Seasonal Characteristics and Particle-size Distributions of Particulate Air Pollutants in Urumqi

Xianyong Meng, Yiping Wu, Zhihua Pan, Hao Wang, Gang Yin and Honggang Zhao
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Xianyong Meng: College of Resources and Environmental Science, China Agricultural University (CAU), Beijing 100193, China
Yiping Wu: Department of Earth & Environmental Science, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Zhihua Pan: College of Resources and Environmental Science, China Agricultural University (CAU), Beijing 100193, China
Hao Wang: State Key Laboratory of Simulation and Regulation of Water Cycle in River Basin & China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research (IWHR), Beijing 100011, China
Gang Yin: School of Resources and Environment Science, Xinjiang University (XJU), Urumqi 830046, China
Honggang Zhao: School of Resources and Environment Science, Xinjiang University (XJU), Urumqi 830046, China

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 3, 1-15

Abstract: Urban particulate air pollution is a known cause of adverse human health effects worldwide. Urumqi is a large oasis city in which rapid urbanization has caused a series of eco-environmental problems including serious air pollution, water shortage, dense population, excess energy consumption, and the creation of an urban heat island, among others. Coal is the most important source of energy and air pollutants that are poorly dispersed into the natural surroundings are the main reasons for serious pollution in the Urumqi urban area. Using differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS), aerosol levels were determined using the double optical path method. We found that aerosol concentrations in Urumqi increased rapidly in winter, and that the concentration of fine particles was much higher than that of coarse particles. The background aerosol concentration was highest in winter in the research area, and the air-flow speed had a significant impact on this because high speed surface winds that correspond to high air flows can transport the aerosol to other places. Some of the observed day-to-night differences may be caused by differing wind directions that transport air masses from different emission sources during the day and the night. Daily and seasonal differences in PM 1.0 concentrations of different grades of polluted air were statistically analyzed using average daily concentration data for particles smaller than 10, 2.5 and 1.0 microns (PM 10 , PM 2.5 and PM 1.0 ), and meteorological observations for Urumqi, Tianshan District in 2010.

Keywords: air pollution; air quality monitoring; aerosol; particulate matter; PM concentration; physicochemical property (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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