We performed long-term continuous, measurements of water-soluble ionic species and total trace metals in aerosols in Sapporo from April 1991 to December 2006. The annual mean concentrations of Na+ and Cl- increased in Sapporo from 1991 to 2000. These species are the indicators of sea-salt particles. The monthly mean showed high concentrations in March and October, while July showed lower values. The chlorine loss and/or contribution of Na+ from mineral dust were observed frequently from winter to spring. Increase rates of anthropogenic emissions of acidifying pollutants were observed for nss-SO42- (62.2%) and NO3- (81.5%) over a ten year period. SO2 and NOX emissions in East Asia have rapidly increased since the 1980s. But these emissions in Sapporo have not increased from 1991 to 2006. Therefore, nss-SO42- and NO3- increase in Sapporo is due to the transport of anthropogenic acidifying pollutants from the continent. These species showed high concentrations in spring to summer due to anthropogenic acidifying pollutants over inland Hokkaido. The variations of nss-Ca2+, Al, Fe, Ti, Mn, Ca, and Mg showed high concentrations during spring. The annual mean concentrations of Ti, Mn, Ca, and Mg decreased from 1997 to 2006. Therefore, the transportation of mineral dust to Sapporo decreased slightly during the ten years of observation. Concentration ratios of Pb/Zn and Ca/Al showed characteristic values in winter when the air mass had traveled over Central China and the Korean Peninsula.
