Formation and dominant factors of haze pollution over Beijing and its peripheral areas in winter

Abstract The formation process and dominant factors of air pollution over Beijing and its immediate vicinities, known as a rapidly developed agglomeration, were dissected and analyzed in multi–scale in this paper. Several severe haze pollution events occurred over northern China in October, November 2013, during which time a set of hourly sampling data, including four air pollutants (PM2.5, PM10, NO2, SO2) from 35 monitoring stations, as well as relevant vertical profiles of meteorological parameters were collected. Two major formation processes were found to be contributing to two substantial different pollution types in Beijing area. One type was characterized by stagnant weather conditions with moderate southerly winds. Air pollutants from local and southern industrial provinces accumulated and PM2.5 concentrations were less than 250 μg/m3, with a duration of 1 or 2 days. In contrast, the second type was characterized by intense temperature inversion under planetary boundary layer (PBL) and natural dusts in the middle and upper part of PBL transported from Gobi Desert cover the fine particle like a “lid”, making the regional atmospheric layers extremely stable. Consequently, PM2.5 concentrations exceeded 400 μg/m3 and the severe pollution can last for 3 to 5 days. Moreover, domestic heating is a significant contributor to haze pollution in winter. Its role was estimated using comparative methods as it began in the middle of observing period. Statistical results showed that domestic heating contributed to the increase in most of the monitored air pollutants, especially for SO2. Spatial interpolation and overlay analysis were conducted to get the spatial features of domestic heating–induced pollutants in order to clarify its sources. Population distribution data was integrated into a spatial statistical analysis, which indicated the concentrations of PM2.5 and SO2 have no or even negative relationship with population, thus revealing pollutants from domestic heating in Beijing were mainly from suburban areas without central heating systems.

[1]  H. Akimoto.  Global Air Quality and Pollution , 2003, Science.

[2]  Binyu Wang,et al.  Air quality during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games , 2007 .

[3]  X. Zhao,et al.  Analysis of a winter regional haze event and its formation mechanism in the North China Plain , 2013 .

[4]  D. Byun,et al.  Improved CMAQ predictions of particulate matter utilizing the satellite-derived aerosol optical depth , 2011 .

[5]  Michael Brauer,et al.  Within-urban variability in ambient air pollution: Comparison of estimation methods , 2008 .

[6]  B. Fu.  Blue Skies for China , 2008, Science.

[7]  G. Ding,et al.  Characteristics of vertical profiles and sources of PM2.5, PM10 and carbonaceous species in Beijing , 2005 .

[8]  Shuiyuan Cheng,et al.  Use of a MM5–CAMx–PSAT Modeling System to Study SO2 Source Apportionment in the Beijing Metropolitan Region , 2012, Environmental Modeling & Assessment.

[9]  Zhaoyan Liu,et al.  Airborne dust distributions over the Tibetan Plateau and surrounding areas derived from the first year of CALIPSO lidar observations , 2008 .

[10]  T. Talbot,et al.  Surveillance of the short-term impact of fine particle air pollution on cardiovascular disease hospitalizations in New York State , 2009, Environmental health : a global access science source.

[11]  Q. Huang.  An Integrated MM5-CAMx Modeling Approach for Assessing PM10 Contribution from Different Sources in Beijing, China , 2010 .

[12]  Nobuo Sugimoto,et al.  Record heavy Asian dust in Beijing in 2002: Observations and model analysis of recent events , 2003 .

[13]  Min Hu,et al.  Size-resolved aerosol water-soluble ionic compositions in the summer of Beijing: implication of regional secondary formation , 2009 .

[14]  C. Chan,et al.  Air pollution in mega cities in China , 2008 .

[15]  J. Hao,et al.  Air pollutants contribution and control strategies of energy-use related sources in Beijing , 2005 .

[16]  Y. Q. Wang,et al.  Atmospheric aerosol compositions in China: Spatial/temporal variability, chemical signature, regional haze distribution and comparisons with global aerosols , 2011 .

[17]  Ting Yang,et al.  Formation and evolution mechanism of regional haze: a case study in the megacity Beijing, China , 2012 .

[18]  George Christakos,et al.  Comparative spatiotemporal analysis of fine particulate matter pollution , 2009 .

[19]  Yong-liang Ma,et al.  Concentration and chemical characteristics of PM2.5 in Beijing, China: 2001-2002. , 2006, The Science of the total environment.

[20]  H. Bayraktar,et al.  A Kriging-based approach for locating a sampling site—in the assessment of air quality , 2005 .

[21]  Liangfu Chen,et al.  A study of urban pollution and haze clouds over northern China during the dusty season based on satellite and surface observations , 2014 .

[22]  Lixin Fu,et al.  Characterization of personal exposure concentration of fine particles for adults and children exposed to high ambient concentrations in Beijing, China. , 2010, Journal of environmental sciences.

[23]  Yu Tong,et al.  Characteristics of carbonaceous particles in Beijing during winter and summer 2003 , 2006 .

[24]  Kebin He,et al.  The characteristics of PM2.5 in Beijing, China , 2001 .

[25]  Ying Wang,et al.  Chemical characteristics of PM2.5 and PM10 in haze-fog episodes in Beijing. , 2006, Environmental science & technology.

[26]  Qingwen Qi,et al.  Population Exposure to PM2.5 in the Urban Area of Beijing , 2013, PloS one.

[27]  George Christakos,et al.  Estimation of Citywide Air Pollution in Beijing , 2013, PloS one.

[28]  V. Ramanathan,et al.  Aerosols, Climate, and the Hydrological Cycle , 2001, Science.

[29]  Qingzhu Zhang,et al.  Integrated evaluation of aerosols from regional brown hazes over northern China in winter: Concentrations, sources, transformation, and mixing states , 2011 .

[30]  Maite Vallejo,et al.  Ambient fine particles modify heart rate variability in young healthy adults , 2006, Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology.

[31]  Zifa Wang,et al.  Assessing the effects of trans-boundary aerosol transport between various city clusters on regional haze episodes in spring over East China , 2013 .

[32]  G. Ding,et al.  Vertical distributions of SO(2) and NO(2) in the lower atmosphere in Beijing urban areas, China. , 2008, The Science of the total environment.

[33]  J. Lelieveld,et al.  Strong air pollution causes widespread haze-clouds over China , 2010 .

[34]  Hong Qiu,et al.  Differential effects of fine and coarse particles on daily emergency cardiovascular hospitalizations in Hong Kong , 2013 .