Characteristics of heavy aerosol pollution during the 2012-2013 winter in Beijing, China

A comprehensive measurement was carried out to analyze the heavy haze events during 2012-2013 winter in Beijing. The measured variables include some important meteorological parameters, such wind directions, wind speeds, relative humidity (RH), planetary boundary layer (PBL), solar radiation, and visibility. The aerosol composition and concentrations (including particular matters (PM2.5), nitrate (NO3), sulfate (SO4), ammonium (NH4)) as well as their gas-phase precursors (including nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulfur dioxide (SO2)) were analyzed during the period between Nov. 16, 2012 and Jan. 15, 2013. The results show that the hourly mean concentrations of PM2.5 often exceeded 200 pg/m(3), with a maximum concentration of 600 ig/m(3) on Jan. 13, 2013. The relative humidity was increased during the haze events, indicating that both aerosol concentrations and RH had important effect on the reduction of visibility, causing the occurrence of the haze events. Because the wind speeds were generally low (less than 1 m/s) during the haze event, the vertical dispersion and the PBL heights were very important factors for causing the strong variability of aerosol concentrations. This study also finds that under the lower visibility condition, the conversion from the gas-phase of NOx and SO2 to the particle phase of NO3 and SO4 were higher than the values under the higher visibility condition. Because the lower visibility condition was corresponding to the lower photochemical activity than the higher visibility condition, the higher conversion from gas phase to particle phase in the lower visibility condition indicated that there was important heterogeneous formation of NO3 and SO4 during the heavy haze events.</p

In-Situ Aircraft Measurements of the Vertical Distribution ofBlack Carbon in the Lower Troposphere of Beijing, China,in the Spring and Summer Time

Due to rapid economic development in recent years, China has become a major global source of refractory black carbon (rBC) particles. However, surface rBC measurements have been limited, and the lower troposphere suffers from a complete lack of measurements, especially in heavily rBC-polluted regions such as China&rsquo;s capital, Beijing (BJ). In this study, we present the first concentration measurements using an airborne Single Particle Soot Photometer (SP2) instrument, including vertical distributions, size distributions, and the mixing state of rBC particles in the lower troposphere in BJ and its surrounding areas. The measurements were conducted from April to June 2012 during 11 flights. The results show that the vertical rBC distributions had noticeable differences between different air masses. When an air mass originated from the south of BJ (polluted region), the rBC particles were strongly compressed in the planetary boundary layer (PBL), and showed a large vertical gradient at the top of the PBL. In contrast, when an air mass originated from the north of BJ (clean region), there was a small vertical gradient. This analysis suggests that there was significant regional transport of rBC particles that enhanced the air pollution in BJ, and the transport not only occurred near the surface but also in the middle levels of the PBL (around 0.5 to 1 km). The measured size distributions show that about 80% of the rBC particles were between the diameters of 70 and 400 nm, and the mean diameter of the peak rBC concentrations was about 180&ndash;210 nm. This suggests that the rBC particles were relatively small particles. The mixing state of the rBC particles was analyzed to study the coating processes that occurred on the surface of these particles. The results indicate that the air mass strongly affected the number fraction (NF) of the coated particles. As for a southern air mass, the local air pollution was high, which was coupled with a lower PBL height and higher humidity. Consequently, hygroscopic growth occurred rapidly, producing a high NF value (~65%) of coated rBC particles. The correlation coefficient between the NF and the local relative humidity (RH) was 0.88, suggesting that the rBC particles were quickly converted from hydrophobic to hydrophilic particles. This rapid conversion is very important because it suggests a shorter lifetime of rBC particles under heavily polluted conditions. In contrast, under a northern air mass, there was no clear correlation between the NF and the local humidity. This suggests that the coating process occurred during the regional transport in the upwind region. In this case, the lifetime was longer than the southern air mass condition.</p

Carbon Sequestration Function of Check-Dams: A Case Study of the Loess Plateau in China

Check-dams are the most common structures for controlling soil erosion in the Loess Plateau. However, the effect of check-dams on carbon sequestration, along with sediment transport and deposition, has not been assessed over large areas. In this study, we evaluated the carbon sequestration function of check-dams in the Loess Plateau. The results indicate that there were approximately 11 000 check-dams distributed in the Loess Plateau, with an estimate of the amount of sediment of 21 x 10(9) m(3) and a soil organic carbon storage amount of 0.945 Pg. Our study reveals that check-dams in the Loess Plateau not only conserve soil and water but also sequester carbon.</p

Measurements of vertical and horizontal distributions of ozone over Beijing from 2007 to 2010

