Air stagnation in China (1985–2014): climatological mean features and trends

Abstract

Abstract. Air stagnation is an important meteorological measure of unfavorable air pollution conditions, but little is known about it in China. We conducted a comprehensive investigation of air stagnation in China from January 1985 to December 2014 based on sounding and surface observations from 81 stations. The stagnation criteria were revised to account for the large topographical diversity in the country. It is found that the annual mean of air stagnation occurrences is closely related to general topography and climate features. Two basins in the northwest and southwest of China, the Tarim and Sichuan basins, exhibit the most frequent stagnation occurrence (50 % of days per year), whereas two plateaus (the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau and the Inner Mongolian plateau) and the eastern coastal areas experience the least (20 % of days per year). Over the whole country, air stagnation is at a maximum in summer and a minimum in winter, except for Urumchi, a major city in northwestern China where stagnation maintains a rather constant value year round with a minimum in spring. There is a nationwide positive trend in stagnation occurrence during 1985–2014, with the strongest increasing centers over Shandong Peninsula in eastern China and southern Shaanxi in central China. Changes in air stagnation occurrences are dependent on three components (upper- and lower-air winds and precipitation-free days). This shows that the behavior of upper-air wind speeds is the main driver of the spatial distribution and trends in air stagnation, followed by near-surface winds and dry days, which contribute the least.