The characteristics of atmospheric SF6 in the Korean Peninsula during 2017-2020

Sulfur hexafluoride (SF₆) is a most potent anthropogenic greenhouse gas with a global warming potential of 23,900 over a 100-year time horizon. There are no natural sink sources in the troposphere and they are destructed by photolysis and electron attachment in the mesosphere.  SF₆ is mainly used for electrical insulation, circuit breaker, and plasma etching processes in the semiconductor industry. For monitoring changes in atmospheric SF₆ in Korean Peninsula, 3 surface in-situ greenhouse gas monitoring stations, Anmyeondo (AMY), Jeju Gosan (JGS), and Ulleungdo (ULD), have been operating. AMY started its operation in 2007 and JGS and ULD followed in 2017. Due to the advantage of their locations surrounding the Korean Peninsula at the Western, Southern, and Eastern ends, they can provide information on the inflow and outflow of the SF₆ in the Korean Peninsula. According to the data from 2017 to 2020, the increasing trend of background mole fraction of SF₆ from the stations was in good agreement with that of the global monitoring stations, Mauna Loa and Cape Grim. Each station shows the characteristic enhancement tendency by wind direction and speed, which implies the possible influence of the regional emission source and long-range transport. In addition, based on the analysis with HYSPLIT model the central area of the Korean Peninsula is identified as an emission source region, as well as central part of China and Japan.