scholarly journals Observation and Source Apportionment of Trace Gases, Water-Soluble Ions and Carbonaceous Aerosol During a Haze Episode in Wuhan

Atmosphere ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 397 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhengxu Gao ◽  
Xiaoling Wang ◽  
Lijuan Shen ◽  
Hua Xiang ◽  
Honglei Wang

As the new core region of the haze pollution, the terrain effect of sub-basin and water networks over the Twin-Hu Basin (THB) in the Yangtze River Middle-Reach (YRMR) had great impacts on the variations and distributions of air pollutants. In this study, trace gases (NH3, HNO3, and HCl), water-soluble ions (WSIs), organic carbon (OC), and elemental carbon (EC) were measured in PM2.5 from 9 January to 27 January 2018, in Wuhan using monitoring for aerosols and gases (MARGA) and a semi-continuous OC/EC analyzer (Model RT-4). The characteristics of air pollutants during a haze episode were discussed, and the PM2.5 sources were quantitatively analyzed on haze and non-haze days using the principal component analysis/absolute principal component scores (PCA/APCS) model. The average PM2.5 concentration was 122.61 μg·m−3 on haze days, which was 2.20 times greater than it was on non-haze days. The concentrations of secondary water soluble ions (WSIs) including NO3−, SO42−, and NH4+ increased sharply on haze days, which accounted for 91.61% of the total WSIs and were 2.43 times larger than the values on non-haze days. The heterogeneous oxidation reactions of NO2 and SO2 during haze episodes were proven to be the major sources of sulfate and nitrate in PM2.5. On haze days, the concentrations of EC, primary organic carbon (POC), and secondary organic carbon (SOC) were 1.68, 1.69, and 1.34 times larger than those on non-haze days, the CO, HNO3, and NH3 concentrations enhanced and relatively low SO2, O3, and HNO2 levels were observed on haze days. The diurnal variations of different pollutants distinctly varied on haze days. The PM2.5 in Wuhan primarily originated from the secondary formation, combustion, dust, industry, and vehicle exhaust sources. The source contributions of the secondary formation + combustion sources to PM2.5 on haze days were 2.79 times larger than the level on non-haze days. The contribution of the vehicle exhaust + combustion source on haze days were 0.59 times the value on non-haze days. This description is supported by a summary of how pollutant concentrations and patterns vary in the THB compared to the variations in other pollution regions in China, which have been more completely described.

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 926
Author(s):  
Hsing-Wang Li ◽  
Kang-Shin Chen ◽  
Chia-Hsiang Lai ◽  
Ting-Yu Chen ◽  
Yi-Ching Lin ◽  
...  

Atmospheric particulate matters (PMs) were measured in an industry-intensive region in central Taiwan in order to investigate the characteristics and possible sources of PMs. The samplings were simultaneously conducted using a 10- and 3-stage Micro Orifice Uniform Deposit Impactor (MOUDI) from 2017 to 2018. In this study, the characteristics of PMs in this region were evaluated by measuring the mass concentration of PMs and analyzing water-soluble ions and metallic elements, as well as dioxins. Additionally, principal component analysis (PCA) was used to identify the potential sources of PMs. The results showed that the mean concentration of coarse (>1.8 μm), fine (0.1–1.8 μm), and ultrafine (<0.1 μm) particles were 13.60, 14.38, and 3.44 μg/m3, respectively. In the industry-intensive region, the size distribution of ambient particles showed a bi-modal distribution with a high concentration of coarse particles in the spring and summer, while fine particles were dominant in the autumn and winter. The most abundant water-soluble ions of PMs were NO3−, Cl−, and SO42−, while the majority of metallic elements were Na, Fe, Ca, Al, and Mg in different particle sizes. The results of Pearson’s correlation analysis for metals indicated that the particles in the collected air samples were related to the iron and steelmaking industries, coal burning, vehicle exhausts, and high-tech industries. The dioxin concentration ranged from 0.0006 to 0.0017 pg I-TEQ/Nm3. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that the contribution to PMs was associated with sea salt, secondary pollutants, and industrial process.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pengfei Liu ◽  
Chenglong Zhang ◽  
Yujing Mu ◽  
Chengtang Liu ◽  
Chaoyang Xue ◽  
...  

