scholarly journals Modeling study of impacts on surface ozone of regional transport and emission reductions over North China Plain in summer 2015

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao Han ◽  
Lingyun Zhu ◽  
Shulan Wang ◽  
Xiaoyan Meng ◽  
Meigen Zhang ◽  
...  

Abstract. Tropospheric ozone (O3) has replaced PM2.5 or PM10 as the premier pollution in the North China Plain (NCP) during summer in recent years. A comprehensive understanding of the O3 production in responding to the reduction of precursor emission over NCP is demanded urgently for the effective control policy design. In this study, the air quality modeling system RAMS-CMAQ (regional atmospheric modeling system-community multiscale air quality), coupled with the ISAM (integrated source apportionment method) module is applied to investigate the O3 regional transport and source contribution features during a heavy O3 pollution episode in June 2015 over NCP. The results show that the emission sources in Shandong and Hebei were the major contributors to O3 production in the NCP. Not only more than 50 % O3 mass burden in local regions, but also about 20–30 % and 25–40 % O3 mass burdens in Beijing and Tianjin were contributed by the emission sources in these two provinces, respectively. On the other hand, the urban areas and most O3 pollution regions of NCP were mainly dominated by the VOC-sensitive conditions, while "both control" and NOx-sensitive conditions dominated the suburban and remote areas, respectively. Then, based on the sensitivity tests, the effects of several hypothetical scenarios of emission control on reducing the O3 pollution were compared and discussed. The results indicated that the emission control of industry and residential sectors was the most efficient way if the emission reduction percentage was higher than 40 %. However, when the emission reduction percentage dropped below 30 %, the power plant sector could make significant contributions to the decrease in O3. The control strategies should be promptly adjusted based on the emission reduction, and the modeling system can provide valuable information for precisely choosing the emission sector combination to achieve better efficiency.

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (16) ◽  
pp. 12207-12221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao Han ◽  
Lingyun Zhu ◽  
Shulan Wang ◽  
Xiaoyan Meng ◽  
Meigen Zhang ◽  
...  

Abstract. Tropospheric ozone (O3) has replaced PM2.5 or PM10 as the primary pollutant in the North China Plain (NCP) during summer in recent years. A comprehensive understanding of O3 production in response to the reduction of precursor emissions over the NCP is urgently demanded for effective control policy design. In this study, the air quality modeling system RAMS-CMAQ (Regional Atmospheric Modeling System–Community Multiscale Air Quality), coupled with the ISAM (Integrated Source Apportionment Method) module is applied to investigate the O3 regional transport and source contribution features during a heavy O3 pollution episode in June 2015 over the NCP. The results show that emissions sources in Shandong and Hebei were the major contributors to O3 production in the NCP. Not only the highest local contribution of O3 mass burden but also more than 30 % contribution of O3 mass burdens in Beijing and Tianjin came from the emissions sources in these two provinces, respectively. Conversely, the urban areas and most O3-polluted regions of the NCP were mainly dominated by conditions sensitive to volatile organic compounds, while “both control” and NOx-sensitive conditions dominated the suburban and remote areas, respectively. Then, based on the sensitivity tests, the effects of several hypothetical scenarios of emissions control on reducing the O3 pollution were compared and discussed. The results indicated that the emissions control of industry and residential sectors was the most efficient method if the emissions reduction percentage was higher than 40 %. However, when the emissions reduction percentage dropped below 30 %, the power plant sector could make significant contributions to the decrease in O3. The control strategies should be promptly adjusted based on the emissions reduction, and the modeling system can provide valuable information for precisely choosing the emissions sector combination to achieve better efficiency.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiarui Wu ◽  
Naifang Bei ◽  
Yuan Wang ◽  
Xia Li ◽  
Suixin Liu ◽  
...  

Abstract. Accurate identification and quantitative source apportionment of fine particulate matters (PM2.5) provide an important prerequisite for design and implementation of emission control strategies to reduce PM pollution. Therefore, a source-oriented version of the WRF-Chem model is developed in the study to make source apportionment of PM2.5 in the North China Plain (NCP). A persistent and heavy haze event occurred in the NCP from 05 December 2015 to 04 January 2016 is simulated using the model as a case study to quantify PM2.5 contributions of local emissions and regional transport. Results show that local and non-local emissions contribute 36.3 % and 63.7 % of the PM2.5 mass in Beijing during the haze event on average. When Beijing's air quality is excellent or good in terms of hourly PM2.5 concentrations, local emissions dominate the PM2.5 mass with contributions exceeding 50 %. However, when the air quality is severely polluted, the PM2.5 contribution of non-local emissions is around 75 %. The non-local emissions also dominate the Tianjin's air quality, with average PM2.5 contributions exceeding 70 %. The PM2.5 level in Hebei and Shandong is generally controlled by local emissions, but in Henan, local and non-local emissions play an almost equivalent role in the PM2.5 level, except when the air quality is severely polluted, with non-local PM2.5 contributions of over 60 %. Additionally, the primary aerosol species are generally dominated by local emissions with the average contribution exceeding 50%. However, the source apportionment of secondary aerosols shows more evident regional characteristics. Therefore, except cooperation with neighboring provinces to carry out strict emission mitigation measures, reducing primary aerosols constitutes the priority to alleviate PM pollution in the NCP, especially in Beijing and Tianjin.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiyuan Wang ◽  
Li Li ◽  
Jiamao Zhou ◽  
Jianhuai Ye ◽  
Wenting Dai ◽  
...  

