scholarly journals Spatiotemporal Relationships between Air Quality and Multiple Meteorological Parameters in 221 Chinese Cities

Complexity ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mengyi Ji ◽  
Yuying Jiang ◽  
Xiping Han ◽  
Luo Liu ◽  
Xinliang Xu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Relative Humidity ◽  
Meteorological Factors ◽  
Southern China ◽  
Great Influence ◽  
Pollution Prevention ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Variation ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Temporal Differences

Air quality in China is characterized by significant spatial and temporal differences, which are directly related to local meteorological conditions. This study used air quality monitoring data, namely, the air pollution index (API) and air quality index (AQI) between 2005 and 2018, together with meteorological data and identified key meteorological factors that affected the spatial and temporal variation of air quality using a random forest algorithm. The spatial and temporal differences in the threshold values of different meteorological factors affecting the concentrations of PM2.5, PM10, SO2, CO, NO2, and O3 were identified. The AQI has the advantages of facilitating higher index values than the API. The air quality showed an improvement from 2005 to 2018. Wind direction and precipitation were the most important meteorological factors affecting the air quality in northern and southern China, respectively, which to some extent reflected the causes and degradation mechanisms of air pollution in the two regions. There were significant spatial and temporal differences in the effects of meteorological factors on the concentrations of different pollutants. The influence of atmospheric pressure on pollutant concentration differed between the east and west. Precipitation and relative humidity in most cities had significant impacts on PM2.5 and PM10. The influence of relative humidity was most significant for SO2 and it also had a great influence on O3, while wind speed had a great influence on NO2. The results of the study confirm the meteorological sensitivity of air quality and provide support for the implementation of regional air pollution prevention and control initiatives.

scholarly journals Air Quality Assessment in the State of Kuwait during 2012 to 2017

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 678
Author(s):  
Adeeba Al-Hurban ◽  
Sawsan Khader ◽  
Ahmad Alsaber ◽  
Jiazhu Pan
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Meteorological Factors ◽  
Ambient Air ◽  
The State ◽  
Ambient Air Pollution ◽  
Northeast Monsoon ◽  
Residential Areas ◽  
Industrial Areas ◽  
The State Of Kuwait

This study aimed to examine the trend of ambient air pollution (i.e., ozone (O3), nitrogen monoxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO), benzene (C6H6) and particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter smaller than 10 microns (PM10), and non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) at 10 monitoring stations located in the main residential and industrial areas in the State of Kuwait over 6 years (2012–2017). We found that the SO2 level in industrial areas (0.065 ppm) exceeded the allowable range of SO2 in residential areas (0.030 ppm). Air pollution variables were defined by the Environmental Public Authority of Kuwait (K-EPA). In this study, integrated statistical analysis was performed to compare an established air pollution database to Kuwait Ambient Air Quality Guidelines and to determine the association between pollutants and meteorological factors. All pollutants were positively correlated, with the exception of most pollutants and PM10 and O3. Meteorological factors, i.e., the ambient temperature, wind speed and humidity, were also significantly associated with the above pollutants. Spatial distribution mapping indicated that the PM10 level remained high during the southwest monsoon (the hot and dry season), while the CO level was high during the northeast monsoon (the wet season). The NO2 and O3 levels were high during the first intermonsoon season.

scholarly journals Associations of Ambient Air Pollutants and Meteorological Factors With COVID-19 Transmission in 31 Chinese Provinces: A Time Series Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 58 ◽  
pp. 004695802110602
Author(s):  
Han Cao ◽  
Bingxiao Li ◽  
Tianlun Gu ◽  
Xiaohui Liu ◽  
Kai Meng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Relative Humidity ◽  
Wind Velocity ◽  
Air Pollutants ◽  
Meteorological Factors ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Ambient Air ◽  
Air Pollutant ◽  
Pollutant Concentrations ◽  
Air Pollutant Concentrations

Evidence regarding the effects of environmental factors on COVID-19 transmission is mixed. We aimed to explore the associations of air pollutants and meteorological factors with COVID-19 confirmed cases during the outbreak period throughout China. The number of COVID-19 confirmed cases, air pollutant concentrations, and meteorological factors in China from January 25 to February 29, 2020, (36 days) were extracted from authoritative electronic databases. The associations were estimated for a single-day lag as well as moving averages lag using generalized additive mixed models. Region-specific analyses and meta-analysis were conducted in 5 selected regions from the north to south of China with diverse air pollution levels and weather conditions and sufficient sample size. Nonlinear concentration–response analyses were performed. An increase of each interquartile range in PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NO2, O3, and CO at lag4 corresponded to 1.40 (1.37–1.43), 1.35 (1.32–1.37), 1.01 (1.00–1.02), 1.08 (1.07–1.10), 1.28 (1.27–1.29), and 1.26 (1.24–1.28) ORs of daily new cases, respectively. For 1°C, 1%, and 1 m/s increase in temperature, relative humidity, and wind velocity, the ORs were 0.97 (0.97–0.98), 0.96 (0.96–0.97), and 0.94 (0.92–0.95), respectively. The estimates of PM2.5, PM10, NO2, and all meteorological factors remained significantly after meta-analysis for the five selected regions. The concentration–response relationships showed that higher concentrations of air pollutants and lower meteorological factors were associated with daily new cases increasing. Higher air pollutant concentrations and lower temperature, relative humidity and wind velocity may favor COVID-19 transmission. Controlling ambient air pollution, especially for PM2.5, PM10, NO2, may be an important component of reducing risk of COVID-19 infection. In addition, as winter months are arriving in China, the meteorological factors may play a negative role in prevention. Therefore, it is significant to implement the public health control measures persistently in case another possible pandemic.

