ACP Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ACP 1680-7324 Copernicus GmbH Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/acp-9-4717-2009 East Asian SO<sub>2</sub> pollution plume over Europe &ndash; Part 1: Airborne trace gas measurements and source identification by particle dispersion model simulations Fiedler V. 1 2 Nau R. 2 Ludmann S. 2 Arnold F. 1 2 Schlager H. 1 Stohl A. 3 Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre, Oberpfaffenhofen, 82234 Wessling, Germany Max-Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, (MPIK), Atmospheric Physics Division, P.O. Box 103980, 69029 Heidelberg, Germany Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU), Dept. Regional and Global Pollution Issues, Kjeller, Norway 20 07 2009 9 14 4717 4728 This is an open-access article ditributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. This article is available from http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/9/4717/2009/acp-9-4717-2009.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/9/4717/2009/acp-9-4717-2009.pdf

A large SO<sub>2</sub>-rich pollution plume of East Asian origin was detected by aircraft based CIMS (Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometry) measurements at 3–7.5 km altitude over the North Atlantic. The measurements, which took place on 3 May 2006 aboard of the German research aircraft Falcon, were part of the INTEX-B (<B>In</B>tercontinental Chemical <B>T</B>ransport <B>Ex</B>periment-B) campaign. Additional trace gases (NO, NO<sub>y</sub>, CO, H<sub>2</sub>O) were measured and used for comparison and source identification. The atmospheric SO<sub>2</sub> mole fraction was markedly increased inside the plume and reached up to 900 pmol/mol. Accompanying lagrangian FLEXPART particle dispersion model simulations indicate that the probed pollution plume originated at low altitudes from densely populated and industrialized regions of East Asia, primarily China, about 8–12 days prior to the measurements.

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