Abstract. Meteorological conditions play important roles in the formation of ozone
(O3) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5). China has been suffering
from serious regional air pollution problems, characterized by high
concentrations of surface O3 and PM2.5. In this study, the
Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model was used to quantify the
sensitivity of surface O3 and PM2.5 to key meteorological
parameters in different regions of China. Six meteorological parameters were
perturbed to create different meteorological conditions, including
temperature (T), wind speed (WS), absolute humidity (AH), planetary boundary
layer height (PBLH), cloud liquid water content (CLW) and precipitation
(PCP). Air quality simulations under the perturbed meteorological conditions
were conducted in China in January and July of 2013. The changes in O3
and PM2.5 concentrations due to individual meteorological parameters
were then quantified. T has a great influence on the daily maximum 8 h
average O3 (O3-8 h) concentrations, which leads to O3-8 h increases by 1.7 in January in Chongqing and 1.1 ppb K−1
in July in Beijing. WS, AH, and PBLH have a smaller but notable influence on
O3-8 h with maximum change rates of 0.3 ppb %−1, −0.15 ppb %−1, and 0.14 ppb %−1, respectively. T, WS, AH, and PBLH have important effects on
PM2.5 formation of both in January and July. In general, PM2.5 sensitivities are negative to T, WS, and PBLH and positive to AH in most regions of China. The sensitivities in January are much larger than in July.
PM2.5 sensitivity to T, WS, PBLH, and AH in January can be up to −5 µg m−3 K−1, −3 µg m−3 %−1, −1 µg m−3 %−1, and +0.6 µg m−3 %−1, respectively,
and in July it can be up to −2 µg m−3 K−1, −0.4 µg m−3 %−1, −0.14 µg m−3 %−1, and +0.3 µg m−3 %−1, respectively. Other meteorological factors (CLW and PCP) have
negligible effects on O3-8 h (less than 0.01 ppb %−1) and
PM2.5 (less than 0.01 µg m−3 %−1). The results
suggest that surface O3 and PM2.5 concentrations can change
significantly due to changes in meteorological parameters, and it is necessary to consider these effects when developing emission control
strategies in different regions of China.