Changes of air pollutants’ concentrations in selected Romanian cities during the pandemic year 2020

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriela Iorga ◽  
George-Bogdan Burghelea
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
European Commission ◽  
Air Pollutants ◽  
Meteorological Parameters ◽  
Dust Particles ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Variation ◽  
Pollution Level ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Air Mass

<p>Present research contributes to scientific knowledge concerning spatial and temporal variation of major air pollutants with high resolution at the country scale bringing statistical information on concentrations of NOx, O<sub>3</sub>, CO, SO<sub>2</sub> and particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter below 10 μm (PM<sub>10</sub>) and below 2.5 μm (PM<sub>2.5</sub>) during the pandemic year 2020 using an observational data set from the Romanian National Air Quality Network in seven selected cities spread out over the country. These cities have different level of development, play regional roles, might have potential influence at European scale and they are expected to be impacted by different pollution sources. Among them, three cities (Bucharest, Brașov, Iași) appear frequently on the list of the European Commission with reference to the infringement procedure that the European Commission launched against Romania in the period 2007-2020 regarding air quality.</p><p>Air pollutant data was complemented with local meteorological parameters at each site (atmospheric pressure, relative humidity, temperature, global solar radiation, wind speed and direction). Statistics of air pollutants provide us with an overview of air pollution in main Romanian cities.  Correlations between meteorological parameters and ambient pollutant levels were analyzed. Lowest air pollution levels were measured during the lockdown period in spring, as main traffic and non-essential activities were severely restricted. Among exceptions were the construction activities that were not interrupted. During 2020, some of selected cities experienced few pollution episodes which were due to dust transport from Sahara desert. However, in Bucharest metropolitan area, some cases with high pollution level were found correlated with local anthropogenic activity namely, waste incinerations. Air mass origins were investigated for 72 hours back by computing the air mass backward trajectories using the HYSPLIT model. Dust load and spatial distribution of the aerosol optical depth with BSC-DREAM8b v2.0 and NMBM/BSC-Dust models showed the area with dust particles transport during the dust events.</p><p>The obtained results are important for investigations of sources of air pollution and for modeling of air quality.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Acknowledgment:</strong></p><p>The research leading to these results has received funding from the NO Grants 2014-2021, under Project contract no. 31/2020, EEA-RO-NO-2019-0423 project. NOAA Air Resources Laboratory for HYSPLIT transport model, available at READY website https://www.ready.noaa.gov  and the Barcelona dust forecast center for BSC-DREAM8b and NMBM/BSC-Dust models, available at:  https://ess.bsc.es/bsc-dust-daily-forecast are also acknowledged. The data regarding ground-based air pollution and meteorology by site was extracted from the public available Romanian National Air Quality Database, www.calitateaer.ro.</p>

scholarly journals Efficiency and Eco-Costs of Air Purifiers in Terms of Improving Microbiological Indoor Air Quality in Dwellings—A Case Study

Atmosphere ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 742 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ewa Brągoszewska ◽  
Magdalena Bogacka ◽  
Krzysztof Pikoń
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Indoor Air Quality ◽  
Indoor Air ◽  
Pollution Prevention ◽  
Average Concentration ◽  
Environmental Cost ◽  
Bacterial Aerosol ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Ecological Cost

Air pollution, a by-product of economic growth, generates an enormous environmental cost in Poland. The issue of healthy living spaces and indoor air quality (IAQ) is a global concern because people spend approximately 90% of their time indoors. An increasingly popular method to improve IAQ is to use air purifiers (APs). Indoor air is often polluted by bioaerosols (e.g., viruses, bacteria, fungi), which are a major concern for public health. This work presents research on culturable bacterial aerosol (CBA) samples collected from dwellings with or without active APs during the 2019 summer season. The CBA samples were collected using a six-stage Andersen cascade impactor (ACI). The CBA concentrations were expressed as Colony Forming Units (CFU) per cubic metre of air. The average concentration of CBA in dwellings when the AP was active was 450–570 CFU/m3, whereas the average concentration when the AP was not active was 920–1000 CFU/m3. IAQ, when the APs were active, was on average almost 50% better than in cases where there were no procedures to decrease the concentration of air pollutants. Moreover, the obtained results of the particle size distribution (PSD) of CBA indicate that the use of APs reduced the proportion of the respirable fraction (the particles < 3.3 µm) by about 16%. Life cycle assessment (LCA) was used to assess the ecological cost of air purification. Our conceptual approach addresses the impact of indoor air pollution on human health and estimates the ecological cost of APs and air pollution prevention policies.

