Chemical apportionment of aerosol optical properties during the Asia‐Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Beijing, China

Abstract

AbstractWe have investigated the chemical and optical properties of aerosol particles during the 2014 Asia‐Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Beijing, China, using the highly time‐resolved measurements by a high‐resolution aerosol mass spectrometer and a cavity attenuated phase shift extinction monitor. The average (±σ) extinction coefficient (bext) and absorption coefficient (bap) were 186.5 (±184.5) M m−1 and 23.3 (±21.9) M m−1 during APEC, which were decreased by 63% and 56%, respectively, compared to those before APEC primarily due to strict emission controls. The aerosol composition and size distributions showed substantial changes during APEC; as a response, the mass scattering efficiency (MSE) of PM1 was decreased from 4.7 m2 g−1 to 3.5 m2 g−1. Comparatively, the average single‐scattering albedo (SSA) remained relatively unchanged, illustrating the synchronous reductions of bext and bap during APEC. MSE and SSA were found to increase as function of the oxidation degree of organic aerosol (OA), indicating a change of aerosol optical properties during the aging processes. The empirical relationships between chemical composition and particle extinction were established using a multiple linear regression model. Our results showed the largest contribution of ammonium nitrate to particle extinction, accounting for 35.1% and 29.3% before and during APEC, respectively. This result highlights the important role of ammonium nitrate in the formation of severe haze pollution during this study period. We also observed very different optical properties of primary and secondary aerosol. Owing to emission controls in Beijing and surrounding regions and also partly the influences of meteorological changes, the average bext of secondary aerosol during APEC was decreased by 71% from 372.3 M m−1 to 108.5 M m−1, whereas that of primary aerosol mainly from cooking, traffic, and biomass burning emissions showed a smaller reduction from 136.7 M m−1 to 71.3 M m−1. As a result, the contribution of primary aerosol to particle extinction increased from 26.8% to 39.6%, elucidating an enhanced role of local primary sources in visibility deterioration during APEC. Further analysis of chemically resolved particle extinction showed that the extinction contributions of aerosol species varied greatly between different air masses but generally with ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulfate, and secondary OA being the three major contributors.