Measurements of Trace Gases in the Inflow of South China Sea Background Air and Outflow of Regional

Abstract. We present a 16-month record of ozone (O3), carbon monoxide (CO), total reactive nitro-gen (NOy), sulphur dioxide (SO2), methane (CH4), C2 – C8 non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs), C1 – C2 halocarbons, and dimethyl sulfide (DMS) measured at a southern China coastal site. The study aimed to establish/update seasonal profiles of chemically active trace gases and pollution tracers in subtropical Asia and to characterize the composition of the ‘background ’ atmosphere over the South China Sea (SCS) and of pollution outflow from the industrialized Pearl River Delta (PRD) region and southern China. Most of the measured trace gases of anthropogenic origin exhibited a winter maximum and a summer minimum, while O3 showed a maximum in autumn which is in contrast to the seasonal behavior of O3 in rural eastern China and in many mid-latitude remote locations in the western Pacific. The data were segregated into two groups representing the SCS background air and the outflow of regional continental pollution (PRD plus southern China), based on CO mixing ratios and meteorological conditions. NMHCs and halocarbon data were further analyzed to examine the relationships between their variability and atmospheric lifetime and to elucidate the extent of atmospheric processing in the sampled air parcels. The trace gas variability (S) versus lifetime (τ) relationship, defined by the power law, Slnx = Aτ−b, (where X is the trace gas mixing ratio) gives a fi