Meteorological and chemical controls on the vertical distribution of Beijing summer coarse and fine aerosols

Vertical profiles of fine and coarse aerosol particles were determined by cascade impactors at the me-teorological tower in Beijing for three days and one night, July 18-23, 1980. Coarse mode aerosols showed a maximum concentration at 47 m when there was an inversion at about 140 m height, and a rather uniform distribution when there was no inversion. This may indicate a two-component origin of coarse particles at the tower site, one being surface dust and the other being tall stack emissions. Fine mode aerosols showed more complex vertical profiles. Median particle size distributions of most metals were bimodal, indicating distinct coarse particle dispersion and fine accumulation mode processes. A chemical thermodynamic cal-culation indicates that fine mode Si can result from the reduction of silica to volatile SiO during coal combustion with limited air supply, a process which should release substantial amounts of carbon monoxide to the atmosphere.