Temporal Variation and Source Identification of Black Carbon at Lin'an and Longfengshan Regional Background Stations in China

Black carbon （BC） is a component of fine particulate matter （PM2.5）, associated with climate, weather, air quality, and people＇s health. However, studies on temporal variation of atmospheric BC concentration at background stations in China and its source area identification are lacking. In this paper, we use 2-yr BC observations from two background stations, Lin＇an （LAN） and Longfengshan （LFS）, to perform the investigation. The results show that the mean diurnal variation of BC has two significant peaks at LAN while different characteristics are found in the BC vari- ation at LFS, which are probably caused by the difference in emission source contributions. Seasonal variation of monthly BC shows double peaks at LAN but a single peak at LFS. The annual mean concentrations of BC at LAN and LFS decrease by 1.63 and 0.26 μg m 3 from 2009 to 2010, respectively. The annual background concentration of BC at LAN is twice higher than that at LFS. The major source of the LAN BC is industrial emission while the source of the LFS BC is residential emission. Based on transport climatology on a 7-day timescale, LAN and LFS stations are sensitive to surface emissions respectively in belt or approximately circular area, which are dominated by summer monsoon or colder land air flows in Northwest China. In addition, we statistically analyze the BC source regions by using BC observation and FLEXible PARTicle dispersion model （FLEXPART） simulation. In summer, the source regions of BC are distributed in the northwest and south of LAN and the southwest of LFS. Low BC concentration is closely related to air mass from the sea. In winter, the source regions of BC are concentrated in the west and south of LAN and the northeast of the threshold area of stot at LFS. The cold air mass in the northwest plays an important role in the purification of atmospheric BC. On a yearly scale, sources of BC are approximately from five provinces in the northwest/southeast of LAN and the west of LFS. These findings are helpful in reducing BC emission and con- trolling air pollution.

Tropospheric NO_2 vertical column densities retrieved from ground-based MAX-DOAS measurements at Shangdianzi regional atmospheric background station in China

Ground-basedMulti-AXis Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy(MAX-DOAS)measurements were performed at Shangdianzi(SDZ)regional atmospheric background station in northern China from March 2009 to February 2011.The tropospheric NO_2vertical column densities(VCDs)were retrieved to investigate the background condition of the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei developed economic circle in China.The seasonal variation of mean NO_2tropospheric VCDs(VCD_(Trop))at SDZ is apparent,with the maximum(1.3×10^(16)molec/cm^2)in February and the minimum(3.5×10^(15)molec/cm^2)in August,much lower than those observed at the Beijing city center.The average daytime diurnal variations of NO_2VCD_(Trop )are rather consistent for all four seasons,presenting the minimum at noon and the higher values in the morning and evening.The largest and lowest amplitudes of NO_2VCD_(Trop)diurnal variation appear in winter and in summer,respectively.The diurnal pattern at SDZ station is similar to those at other less polluted stations,but distinct from the ones at the urban or polluted stations.Tropospheric NO_2VCDs at SDZ are strongly dependent on the wind,with the higher values being associated with the pollution plumes from Beijing city.Tropospheric NO_2VCDs derived from ground-based MAX-DOAS at SDZ show to be well correlated with corresponding OMI(Ozone Monitoring Instrument)satellite products with a correlation coefficient R=0.88.However,the OMI observations are on average higher than MAX-DOAS NO_2VCDs by a factor of 28%,probably due to the OMI grid cell partly covering the south of SDZ which is influenced more by the pollution plumes from the urban areas.