Morphological and light-absorption characteristics of individual BC particles collected in an urban seaside area at Tokaimura, eastern central Japan

The seasonal variation and the size-distribution of aerosols and its chemical components (e.g. C, Na, Cl, NH4+, NO3−, SO42−, Al, Ca, Mg and Fe) were also measured in this study. More than 55% of non-inorganic carbon (OC + BC) in the atmosphere was detected in the aerosols with a size smaller than 1.1 μm and the concentration of non-inorganic carbon in the atmosphere showed only a faint variation during a whole year, although the concentrations of total aerosols and its chemical components exhibited a distinct variation.