Spatial and temporal variations in criteria air pollutants in three typical terrain regions in Shaanxi, China, during 2015

• Published in: Air quality, atmosphere and health atmosphere and health, 2018, Vol.11 (1), p.95-109
• Main Authors: Xu, Yong, Ying, Qi, Hu, Jianlin, Gao, Yuan, Yang, Yang, Wang, Dexiang, Zhang, Hongliang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Air pollution; Air quality; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Correlation; Earth and Environmental Science; Environment; Environmental Health; Health Promotion and Disease Prevention; Mountain regions; Nitrogen dioxide; Outdoor air quality; Particulate emissions; Particulate matter; Pollutants; Pollution; Sulfur dioxide; Summer; Temporal variations; Terrain; Winter
• ISSN: 1873-9318; 1873-9326
• DOI: 10.1007/s11869-017-0523-7

Numerous studies have investigated air pollution in severely polluted plains, but the characteristics of pollutants are not well understood in other terrain regions. In this study, air pollution characteristics were analyzed in three typical terrain regions (plateau, plain, and mountain regions) in Shaanxi, based on hourly ambient monitoring of particulate matter with diameter less than 2.5 μm (PM 2.5 ) and less than 10 μm (PM 10 ), CO, SO 2 , NO 2 , and O 3 in 2015. PM 2.5 and PM 10 were the dominant pollutants in three regions, and their annual concentrations exceeded the Grade II standards by 9.4–68.6 and 6.0–73.9%, respectively. PM 2.5 , PM 10 , CO, SO 2 , and NO 2 concentrations had similar seasonal trends with highest values in winter and lowest values in summer, whereas O 3 concentrations exhibited the opposite trend. Guanzhong Plain had higher PM 2.5 , PM 10 , NO 2 , and SO 2 concentrations but lower CO, 1-h peak O 3 , and 8-h peak O 3 (8 h-O 3 ) compared to other regions. PM 2.5 , PM 10 , and 8 h-O 3 were the three main dominant pollutants. The nonattainment rate was highest in winter and lowest in summer or autumn. Pollution also exhibited synergy, especially in the plateau region and Guanzhong Plain. PM 2.5 was significantly correlated with PM 10 . NO 2 and SO 2 were positively correlated with PM 2.5 and PM 10 , while 8 h-O 3 generally had significant negative correlations with other pollutants, especially in the winter. These results provide a comprehensive understanding of pollution status in the three typical terrain regions in Shaanxi and are helpful for improving air quality.