Abstract. The North China plain (NCP) including Beijing is currently suffering from severe haze events due to high pollution level of atmospheric fine particles called PM2.5. To mitigate the serious pollution status, identification of the sources of PM2.5 is urgently needed for the effective control measures. A total of 235 daily samples of PM2.5 were collected in Beijing through the year of 2014, and the variation characteristics of water-soluble ions (WSIs) in the PM2.5 were comprehensively analyzed for recognizing their possible sources. The results indicated that the periodic emissions from farmers' activities made evident contribution to the atmospheric WSIs in Beijing. The unusually high ratio of Cl− to Na+ in summer could be rationally explained by the prevailing fertilization of NH4Cl for planting summer maize in the vast area of NCP. The remarkable elevation of Cl− in winter was ascribed to coal combustion for heating by farmers. The most serious pollution episodes in autumn were coincident with significant elevation of Ca2+ which was ascribed to be from harvest of the summer maize and tillage for planting the winter wheat. The mineral dust emission from the harvest and tillage not only increased the atmospheric concentrations of the primary pollutants, but also greatly accelerated formation of sulfate and nitrate through heterogeneous reactions of NO2 and SO2 on the mineral dust. The relatively high concentration of K+ in winter and autumn further confirmed that crop straw burning made evident contribution to atmospheric PM2.5 in Beijing. The backward trajectories also indicated that the highest concentrations of WSIs usually occurred in the air parcel from southwest/south regions with high density of farmers. In addition, the values of nitrogen oxidation ratio (NOR) and the sulfur oxidation ratio (SOR) were found to be much higher under haze days than under non-haze days, implying that formation of sulfate and nitrate was greatly accelerated through heterogeneous or multiphase reactions of NO2 and SO2 on PM2.5.


Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 990
Author(s):  
Yi Huang ◽  
Li Wang ◽  
Xin Cheng ◽  
Jinjin Wang ◽  
Ting Li ◽  
...  

Air pollution is becoming increasingly serious along with social and economic development in the southwest of China. The distribution characteristics of particle matter (PM) were studied in Chengdu from 2016 to 2017, and the changes of PM bearing water-soluble ions and heavy metals and the distribution of secondary ions were analyzed during the haze episode. The results showed that at different pollution levels, heavy metals were more likely to be enriched in fine particles and may be used as a tracer of primary pollution sources. The water-soluble ions in PM2.5 were mainly Sulfate-Nitrate-Ammonium (SNA) accounting for 43.02%, 24.23%, 23.50%, respectively. SO42−, NO3−, NH4+ in PM10 accounted for 34.56%, 27.43%, 19.18%, respectively. It was mainly SO42− in PM at Clean levels (PM2.5 = 0~75 μg/m3, PM10 = 0~150 μg/m3), and mainly NH4+ and NO3− at Light-Medium levels (PM2.5 = 75~150 μg/m3, PM10 = 150~350 μg/m3). At Heavy levels (PM2.5 = 150~250 μg/m3, PM10 = 350~420 μg/m3), it is mainly SO42− in PM2.5, and mainly NH4+ and NO3− in PM10. The contribution of mobile sources to the formation of haze in the study area was significant. SNA had significant contributions to the PM during the haze episode, and more attention should be paid to them in order to improve air quality.


2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (15) ◽  
pp. 10097-10109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pengfei Liu ◽  
Chenglong Zhang ◽  
Yujing Mu ◽  
Chengtang Liu ◽  
Chaoyang Xue ◽  
...  

Abstract. The North China Plain (NCP), which includes Beijing, is currently suffering from severe haze events due to a high pollution level of PM2.5. To mitigate the serious pollution problem, identification of the sources of PM2.5 is urgently needed for the effective control measures. Daily samples of PM2.5 were collected in Beijing city and in a rural area in Baoding, Hebei Province through the year of 2014, and the seasonal variation of water-soluble ions (WSIs) in PM2.5 was comprehensively analysed to determine their possible sources. The results indicated that the periodic emissions from farmers' activities made a significant contribution to the atmospheric WSIs in Beijing. The relatively high concentration of K+ in winter and autumn at the two sampling sites confirmed that crop straw burning contributed to atmospheric K+ in Beijing. The remarkable elevation of Cl− at the two sampling sites as well as the evident increase of the Cl− ∕ K+ ratio and the Cl− proportion in WSIs during the winter in Beijing could be ascribed to coal combustion for heating by farmers. The unusually high ratio of Cl− to Na+ in summer, the obviously high concentrations of Cl− in the rural sampling site and the elevation of Cl− proportion in WSIs in Beijing during the maize fertilization could be explained by the use of the prevailing fertilizer of NH4Cl in the vast area of NCP. The abnormally high concentrations of Ca2+ at the two sampling sites and the elevation of Ca2+ proportion during the period of the maize harvest and soil ploughing in Beijing provided convincing evidence that the intensive agricultural activities in autumn contributed to the regional mineral dust. The most serious pollution episodes in autumn were coincident with significant elevation of Ca2+, indicating that the mineral dust emission from the harvest and soil ploughing not only increased the atmospheric concentrations of the primary pollutants, but also greatly accelerated formation of sulfate and nitrate through heterogeneous reactions of NO2 and SO2 on the mineral dust. The backward trajectories also indicated that the highest concentrations of WSIs usually occurred in the air parcel from southwest–south regions, which have a high density of farmers. In addition, the values of nitrogen oxidation ratio (NOR) and the sulfur oxidation ratio (SOR) were found to be much greater under haze days than under non-haze days, implying that formation of sulfate and nitrate was greatly accelerated through heterogeneous or multiphase reactions of NO2 and SO2 on PM2.5.


