our study indicate that open-path monitoring techniques can be used to effectively diagnose air quality and be substituted for the conventional point monitoring methods with the proper consideration of those parameters affecting the DOAS sensitivity (e.g., light level and wind speed).