Abstract. Accurate understanding of sources and mixing state of black carbon (BC) aerosol is essential for assessing its impacts on air quality and climatic effect. Here, a winter campaign (December 2017–January 2018) was conducted in the North China Plain (NCP) to evaluate the sources, coating composition, and radiative effect of BC under the background of emission reduction since 2013. Results show that liquid fossil fuel source (i.e., traffic emission) and solid fuel source (i.e., biomass and coal burning) contributed 69 % and 31 % to the total BC mass, respectively, using a multiwavelength optical approach combined with the source-based aerosol absorption Ångström exponent values. The air quality model indicates that local emission was the dominant contributor to BC at the measurement site on average, however, emissions in the NCP exerted a critical role for high BC episode. Six classes of BC-containing particles were identified, including (1) BC coated by organic carbon and sulphate (52 % of total BC-containing particles), (2) BC coated by Na and K (24 %), (3) BC coated by K, sulphate, and nitrate (17 %), (4) BC associated with biomass burning (6 %), (5) Pure-BC (1 %), and (6) others (1 %). Different BC sources had distinct impacts on those BC-containing particles. A radiative transfer model estimated that the amount of BC detected can produce an atmospheric forcing of +18.0 W m−2 and a heating rate of 0.5 K day−1. Results presented herein highlight that further reduction of solid fuel combustion-related BC may be a more effective way to mitigate regional warming in the NCP, although larger BC contribution was from liquid fossil fuel source.


2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 1535-1554 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fengcheng Wu ◽  
Pinhua Xie ◽  
Ang Li ◽  
Fusheng Mou ◽  
Hao Chen ◽  
...  

Abstract. Recently, Chinese cities have suffered severe events of haze air pollution, particularly in the North China Plain (NCP). Investigating the temporal and spatial distribution of pollutants, emissions, and pollution transport is necessary to better understand the effect of various sources on air quality. We report on mobile differential optical absorption spectroscopy (mobile DOAS) observations of precursors SO2 and NO2 vertical columns in the NCP in the summer of 2013 (from 11 June to 7 July) in this study. The different temporal and spatial distributions of SO2 and NO2 vertical column density (VCD) over this area are characterized under various wind fields. The results show that transport from the southern NCP strongly affects air quality in Beijing, and the transport route, particularly SO2 transport on the route of Shijiazhuang–Baoding–Beijing, is identified. In addition, the major contributors to SO2 along the route of Shijiazhuang–Baoding–Beijing are elevated sources compared to low area sources for the route of Dezhou–Cangzhou–Tianjin–Beijing; this is found using the interrelated analysis between in situ and mobile DOAS observations during the measurement periods. Furthermore, the discussions on hot spots near the city of JiNan show that average observed width of polluted air mass is 11.83 and 17.23 km associated with air mass diffusion, which is approximately 60 km away from emission sources based on geometrical estimation. Finally, a reasonable agreement exists between the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) and mobile DOAS observations, with a correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.65 for NO2 VCDs. Both datasets also have a similar spatial pattern. The fitted slope of 0.55 is significantly less than unity, which can reflect the contamination of local sources, and OMI observations are needed to improve the sensitivities to the near-surface emission sources through improvements of the retrieval algorithm or the resolution of satellites.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fengcheng Wu ◽  
Pinhua Xie ◽  
Ang Li ◽  
Fusheng Mou ◽  
Hao Chen ◽  
...  

Abstract. Recently, Chinese cities have suffered severe events of haze air pollution, particularly in the North China Plain (NCP). Investigating the temporal and spatial distribution of pollutants, emissions, and pollution transport is necessary to better understand the effect of various sources on air quality. We report on mobile differential optical absorption spectroscopy (mobile DOAS) observations of precursors SO2 and NO2 vertical columns in NCP in summer of 2013 (from 11 June to 7 July) in this study. The different temporal and spatial distributions of SO2 and NO2 vertical column density (VCD) over this area are characterized under various wind fields. The results show that the transport from southern NCP strongly affects the air quality in Beijing, and the transport route, particularly SO2 transport of Shijiazhuang–Baoding–Beijing is identified. In addition, the major contributors to SO2 along the route of Shijiazhuang–Baoding–Beijing are elevated sources and low area sources for the route of Dezhou–Cangzhou–Tianjin–Beijing are found using the interrelated analysis between in situ and mobile DOAS observations during the measurement periods. Furthermore, the discussion of hot spot near Ji’nan City shows that the average observed width of polluted air mass is 11.83 km and 17.23 km associated with air mass diffusion, which is approximately 60 km away from emission sources based on geometrical estimation. Finally, a reasonable agreement exists between OMI and mobile DOAS observations with correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.65 for NO2 VCDs. Both datasets also have similar spatial pattern. The fitted slop of 0.55 is significantly less than unity can reflect the contamination of local sources and OMI observations need to improve the sensitivities to the near-surface emission sources through the improvements of retrieval algorithm or resolution of satellites.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 2229-2249
Author(s):  
Jiarui Wu ◽  
Naifang Bei ◽  
Yuan Wang ◽  
Xia Li ◽  
Suixin Liu ◽  
...  

