Spatiotemporal characterization of aerosols and trace gases over the Yangtze River Delta region, China: impact of trans-boundary pollution and meteorology
Atmospheric Science
China
Atmospheric sciences
Environmental Engineering
Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
Action plan
Air pollution
Yangtze river
Organic chemistry
Health Effects of Air Pollution
Trace gas
01 natural sciences
Environmental science
Air Quality
Low-Cost Air Quality Monitoring Systems
Meteorology
Engineering
Atmospheric Aerosols and their Impacts
11. Sustainability
Aerosol
Biology
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Climatology
Geography
Ecology
Research
FOS: Environmental engineering
Air Quality Monitoring
Hydrology (agriculture)
Geology
FOS: Earth and related environmental sciences
15. Life on land
Pollution
6. Clean water
Earth and Planetary Sciences
Particulates
Chemistry
Geotechnical engineering
Aerospace engineering
Archaeology
Delta
13. Climate action
FOS: Biological sciences
Environmental Science
Physical Sciences
DOI:
10.1186/s12302-022-00668-2
Publication Date:
2022-09-08T10:03:04Z
AUTHORS (13)
ABSTRACT
Abstract
Background
The spatiotemporal variation of observed trace gases (NO2, SO2, O3) and particulate matter (PM2.5, PM10) were investigated over cities of Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region including Nanjing, Hefei, Shanghai and Hangzhou. Furthermore, the characteristics of different pollution episodes, i.e., haze events (visibility < 7 km, relative humidity < 80%, and PM2.5 > 40 µg/m3) and complex pollution episodes (PM2.5 > 35 µg/m3 and O3 > 160 µg/m3) were studied over the cities of the YRD region. The impact of China clean air action plan on concentration of aerosols and trace gases is examined. The impacts of trans-boundary pollution and different meteorological conditions were also examined.
Results
The highest annual mean concentrations of PM2.5, PM10, NO2 and O3 were found for 2019 over all the cities. The annual mean concentrations of PM2.5, PM10, and NO2 showed continuous declines from 2019 to 2021 due to emission control measures and implementation of the Clean Air Action plan over all the cities of the YRD region. The annual mean O3 levels showed a decline in 2020 over all the cities of YRD region, which is unprecedented since the beginning of the China’s National environmental monitoring program since 2013. However, a slight increase in annual O3 was observed in 2021. The highest overall means of PM2.5, PM10, SO2, and NO2 were observed over Hefei, whereas the highest O3 levels were found in Nanjing. Despite the strict control measures, PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations exceeded the Grade-1 National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) and WHO (World Health Organization) guidelines over all the cities of the YRD region. The number of haze days was higher in Hefei and Nanjing, whereas the complex pollution episodes or concurrent occurrence of O3 and PM2.5 pollution days were higher in Hangzhou and Shanghai.
The in situ data for SO2 and NO2 showed strong correlation with Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) satellite data.
Conclusions
Despite the observed reductions in primary pollutants concentrations, the secondary pollutants formation is still a concern for major metropolises. The increase in temperature and lower relative humidity favors the accumulation of O3, while low temperature, low wind speeds and lower relative humidity favor the accumulation of primary pollutants. This study depicts different air pollution problems for different cities inside a region. Therefore, there is a dire need to continuous monitoring and analysis of air quality parameters and design city-specific policies and action plans to effectively deal with the metropolitan pollution.
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