TRANSPORT COURSE OF INSOLUBLE AND SOLUBLE SUBSTANCES OF FOG WATER IN AKITA PREFECTURE IN NORTHERN JAPAN

Fog water samples were collected at the Akita Hachimantai mountain range in northern Japan from August to September 1997 and from June to September 1988 to 2000 to investigate the pollution mechanism of fog. Ionic components and insoluble substances in fog water were analyzed using ion chromatography and particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE) analysis, respectively. Combining a 72 h back trajectory and principal component analysis (PCA) to chemical analysis data elucidated the effect of the transport course of an air mass on samples insoluble substances and ionic components. When the air mass was transported from northern China to the Hachimantai range, the nss-SO₄^2- was greater than in other cases. That fog contained "Kosa" as an insoluble substance from northern China. Our PCA analysis revealed that the score of PC1 (which was about –0.5) was a measure of containing "Kosa".