The Influence of Multi-Scale Atmospheric Circulation on Severe Haze Events in Autumn and Winter in Shanghai, China

Zezheng Zhao, Hailing Xi, Ana Russo, Huadong Du, Youguo Gong, Jie Xiang, Zeming Zhou, Jiping Zhang, Chengcai Li and Chengjun Zhou
Additional contact information
Zezheng Zhao: College of Meteorology and Oceanology, National University of Defense Technology, Nanjing 211101, China
Hailing Xi: Research Institute of Chemical Defence, Beijing 102205, China
Ana Russo: Instituto Dom Luíz, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, Edifício C1, Piso 1, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal
Huadong Du: College of Meteorology and Oceanology, National University of Defense Technology, Nanjing 211101, China
Youguo Gong: Research Institute of Chemical Defence, Beijing 102205, China
Jie Xiang: College of Meteorology and Oceanology, National University of Defense Technology, Nanjing 211101, China
Zeming Zhou: College of Meteorology and Oceanology, National University of Defense Technology, Nanjing 211101, China
Jiping Zhang: Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Chengcai Li: Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Chengjun Zhou: College of Meteorology and Oceanology, National University of Defense Technology, Nanjing 211101, China

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 21, 1-18

Abstract: Severe haze events have many adverse effects on agricultural production and human activity. Haze events are often associated with specific patterns of atmospheric circulation. Therefore, studying the relationship between atmospheric circulation and haze is particularly important for early warning and forecasting of urban haze events. In order to study the relationship between multi-scale atmospheric circulation and severe haze events in autumn and winter in Shanghai, China, we used a T-mode objective classification method to classify autumn and winter atmospheric circulation patterns into six types based on sea level pressure data from 2007 to 2016 in the Shanghai area. For the period between September 2016 and February 2017, we used the Allwine–Whiteman method to classify the local wind in Shanghai into three categories: stagnation, recirculation, and ventilation. By further studying the PM 2.5 concentration distribution, visibility distribution, and other meteorological characteristics of each circulation type (CT) and local wind field type, we found that the Shanghai area is most prone to severe haze when exposed to certain circulation patterns (CT1, CT2, and CT4), mainly associated to the cold air activity and the displacement of the high pressure system relative to Shanghai. We also found that the local wind fields in the Shanghai area are dominated by recirculation and stagnation events. These conclusions were further verified by studying a typical pollution process in Shanghai in November 2016 and the pollutant diffusion path using the HYSPLIT (Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory model) simulation model.

Keywords: synoptic classification; circulation types; wind field; air quality; PM 2.5; HYSPLIT model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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