Reconstructed Light Extinction Coefficients Using Chemical Compositions of PM_(2.5) in Winter in Urban Guangzhou, China

The objective of this study was to reconstruct light extinction coefficients （b ext ） according to chemical composition components of particulate matter up to 2.5 μm in size （PM 2.5 ）. PM 2.5 samples were collected at the monitoring station of the South China of Institute of Environmental Science （SCIES, Guangzhou, China） during January 2010, and the online absorbing and scattering coefficients were obtained using an aethalometer and a nephelometer. The measured values of light absorption coefficient by particle （b ap ） and light scattering coefficient by particle （b sp ） significantly correlated （R 2 0.95） with values of b ap and b sp that were reconstructed using the Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments （IMPROVE） formula when RH was 70%. The measured b ext had a good correlation （R 2 0.83） with the calculated b ext under ambient RH conditions. The result of source apportionment of b ext showed that ammonium sulfate [（NH 4 ） 2 SO 4 ] was the largest contributor （35.0%） to b ext , followed by ammonium nitrate （NH 4 NO 3 , 22.9%）, organic matter （16.1%）, elemental carbon （11.8%）, sea salt （4.7%）, and nitrogen dioxide （NO 2 , 9.6%）. To improve visibility in Guangzhou, the effective control of secondary particles like sulfates, nitrates, and ammonia should be given more attention in urban environmental management.

Effects of relative humidity and PM2.5 chemical compositions on visibility impairment in Chengdu, China

To better understand the potential causes of visibility impairment in autumn and winter in Chengdu,relative humidity(RH),visibility,the concentrations of PM2.5 and its chemical components were on-line measured continuously in Chengdu from Nov.2016 to Jan.2017.Six obvious haze episodes occurred in Chengdu,with the total time of haze episodes accounted for more than 90%of the total observation period,and higher NO2 concentrations and RH were related to the high particle concentrations in haze episodes.The visibility decreased in a non-linear tendency under different RH conditions with the increase of PM2.5 concentrations,which was more sensitive to RH under lower PM2.5 concentrations.The threshold concentration of PM2.5 got more smaller with the increase of RH.During the entire observation period,organic matter(OM)was the largest contributor(31.12%to extinction coefficient(bext)),followed by NH4NO3 and(NH4)2SO4 with 28.03%and 23.01%,respectively.However,with the visibility impairment from Type I(visibility>10 km)to Type IV(visibility≤2 km),the contribution of OM to bextdecreased from 38.12%to 26.77%,while the contribution of NH4NO3 and(NH4)2SO4 to bextincreased from 19.09%and 20.20%to 34.29%and 24.35%,respectively,and NH4NO3 became the largest contributor to bextat Type IV.The results showed that OM and NH4NO3 were the key components of PM2.5 for visibility impairment in Chengdu,indicating that the control of precursors emissions of carbonaceous species and NH4NO3 could effectively improve the visibility in Chengdu.

Chemical characteristics of fine particles and their impact on visibility impairment in Shanghai based on a 1-year period observation

In this work, a one-year observation focusing on high time resolution characteristics of components in fine particles was conducted at an urban site in Shanghai. Contributions of different components on visibility impairment were also studied. Our research indicates that the major components of PM2.5 in Shanghai are water-soluble inorganic ions and carbonaceous aerosol, accounting for about 60% and 30% respectively. Higher concentrations of sulfate （SO42-） and organic carbon （OC） in PM2.s occurred in fall and summer, while higher concentrations of nitrate （NO3-） were observed in winter and spring. The mass concentrations of Cl- and K＋ were higher in winter. Moreover, NO3- increased significantly during PM2.s pollution episodes. The high values observed for the sulfate oxidizing rate （SOR）, nitrate oxidizing rate （NOR） and secondary organic carbon （SOC） in OC indicate that photochemical reactions were quite active in Shanghai. The IMPROVE （Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments） formula was used in this study to investigate the contributions of individual PM2.5 chemical components to the light extinction efficient in Shanghai. Both NH4NO3 and （NH4）aSO4 had close relationships with visibility impairment in Shanghai. Our results show that the reduction of anthropogenic SO2, NOx and NH3 would have a significant effect on the improvement of air qualitv and visibility in Shanghai.