scholarly journals Air pollutant emissions from Chinese households: A major and underappreciated ambient pollution source

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (28) ◽  
pp. 7756-7761 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Liu ◽  
Denise L. Mauzerall ◽  
Qi Chen ◽  
Qiang Zhang ◽  
Yu Song ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Eastern China ◽  
Pollution Prevention ◽  
Air Pollutant ◽  
Pollutant Emissions ◽  
Base Case ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Industrial Sectors ◽  
Bth Region

As part of the 12th Five-Year Plan, the Chinese government has developed air pollution prevention and control plans for key regions with a focus on the power, transport, and industrial sectors. Here, we investigate the contribution of residential emissions to regional air pollution in highly polluted eastern China during the heating season, and find that dramatic improvements in air quality would also result from reduction in residential emissions. We use the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with Chemistry to evaluate potential residential emission controls in Beijing and in the Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei (BTH) region. In January and February 2010, relative to the base case, eliminating residential emissions in Beijing reduced daily average surface PM2.5 (particulate mater with aerodynamic diameter equal or smaller than 2.5 micrometer) concentrations by 14 ± 7 μg⋅m−3 (22 ± 6% of a baseline concentration of 67 ± 41 μg⋅m−3; mean ± SD). Eliminating residential emissions in the BTH region reduced concentrations by 28 ± 19 μg⋅m−3 (40 ± 9% of 67 ± 41 μg⋅m−3), 44 ± 27 μg⋅m−3 (43 ± 10% of 99 ± 54 μg⋅m−3), and 25 ± 14 μg⋅m−3 (35 ± 8% of 70 ± 35 μg⋅m−3) in Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei provinces, respectively. Annually, elimination of residential sources in the BTH region reduced emissions of primary PM2.5 by 32%, compared with 5%, 6%, and 58% achieved by eliminating emissions from the transportation, power, and industry sectors, respectively. We also find air quality in Beijing would benefit substantially from reductions in residential emissions from regional controls in Tianjin and Hebei, indicating the value of policies at the regional level.

scholarly journals Air quality as a factor affecting urban tourism

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-123
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Łapko ◽  
Roma Strulak-Wójcikiewicz ◽  
Aleksander Panasiuk
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Significant Contribution ◽  
Urban Tourism ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Travel Decisions ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Mass Events

The purpose of the article is to determine whether potential tourists consider information about a city’s air quality in their assessment of its tourist attractiveness and how this this information affects their travel decisions. Urban tourism is a common and dynamically developing form of tourism. Cities encourage tourists to visit them with various attractions, cultural, gastronomic and accommodation offerings as well as mass events. At the same time, they are often industrial centres and important transportation hubs, which makes them characterized by a high degree of air pollution. The article presents results of a survey involving 509 respondents from Poland. The data were used to assessment to what extent information about air quality in a given city is relevant for people planning a tourist trip. In addition, the survey provided information about factors that could increase the respondents’ interest in the level of air quality in a city they were planning to visit. Particular attention was paid to the respondents’ health. Many diseases can be the result of air pollution, or can be aggravated by substances contained in smog. Therefore, the authors tried to determine whether people suffering from such illnesses were more likely to pay special attention to air quality in their prospective destinations. The results constitute a significant contribution to the knowledge about the factors affecting demand in urban tourism. They may be relevant for entities responsible for managing cities and promoting tourism products. The article also draws attention to the fact that problems arising from air pollution in cities can affect not only their residents, but also tourists.

scholarly journals Air Quality Evaluation and Improvement of China’s Three Major Urban Agglomerations Based on the Modified MetaFrontier Dynamic Slack-Based Measures Model

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhe Cui ◽  
Feng Yang ◽  
Fang-rong Ren ◽  
Qizheng Wei ◽  
Zhengfeng Xi
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Prevention And Control ◽  
Quality Evaluation ◽  
Pollution Prevention ◽  
High Energy ◽  
River Delta ◽  
Urban Agglomerations ◽  
Pollution Prevention And Control ◽  
And Control

Urban agglomeration has become a unique form of cities during the rapid development of emerging economies. With the increasing attention on global energy and environmental efficiency, air quality evaluation and pollution control have become important standards to measure the health and orderly development of such agglomerations. Based on panel data of 60 cities in the three major urban agglomerations of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH), Yangtze River Delta (YRD), and Pearl River Delta (PRD), this study uses the Modified MetaFrontier Dynamic SBM model to evaluate their air quality over the 5-year period of 2013–2017. The results present that the development level of air pollution prevention and control in China’s three major urban agglomerations is relatively low, and YRD as the most developed area has the worst effect of air pollution prevention and control. The MetaFrontier and Group Frontier Efficiency analysis confirms the conclusion of the cluster analysis that a significant two-level differentiation exists in China’s three urban agglomerations. Moreover, China’s three major urban agglomerations are still in the stage of high energy consumption and high development. Lastly, we point out different recommendations for industrial structure and governance foci of the three major urban agglomerations. Dust prevention technology should be improved to reduce PM2.5 in BTH, desulfurization technology should be enhanced to cut industrial SO2 emissions in YRD, and better emission reduction targets and other targeted measures should be formulated in PRD.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document