Name of research institute or organization:
School of Creative Science and Technology, Waseda University

Title of project:
Observation of aerosol-cloud-precipitation interaction in the free troposphere using Mt. Fuji
 

Project leader and team:
Hiroshi OKOCHI

Project description:

  The purposes of this study are to make clear the present state of air quality on global scale and the transboundary air pollution. Simultaneous observation of gases, aerosol, and cloud water was performed at the top (3776 m a.s.l.) and the southeastern foot (1284 m a,s,l.) of Mt. Fuji during summer from July 14 to August 25 in 2014. Various air pollutants such as acidic substances, heavy metals, and organic compounds were measured in three phases.
  The concentration of heavy metals in cloud water was higher in the continental air than in the maritime air, in particular As, Se, and Cd. High correlations between As, indicator of the coal combustion, and Se (r=0.993), Cd (r=0.939), Zn (r=0.834), Pb (r=0.740), nss SO42- (r=0.910), and NO3- (r=0.796) suggested that these heavy metals were transported with acidic substances from the continent.