Characteristics of Surface Ozone and Nitrogen Oxides over a Typical City in the Yangtze River Delta, China

The Yangtze River Delta (YRD) is the most developed region in China. Influenced by intensive and complex anthropogenic activities, atmospheric pollution in this region is highly variable, and reports are sparse. In this study, a seven-year history of the atmospheric O3 and NOx mixing ratios over a typical city, Hangzhou, was presented to enrich the studies on air pollution in the YRD region. Our results revealed that the diurnal variation in NOx corresponded to traffic rush hours, while O3 was mainly impacted by photochemical reactions in the daytime. The weekend effect was significant for NOx, but inapparent for O3. Two O3 peaks in May and September were caused by seasonal atmospheric stability and climatic conditions. The lower NOx and higher O3 levels observed suggested direct effects from traffic restrictions and large-scale industrial shutdowns during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020 compared with those in the periods before and after lockdown. The model simulation results showed that O3 mixing ratios were not only related to regional anthropogenic emissions but were impacted by air mass transportation from surrounding provinces and the China shelf seas. The NOx mixing ratios showed a decreasing trend, while the O3 mixing ratios showed the opposite trend from 2015 to 2021, which is indicative of the implementation of the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Acton Plan issued by the Chinese government in 2013. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Atmosphere is the property of MDPI and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Variation of carbon dioxide mole fraction at a typical urban area in the Yangtze River Delta, China

The observations of atmospheric CO2 mole fraction in urban area in China are relative sparse. Here, we present the first-hand observation of atmospheric CO2 mole fraction from 2016 to 2020 at a city station (Hangzhou, abbreviated as HZ) in the Yangtze River Delta, which is one of the strongest CO2 source regions in China. The CO2 mole fraction at an adjacent World Meteorological Organization / Global Atmospheric Watch (WMO/GAW) programme site (Lin'an, LAN) are also presented and compared. The temporal variations, seasonal variations, and influence of COVID-19 pandemic are analyzed. Our results show that, the variations of CO2 mole fraction in Hangzhou are mainly driven by the local emissions, both atmospheric dilution conditions (i.e., wind speed, visibility) and topography, and the temporal variations are apparently different with the suburb site of LAN, although the distance between the two stations is only 50 km. During the observation period, the CO2 mole fraction at HZ is on average 15.6 +or- 0.2 ppm higher than LAN, with two distinct peaks observed at 9:00 and 17:00-18:00, corresponding to traffic rushing hours. The growth rate of atmospheric CO2 mole fraction is 11.2 +or- 0.1 ppm yr-1 before the COVID-19 pandemic (from 2016 to 2019), which is much higher than the suburb site of LAN, 5.4 +or- 0.1 ppm yr-1. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a plunge of atmospheric CO2 mole fraction at HZ in 2020, with a value of 15.7 +or- 0.7 ppm, corresponding to 3.5% lower than the year of 2019. But at LAN, the annual average CO2 mole fraction in 2020 is 1.5 +or- 0.5 ppm higher than the previous year, similar to the trend in the northern hemisphere. The different annual CO2 mole fraction growth rate at HZ indicates that the CO2 mole fraction at Hangzhou may be dominated by local anthropogenic emissions, despite the transport of airmass from the north and southwest.

Characteristics of the methane (CH4) mole fraction in a typical city and suburban site in the Yangtze River Delta, China

China is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world. However, the atmospheric observation of greenhouse gases is relatively sparse. In this study, surface measurements of CH4 over 5 years at a typical city site (Hangzhou) in an economically developed region in China were conducted to study the temporal variations and the influence of meteorological factors and airmass transport. The CH4 observations from a suburban site (Lin'an station [LAN]) which is a World Meteorological Organization/Global Atmosphere Monitoring Program (WMO/GAW) regional site, were also compared. Our results showed that the atmospheric CH4 mole fraction in Hangzhou was not only affected by meteorological factors and topography, but also by strong local emissions. Although the distance between the two stations was only 50 km, there was a significant difference in the temporal CH4 variations. The strong anthropogenic emissions in the city were responsible for the urban-suburban site difference. The CH4 peaks in the diurnal cycles in Hangzhou corresponded to rush hours, and there were unique variations during special periods (i.e., the National Day holiday, coronavirus disease 2019 [COVID - 19] lock-down). It also led to an annual average CH4 mole fraction at the Hangzhou station (HZ) that was on average 111.1 ± 1.6 ppb higher than that at the LAN from 2016 to 2020. The lock-down measures caused by the outbreak of COVID - 19 decreased the atmospheric CH4 mole fractions by 6.8% in Hangzhou but only 1.9% in Lin'an in 2020 compared to those in 2019. Excluding the data in 2020, the annual growth rate of the CH4 mole fraction was 19.0 ppb yr−1 in Hangzhou. Our results indicated that the CH4 mole fraction in Hangzhou was mainly driven by local anthropogenic emissions, although they were influenced by emissions from surrounding cities such as Nanjing and Ningbo.

Variation of carbon dioxide mole fraction at a typical urban area in the Yangtze River Delta, China

The observations of atmospheric CO2 mole fraction in urban area in China are relative sparse. Here, we present the first-hand observation of atmospheric CO2 mole fraction from 2016 to 2020 at a city station (Hangzhou, abbreviated as HZ) in the Yangtze River Delta, which is one of the strongest CO2 source regions in China. The CO2 mole fraction at an adjacent World Meteorological Organization / Global Atmospheric Watch (WMO/GAW) programme site (Lin'an, LAN) are also presented and compared. The temporal variations, seasonal variations, and influence of COVID-19 pandemic are analyzed. Our results show that, the variations of CO2 mole fraction in Hangzhou are mainly driven by the local emissions, both atmospheric dilution conditions (i.e., wind speed, visibility) and topography, and the temporal variations are apparently different with the suburb site of LAN, although the distance between the two stations is only 50 km. During the observation period, the CO2 mole fraction at HZ is on average 15.6 ± 0.2 ppm higher than LAN, with two distinct peaks observed at 9:00 and 17:00–18:00, corresponding to traffic rushing hours. The growth rate of atmospheric CO2 mole fraction is 11.2 ± 0.1 ppm yr−1 before the COVID-19 pandemic (from 2016 to 2019), which is much higher than the suburb site of LAN, 5.4 ± 0.1 ppm yr−1. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a plunge of atmospheric CO2 mole fraction at HZ in 2020, with a value of 15.7 ± 0.7 ppm, corresponding to 3.5% lower than the year of 2019. But at LAN, the annual average CO2 mole fraction in 2020 is 1.5 ± 0.5 ppm higher than the previous year, similar to the trend in the northern hemisphere. The different annual CO2 mole fraction growth rate at HZ indicates that the CO2 mole fraction at Hangzhou may be dominated by local anthropogenic emissions, despite the transport of airmass from the north and southwest.