Spatiotemporal Evolution Characteristics and Drivers of TROPOMI-Based Tropospheric HCHO Column Concentration in North China

Li Li, Xiaodong Ma and Dongsheng Chen ()
Additional contact information
Li Li: Key Laboratory of Beijing on Regional Air Pollution Control, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China
Xiaodong Ma: Department of Forestry Engineering, Shandong Agriculture and Engineering University, Jinan 250100, China
Dongsheng Chen: Key Laboratory of Beijing on Regional Air Pollution Control, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 10, 1-20

Abstract: The long-term nature of and heterogeneity in industrialization has led to high formaldehyde (HCHO) concentrations with seasonal and regional variation in North China, and this is highly influenced by changes in meteorological and population conditions. Here, we analyzed the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of tropospheric HCHO VCD (vertical column density) and their key drivers in North China from 2019 to 2023 based on the HCHO daily dataset from TROPOMI. The results showed that the spatial distribution of tropospheric HCHO VCD in North China presented similar variation characteristics in the past 5 years, with the highest in the center, followed by the east and the lowest in the west. Seasonal variations were characterized, with the highest tropospheric HCHO VCD concentrations in summer and the lowest ones in spring. In addition, the effects of meteorological elements on HCHO VCD were analyzed based on the ERA5 dataset, and the correlation of HCHO VCD with temperature and wind was strong. In contrast, the correlation with precipitation and surface solar radiation was low, and the effects were different between the growing and non-growing seasons (the growing season, i.e., March–November, is defined as the period when the plant or a part of it actually grows and produces new tissues, while the non-growing season refers to December–the following February). Population density is directly proportional to tropospheric HCHO VCD. In this study, a higher-resolution spatial and temporal distribution model of tropospheric HCHO VCD in North China is obtained based on TROPOMI, which effectively characterizes the driving factors of HCHO VCD. Our study provides an important reference for developing of air pollution control measures in North China.

Keywords: North China; TROPOMI; tropospheric HCHO; growing and non-growing season differences; spatial and temporal distribution; driving factors (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/10/4386/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/10/4386/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:10:p:4386-:d:1654063

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().