Comparative Analysis of Air Quality in Agricultural and Urban Areas in Korea

Air pollution monitoring in Korea has not yet been implemented in agricultural areas. This study compares agricultural air quality with urban air quality during two periods: (1) the entire measurement period and (2) high-PM episodes. To ensure broad spatial cover-age, eight monitoring stations were installed in Yeoju, Nonsan, Naju, Gimhae, Hongcheon, Danyang, Muan, and Sangju. Real-time measurements of PM-10, PM-2.5, SO₂, and NOx were conducted continuously from March 2023 to December 2024. Over the entire meas-urement period, PM concentrations were similar in both agricultural and urban areas, but gaseous pollutants were lower in agricultural areas. PM levels were higher in agricultural areas during summer, whereas urban areas showed higher concentrations in other sea-sons. During high-PM episodes (29 days), all pollutants were significantly higher in urban areas, with PM-2.5 showing a greater difference than PM-10. Diurnal variations revealed that PM-10, PM-2.5, and NO₂ peaked in the morning and reached their lowest levels around 3 PM, with urban levels consistently higher than those in agricultural areas. SO₂ showed a different pattern, reaching its lowest concentration at 6 AM and peaking at noon in urban areas and at 6 PM in agricultural areas. This patter closely followed temperature and wind speed variations.