Abstract. Accurate identification and quantitative source apportionment of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) provide an important prerequisite for design and implementation of emission control strategies to reduce PM pollution. Therefore, a source-oriented version of the WRF-Chem model is developed in the study to conduct source apportionment of PM2.5 in the North China Plain (NCP). A persistent and heavy haze event that occurred in the NCP from 5 December 2015 to 4 January 2016 is simulated using the model as a case study to quantify PM2.5 contributions of local emissions and regional transport. Results show that local and nonlocal emissions contribute 36.3 % and 63.7 % of the PM2.5 mass in Beijing during the haze event on average. When Beijing's air quality is excellent or good in terms of hourly PM2.5 concentrations, local emissions dominate the PM2.5 mass, with contributions exceeding 50 %. However, when the air quality is severely polluted, the PM2.5 contribution of nonlocal emissions is around 75 %. Nonlocal emissions also dominate Tianjin's air quality, with average PM2.5 contributions exceeding 65 %. The PM2.5 level in Hebei and Shandong is generally controlled by local emissions, but in Henan, local and nonlocal emissions play an almost equivalent role in the PM2.5 level, except when the air quality is severely polluted, with nonlocal PM2.5 contributions of over 60 %. Additionally, the primary aerosol species are generally dominated by local emissions, with the average contribution exceeding 50 %. However, the source apportionment of secondary aerosols shows more evident regional characteristics. Therefore, except for cooperation with neighboring provinces to carry out strict emission mitigation measures, reducing primary aerosols is a priority to alleviate PM pollution in the NCP, especially in Beijing and Tianjin.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liang Wen ◽  
Likun Xue ◽  
Xinfeng Wang ◽  
Caihong Xu ◽  
Tianshu Chen ◽  
...  

Abstract. Nitrate aerosol composes a significant fraction of fine particles and plays a key role in regional air quality and climate. To obtain a holistic understanding of the nitrate pollution and its formation mechanisms over the North China Plain (NCP) – the most industrialized and polluted region in northern China, intensive field observations were conducted at three sites during summertime in 2014–2015. The measurement sites include the downtown and downwind of Ji'nan, the capital city of Shandong Province, as well as the peak of NCP – Mt. Tai (1534 m a.s.l.), and hence cover representative urban, rural and remote areas of the region. Elevated nitrate concentrations were observed at all three sites despite distinct temporal and spatial variations. The nitrate / PM2.5 and nitrate / sulfate ratios have significantly increased in Ji'nan (2005–2015) and at Mt. Tai (from 2007 to 2014), indicating the worsening situation of regional nitrate pollution. A multi-phase chemical box model (RACM/CAPRAM) was deployed and constrained by observations to elucidate the nitrate formation mechanisms. The principal formation route is the partitioning of gaseous HNO3 to aerosol phase at daytime, whilst the nocturnal nitrate formation is dominated by the heterogeneous hydrolysis of N2O5. The daytime nitrate production in the NCP region is mainly limited by the availability of NO2 and to a lesser extent O3 and NH3, and the nighttime formation is controlled by both NO2 and O3. NH3 prompts significantly the nitrate formation at daytime but plays a slightly negative role in the nighttime. Our analyses suggest that controlling NOx and O3 is an efficient way at the moment to mitigate nitrate pollution in the NCP region, where NH3 is usually in excess in summer. This study provides observational evidence of rising trend of nitrate aerosol as well as scientific support for formulating effective control strategies for regional haze in China.


2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 31137-31158 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Y. Xu ◽  
C. S. Zhao ◽  
P. F. Liu ◽  
L. Ran ◽  
N. Ma ◽  
...  

Abstract. Emission information is crucial for air quality modelling and air quality management. In this study, a new approach based on the understanding of the relationship between emissions and measured pollutant concentrations has been proposed to estimate pollutant emissions and source contributions. The retrieval can be made with single point in-situ measurements combined with backward trajectory analyses. The method takes into consideration the effect of meteorology on pollutant transport when evaluating contributions and is independent of energy statistics, therefore can provide frequent updates on emission information. The spatial coverage can be further improved by using measurements from several sites and combining the derived emission fields. The method was applied to yield the source distributions of black carbon (BC) and CO in the North China Plain (NCP) using in-situ measurements from the HaChi (Haze in China) Campaign and to evaluate contributions from specific areas to local concentrations at the measurement site. Results show that this method can yield a reasonable emission field for the NCP and can directly quantify areal source contributions. Major BC and CO emission source regions are Beijing, the western part of Tianjin and Langfang, Hebei, with Tangshan being an additional important CO emission source area. The source contribution assessment suggests that, aside from local emissions in Wuqing, Tianjin and Hebei S, SW (d < 100 km) are the greatest contributors to measured local concentrations, while emissions from Beijing contribute little during summertime.


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