Abstract: The total suspended particulates(TSP) samples in atmospheric aerosol were collected in western the Yellow Sea in winter 2012 to study the main water-soluble ion concentrations of Cl^-, NO₃^-, SO₄^2-, Na⁺, K⁺, NH₄⁺, Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺ and CH₃SO₃^-(MSA) as well as their chemical characteristics and to discuss the influence of human activities on coastal atmospheric aerosol.The results showed that the concentrations of secondary ions(nss-SO₄^2-, NO₃^- and NH₄⁺) in aerosol were the highest, accounting for 69.4% of the total determined ions.At the same time, Cl^- showed a certain degree of enrichment due to the influence of human activities, and the average value of enrichment factor was 34.6%.The concentrations of MSA were relatively low, with an average of 0.014±0.012 μg/m³.The analysis of sulfate source showed that the contribution of sea-salt sulfate was 7.3% to the total SO₄^2-, while biogenic sulfate accounted for 5.0% of nss-SO₄^2-, indicating that human input was the main source of sulfate in aerosol over the Yellow Sea during winter.In addition, the proportion of NO₃^- in inorganic nitrogen in aerosol is 62.56%～83.03%.