2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 1063-1074 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Timonen ◽  
M. Aurela ◽  
S. Carbone ◽  
K. Saarnio ◽  
S. Saarikoski ◽  
...  

Abstract. A particle-into-liquid sampler (PILS) was coupled with a total organic carbon analyzer (TOC) and two ion chromatographs (IC) to enable high time-resolution measurements of water-soluble ions and water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) by a single sampling and analytical set-up. The new high time-resolution measurement system, the PILS-TOC-IC, was able to provide essential chemical and physical information about fast changes in composition, concentrations and likely sources of the water-soluble fraction of atmospheric aerosol. The concentrations of major water-soluble ions and WSOC were measured by the PILS-TOC-IC system from 25 April to 28 May 2009. The data of the PILS-TOC-IC setup was compared with the data from the High-Resolution Time-of-Flight Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (HR-ToF-AMS) data measured from 25 April to 8 May 2009. The measured water-soluble particulate organic matter (WSPOM) concentration varied typically from 0.10 to 8.8 μg m−3 (on average 1.5 μg m−3). The WSPOM contributed on average 51% to particulate organic matter (POM) measured with the AMS. The correlation between the data of all the online measurement devices (AMS, PILS-TOC-IC, semicontinuous EC/OC carbon analyzer and TEOM) was excellent. For sulfate, nitrate and ammonium the correlations between the PILS-TOC-IC and AMS were 0.93, 0.96 and 0.96, respectively. The correlation between WSPOM and POM was also strong (r = 0.88). The identified sources of WSPOM were long-range transported biomass burning and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation. WSPOM and oxalate produced in biomass burning were clearly correlated with carbon monoxide.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Weili Lin ◽  

Extant literature was reviewed to analyze the trend of three water-soluble ions-sulfate (SO42-), nitrate (NO3-), ammonium (NH4+) in PM2.5 in Beijing in recent years, and the reasons affecting changes were investigated. From 1999 to 2016, the concentrations of SNA (the total SO42-, NO3-, and NH4+ in PM2.5) in Beijing showed a zigzag fluctuation. Pollution control measures have been successfully used in controlling the primary fine particles and SO42- in atmospheric fine particles, but not in controlling NO3- and NH4+. From 2013 to 2016, the changes in PM2.5 and SNA showed the same trends in summer and autumn, indicating that SNA made a dominant contribution to PM2.5 in summer and autumn and that PM2.5 was mainly produced through secondary formation.


Atmosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 336
Author(s):  
Shasha Tian ◽  
Yingying Liu ◽  
Jing Wang ◽  
Jian Wang ◽  
Lujian Hou ◽  
...  

As one of the biggest cities in North China, Jinan has been suffering heavy air pollution in recent decades. To better characterize the ambient particulate matter in Jinan during heavy pollution periods, we collected daily PM2.5 (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters equal to or less than 2.5 μm) filter samples from 15 October 2017 to 31 January 2018 and analyzed their chemical compositions (including inorganic water-soluble ions (WSIs), carbonaceous species, and inorganic elements). The daily average concentration of PM2.5 was 83.5 μg/m3 during the sampling period. A meteorological analysis revealed that both low wind speed and high relative humidity facilitated the occurrence of high PM2.5 pollution episodes. A chemical analysis indicated that high concentrations of water-soluble ions, carbonaceous species, and elements were observed during heavy pollution days. The major constituents of PM2.5 in Jinan were secondary aerosol particles and organic matter based on the results of mass closure. Chemical Mass Balance (CMB) was used to track possible sources and identified that nitrate, sulfate, vehicle exhaust and coal fly ash were the main contributors to PM2.5 during heavy pollution days in Jinan, accounting for 25.4%, 18.6%, 18.2%, and 13.3%, respectively.


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