High-spatial-resolution distributions of aerosol chemical characteristics in urban Lanzhou, western China, during wintertime: Insights from an on-road mobile aerosol mass spectrometry measurement experiment

Abstract

The high-spatial-resolution distributions of the mass concentration and chemical composition of submicron particulate matter (PM1) across four different functional districts in Lanzhou, a typical northwestern city in China, were studied during the winter haze pollution period using an on-road real-time mobile monitoring system. The purpose of this study is to characterize the spatial variation in the sources and chemical formation of aerosols at the intra-urban scale. A higher PM1 mass concentration (63.0 μg m−3) was observed in an industrially influenced district (XG) with major contributions (70.4%) from three secondary inorganic species (sulfate, nitrate, and ammonium) and two oxygenated organic aerosol (OOA) components with different oxygenation levels. Compared with the densely populated district (CG), sulfate and more-oxidized OOA were the two most distinct contributors to the elevated PM1 mass in XG during the daytime (30.9% in XG vs. 17.5% in CG), whereas nitrate and less-oxidized OOA dominated (41.4% in XG vs. 30.6% in CG) during the nighttime. A lower PM1 mass (44.3 μg m−3) was observed in CG and was contributed predominantly by primary organic aerosols emitted from traffic, cooking, and heating activities. The chemical formation mechanisms of secondary PM1 species in the two different districts during the daytime and nighttime are further examined, which indicated the important photochemical formations of nitrate in CG but sulfate in XG during the daytime, whereas favorable aqueous-phase formations of nitrate and LO-OOA in both districts during the nighttime. The stronger atmospheric oxidation capability might be a key factor leading to the more significant formations of secondary species in XG than CG. These results illustrate city-scale aerosol loading and chemical processes and are useful for local policy makers to develop differentiated and efficient mitigation strategies for the improvement of air quality in Lanzhou.