Seasonal variations of transport pathways and potential sources of PM<sub>2.5</sub> in Chengdu, China (2012–2013)

doi:10.1007/s11783-018-1009-z

Front. Environ. Sci. Eng.

2018, Vol. 12

Issue (1) : 12 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-018-1009-z

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Seasonal variations of transport pathways and potential sources of PM_2.5 in Chengdu, China (2012–2013)

Yuan Chen¹, Shaodong Xie²(

), Bin Luo³

¹. School of Safety and Environmental Engineering, Capital University of Economics and Business, Beijing 100070, China
². College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
³. Sichuan Provincial Environmental Monitoring Center, Chengdu 610041, China

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Abstract

PM_2.5 in Chengdu showed clear seasonal and diurnal variation.

5, 5, 5 and 3 mean clusters are generated in spring, summer, autumn, and winter.

Short-distance air masses are important pathways in Chengdu.

Emissions within the Sichuan Basin contribute significantly to PM_2.5 pollution.

Long-range transport from Southern Xinjiang is a dust invasion path to Chengdu.

Seasonal pattern of transport pathways and potential sources of PM_2.5 in Chengdu during 2012–2013 were investigated based on hourly PM_2.5 data, backward trajectories, clustering analysis, potential source contribution function (PSCF), and concentration-weighted trajectory (CWT) method. The annual hourly mean PM_2.5 concentration in Chengdu was 97.4 mg·m^–3. 5, 5, 5 and 3 mean clusters were generated in four seasons, respectively. Short-distance air masses, which travelled within the Sichuan Basin with no specific source direction and relatively high PM_2.5 loadings (>80 mg·m^–3) appeared as important pathways in all seasons. These short pathways indicated that emissions from both local and surrounding regions of Chengdu contributed significantly to PM_2.5 pollution. The cities in southern Chengdu were major potential sources with PSCF>0.6 and CWT>90 mg·m^–3. The northeastern pathway prevailed throughout the year with higher frequency in autumn and winter and lower frequency in spring and summer. In spring, long-range transport from southern Xinjiang was a representative dust invasion path to Chengdu, and the CWT values along the path were 30-60 mg·m^–3. Long-range transport was also observed in autumn from southeastern Xinjiang along a northwesterly pathway, and in winter from the Tibetan Plateau along a westerly pathway. In summer, the potential source regions of Chengdu were smaller than those in other seasons, and no long-range transport pathway was observed. Results of PSCF and CWT indicated that regions in Qinghai and Tibet contributed to PM_2.5 pollution in Chengdu as well, and their CWT values increased to above 30 mg·m^-3 in winter.

Keywords Transport pathway Backward trajectory Clustering analysis Potential source Chengdu

Corresponding Author(s): Shaodong Xie

Issue Date: 26 December 2017

Cite this article:

Yuan Chen,Shaodong Xie,Bin Luo. Seasonal variations of transport pathways and potential sources of PM_2.5 in Chengdu, China (2012–2013)[J]. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng., 2018, 12(1): 12.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/10.1007/s11783-018-1009-z
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/Y2018/V12/I1/12

Tab.1 Longitude and latitude of the sampling site in Chengdu and other mentioned sites in the study

Fig.1 (a) Probably distribution function and statistical summary, and (b) monthly variations of PM_2.5 levels in Chengdu (Bottom and top of the boxes represent the 25% and 75% limits, respectively; bottom and top whiskers represent the 5 th and 95 th percentiles, respectively; and bottom and top short lines represent the minimum and maximum values, respectively. The square denotes the mean value, and the bottom and top crosses denote the 1 st and 99 th percentiles, respectively)

Fig.2 Diurnal variations of PM_2.5 concentrations in Chengdu (Explanation to the box-whisker plot is the same as Fig. 1(b))

Fig.3 Distribution of 100 m backward trajectories in each season of Chengdu

Fig.4 Mean trajectory of each cluster in each season of Chengdu

Tab.2 Trajectory number and averaged PM_2.5 concentration of each cluster in spring, summer, autumn and winter of Chengdu

Fig.5 PSCF maps for PM_2.5 of Chengdu in each season

Fig.6 CWT maps for PM_2.5 of Chengdu in each season

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