Analysis of Chemical Composition, Source and Processing Characteristics of Submicron Aerosol during the Summer in Beijing, China

In this study, an aerosol chemical speciation monitor (ACSM) and various collocated instruments are used to observe and analyze the chemical compositions, sources and extinction characteristics of submicron aerosol (PM1; aerodynamic diameter < 1 µm) in Beijing from July to September 2012. The results show that the average mass concentration of the PM1 for the entire observation period is 53.8 µg m−3, accounting for 70–85% on average of the PM2.5, and the average mass concentration of the non-refractory submicron aerosol (NR-PM1) declines monthly from July to September as the fraction of organic aerosol (OA) in it increases. During clean days, OA forms the largest mass fraction of the PM1, and the fraction of inorganics shows a significant increasing trend as pollutants accumulate. The effects of meteorology on PM pollution and aerosol processing are also explored. In particular, the SOR increases significantly during periods of elevated relative humidity (RH), suggesting that SO2 is more efficiently converted to SO42− during pollution episodes via aqueous-phase oxidation than gas-phase oxidation. In addition, the effect of wind speed is significantly weaker on primary species (PPM) than secondary species (SPM). Furthermore, the mass concentration of the SPM (or organics) is more sensitive than that of the PPM (or inorganics) to changes in wind speed. The proportion of oxygenated OA (OOA) is significantly higher than that of hydrocarbon-like OA (HOA) in the OA, and as the proportion of OA in the PM1 increases, the mass fraction of OOA in the OA gradually decreases. Moreover, the aerosol acidity in Beijing is essentially neutral during the observation period. The total extinction coefficient of the particulate matter (PM) correlates well with the mass concentration of the PM1 (r2 = 0.72), and the extinction efficiency of the secondary particulate matter (SPM) (r2 = 0.92) is significantly higher than that of the primary particulate matter (PPM) (r2 = 0.58). Meanwhile, the correlation is weaker between the OA and the extinction coefficient (r2 = 0.56) than between the inorganic aerosol and the extinction coefficient (r2 = 0.86).

[1]  A. Chatterjee,et al.  Ambient Air Quality during Diwali Festival over Kolkata - A Mega-City in India , 2013 .

[2]  James D. Lee,et al.  Contributions from transport, solid fuel burning and cooking to primary organic aerosols in two UK cities , 2009 .

[3]  P. Massoli,et al.  Characterization of near-highway submicron aerosols in New York City with a high-resolution time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer , 2011 .

[4]  S. Herndon,et al.  A practical alternative to chemiluminescence-based detection of nitrogen dioxide: cavity attenuated phase shift spectroscopy. , 2008, Environmental science & technology.

[5]  J. Jayne,et al.  Characterization of summer organic and inorganic aerosols in Beijing, China with an Aerosol Chemical Speciation Monitor , 2012 .

[6]  Zifa Wang,et al.  Chemical apportionment of aerosol optical properties during the Asia‐Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Beijing, China , 2015 .

[7]  T. Onasch,et al.  Collection Efficiencies in an Aerodyne Aerosol Mass Spectrometer as a Function of Particle Phase for Laboratory Generated Aerosols , 2008 .

[8]  Alexis K.H. Lau,et al.  An intensive study of aerosol optical properties in Beijing urban area , 2009 .

[9]  Zifa Wang,et al.  Aerosol optical properties measurements by a CAPS single scattering albedo monitor: Comparisons between summer and winter in Beijing, China , 2017 .

[10]  J. Jimenez,et al.  Evaluation of Composition-Dependent Collection Efficiencies for the Aerodyne Aerosol Mass Spectrometer using Field Data , 2012 .

[11]  D. Qin,et al.  Chemical composition, sources, and processes of urban aerosols during summertime in northwest China: insights from high-resolution aerosol mass spectrometry , 2014 .

[12]  J. Yu,et al.  Seasonal variations of water soluble composition (WSOC, Hulis and WSIIs) in PM1 and its implications on haze pollution in urban Shanghai, China , 2015 .

[13]  Qi Zhang,et al.  Ubiquity and dominance of oxygenated species in organic aerosols in anthropogenically‐influenced Northern Hemisphere midlatitudes , 2007 .

[14]  Jos Lelieveld,et al.  Long-term (2001-2012) concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and the impact on human health in Beijing, China , 2015 .

[15]  Tao Pei,et al.  Analysis of the Characteristics and Evolution Modes of PM2.5 Pollution Episodes in Beijing, China During 2013 , 2015, International journal of environmental research and public health.

[16]  Alexander Kopp,et al.  Ambient Fine Particulate Matter and Mortality among Survivors of Myocardial Infarction: Population-Based Cohort Study , 2016, Environmental health perspectives.

[17]  Brian P. Frank,et al.  Characterization of the sources and processes of organic and inorganic aerosols in New York city with a high-resolution time-of-flight aerosol mass apectrometer , 2011 .

[18]  G. Zhuang,et al.  The air pollution caused by the burning of fireworks during the lantern festival in Beijing , 2007 .

[19]  J. Speakman,et al.  Impact of Obesity and Ozone on the Association Between Particulate Air Pollution and Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke Mortality Among US Adults , 2018, Journal of the American Heart Association.

[20]  Yanfen Lin,et al.  Relation between optical and chemical properties of dust aerosol over Beijing, China , 2010 .

[21]  Edward Charles Fortner,et al.  Pollution Gradients and Chemical Characterization of Particulate Matter from Vehicular Traffic near Major Roadways: Results from the 2009 Queens College Air Quality Study in NYC , 2012 .

[22]  Kebin He,et al.  The water-soluble ionic composition of PM2.5 in Shanghai and Beijing, China , 2002 .

[23]  Y. H. Zhang,et al.  Highly time-resolved chemical characterization of atmospheric submicron particles during 2008 Beijing Olympic Games using an Aerodyne High-Resolution Aerosol Mass Spectrometer , 2010 .

[24]  Ting Yang,et al.  Investigation of the sources and evolution processes of severe haze pollution in Beijing in January 2013 , 2014 .

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

[26]  A. Takami,et al.  Chemical composition of fine aerosol measured by AMS at Fukue Island, Japan during APEX period , 2005 .

[27]  J. Seinfeld,et al.  Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics: From Air Pollution to Climate Change , 1997 .

[28]  D. Worsnop,et al.  Real-time methods for estimating organic component mass concentrations from aerosol mass spectrometer data. , 2011, Environmental science & technology.

[29]  Yele Sun,et al.  Aerosol composition, sources and processes during wintertime in Beijing, China , 2013 .

[30]  Zifa Wang,et al.  Aerosol composition and sources during the Chinese Spring Festival: fireworks, secondary aerosol, and holiday effects , 2014 .

[31]  Y. H. Zhang,et al.  Characterization of high-resolution aerosol mass spectra of primary organic aerosol emissions from Chinese cooking and biomass burning , 2010 .

[32]  Ana Maria Silva,et al.  Seven years of measurements of aerosol scattering properties, near the surface, in the southwestern Iberia Peninsula , 2010 .

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

[34]  E. Lindemann,et al.  The heterogeneous formation of sulfate aerosols in the atmosphere , 1981 .

[35]  J. Jimenez,et al.  Interpretation of organic components from Positive Matrix Factorization of aerosol mass spectrometric data , 2008 .