Particulate Matter Distributions in China during a Winter Period with Frequent Pollution Episodes (January 2013)

Jingkun Jiang; Wei Zhou; Zhen Cheng; Shuxiao Wang; Kebin He; Jiming Hao

doi:10.4209/aaqr.2014.04.0070

Particulate Matter Distributions in China during a Winter Period with Frequent Pollution Episodes (January 2013)

Jingkun Jiang ¹^,2, Wei Zhou¹, Zhen Cheng¹, Shuxiao Wang¹^,2, Kebin He¹^,2, Jiming Hao¹^,2

¹State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
²State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Sources and Control of Air Pollution Complex, Beijing 100084, China

Received: April 13, 2014
Revised: August 9, 2014
Accepted: August 19, 2014
Download Citation: ||https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.2014.04.0070

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Cite this article:
Jiang, J., Zhou, W., Cheng, Z., Wang, S., He, K. and Hao, J. (2015). Particulate Matter Distributions in China during a Winter Period with Frequent Pollution Episodes (January 2013). Aerosol Air Qual. Res. 15: 494-503. https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.2014.04.0070

HIGHLIGHTS

Many Chinese cities suffered from severe PM pollution during January 2013.
PM pollution episodes often occurred in a large spatial domain.
The North China Plain is the most polluted area.
PM has good correlations with gaseous pollutants and meteorological parameters.
PM_2.5 level did not improve in cities like Beijing and Shanghai in the last decade.

ABSTRACT

Particulate matter distributions in China during January 2013 were analyzed using hourly PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ concentrations from 74 cities. Five haze episodes occurred in this month. Both PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ concentrations increased rapidly at the beginning of January 2013 and remained at high levels throughout the month with monthly average values of 128.7 and 184.4 µg/m³, respectively. On January 12^th, the most polluted day in this month, 13 cites were severely polluted with daily average PM_2.5 concentrations greater than 300 µg/m³, and 18 cities were heavily polluted with daily average PM_2.5 concentrations between 200 and 300 µg/m³. These episodes often occurred in a large spatial domain with the North China Plain as the most polluted area, including Jing-Jin-Ji area (Beijing, Tianjin, and Heibei provinces). Both PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ had good correlations with ambient CO, NO₂, and SO₂ concentrations. High PM concentrations often occurred at low wind speeds and high relative humidity. In addition, PM levels in January 2013 were compared with those from other international cities.