The vertical distributions of ozone (O-3) over a mega city (Beijing, China), and the horizontal O-3 distributions in the lower troposphere (2-3.6 km) over Beijing and its surrounding areas located in the North China Plain (NCP), were analyzed based on the aircraft measurements from 159 flights during 2007-2010. The results are highlighted as follows: (1) There was a peak of O-3 concentration occurring at 1 km over Beijing, and the peak values ranged between 60 and 120 ppbv. (2) There was an O-3 minimum at the surface. The minimum was largely caused by the chemical reaction of NO + O-3. This process produced about 30 ppbv of the O-3 reduction below 0.5 km in the morning (9:00-10:00). (3) There was a transition altitude (similar to 1 km), below which the ozone formation was in a VOC-limited condition, and above which the ozone formation was in a NOx-limited condition. (4) The analysis of the horizontal distribution shows that O-3 concentrations were enhanced in the downwind of the city plumes. This result suggests that there was an important regional O-3 chemical production in the NCP region.</p

A budget analysis of the formation of haze in Beijing

During recent winters, hazes often occurred in Beijing, causing major environmental problems. To understand the causes of this &ldquo;Beijing Haze&rdquo;, a haze episode (from Oct. 21 to Oct. 31, 2013) in Beijing was analyzed. During the episode, the daily mean concentration of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) reached a peak value of 270&nbsp;&mu;g/m3 on Oct. 28, 2013, and rapidly decreased to 50&nbsp;&mu;g/m3 the next day (Oct. 29, 2013). This strong variability provided a good opportunity to study the causes of a &ldquo;Beijing Haze&rdquo;. Two numerical models were applied for this study. The first model is a chemical/dynamical regional model (WRF-Chem). This model is mainly used to study the effects that weather conditions have on PM2.5 concentrations in the Beijing region. The results show that the presence of high air pressure in northwest Beijing (NW-High) generally produced strong northwest winds with clean upwind air. As a result, the NW-High played an important role in cleaning Beijing&#39;s PM. However, the NW-High&#39;s cleaning effect did not occur in every situation. When there was low air pressure in southeast Beijing (SE-Low) accompanied by an NW-High, an air convergent zone appeared in Beijing. The pollutants became sandwiched, producing high PM2.5 concentrations in the Beijing region. The second model used in this study is a box model, which is applied to estimate some crucial parameters associated with the budget of PM2.5 in the Beijing region. Under calm winds, the calculations show that continuous local emissions rapidly accumulate pollutants. The PM2.5 concentrations reached 150&nbsp;&mu;g/m3 and 250&nbsp;&mu;g/m3 within one (1) day and two (2) days, respectively. Without horizontal dilution, this estimate can be considered as an upper time limit (the fastest time) for the occurrences of haze events in the Beijing region. The wind speed (WSb) is calculated for the balance between the continuous emissions and atmospheric clean processes. The results show that the WSb is strongly dependent on the planetary boundary layer (PBL) height and the wind direction. Under SE-Low weather conditions, the WSb is 2&nbsp;m/s with a higher PBL height (700&nbsp;m). However, under lower PBL heights, the WSb rapidly increases, reaching 4.5&nbsp;m/s and 7.0&nbsp;m/s with PBL heights of 300&nbsp;m and 200&nbsp;m, respectively. In contrast, under NW-High weather conditions, the WSb reduces to 2.5&nbsp;m/s and 4.0&nbsp;m/s. These results suggest that when the prevailing wind in Beijing is a northwest wind (with wind speeds of &gt;4&nbsp;m/s), particulate matter (PM) begins to decrease.</p

Evolution of planetary boundary layer under different weather conditions, and its impact on aerosol concentrations

A field experiment was conducted in Tianjin, China from September 9-30,2010, focused on the evolution of Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) and its impact on surface air pollutants. The experiment used three remote sensing instruments, wind profile radar (WPR), microwave radiometer (MWR) and micro-pulse lidar (MPL); to detect the vertical profiles of winds, temperature, and aerosol backscattering coefficient and to measure the vertical profiles of surface pollutants (aerosol, CO, SO2, NOx), and also collected sonic anemometers data from a 255-m meteorological tower. Based on these measurements, the evolution of the PBL was estimated. The averaged PBL height was about 1000-1300 m during noon/afternoon-time, and 200-300 m during night-time. The PBL height and the aerosol concentrations were anti-correlated during clear and haze conditions. The averaged maximum PBL heights were 1.08 and 1.70 km while the averaged aerosol concentrations were 52 and 17 mu g/m(3) under haze and clear sky conditions, respectively. The influence of aerosols and clouds on solar radiation was observed based on sonic anemometers data collected from the 255-m meteorological tower. The heat flux was found significantly decreased by haze (heavy pollution) or cloud, which tended to depress the development of PBL, while the repressed structure of PBL further weakened the diffusion of pollutants, leading to heavy pollution. This possible positive feedback cycle (more aerosols -&gt; lower PBL height -&gt; more aerosols) would induce an acceleration process for heavy ground pollution in megacities.</p