Abstract
Cluster analyses, potential source contribution function (PSCF) and concentration-weight trajectory (CWT) were used to identify the main transport pathways and potential source regions with hourly PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations in different seasons from January 2017 to December 2019 at Akedala Station, located in northwest China (Central Asia). The annual mean concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 were 11.63 ± 9.31 and 19.99 ± 14.39 µg/m3, respectively. The air pollution was most polluted in winter, and the dominant part of PM10 (between 54 to 76%) constituted PM2.5 aerosols in Akedala. Particulate pollution in Akedala can be traced back to eastern Kazakhstan, northern Xinjiang, and western Mongolia. The cluster analyses showed that the Akedala atmosphere was mainly affected by air masses transported from the northwest. The PM2.5 and PM10 mainly came with air masses from the central and eastern regions of Kazakhstan, which are characterized by highly industrialized and semi-arid desert areas. In addition, the analyses of the pressure profile of back-trajectories showed that air mass distribution were mainly distributed above 840 hPa. This indicates that PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations were strongly affected by high altitude air masses. According to the results of the PSCF and CWT methods, the main potential source areas of PM2.5 were very similar to those of PM10. In winter and autumn, the main potential source areas with high weighted PSCF values were located in the eastern regions of Kazakhstan, northern Xinjiang, and western Mongolia. These areas contributed the highest PM2.5 concentrations from 25 to 40 µg/m3 and PM10 concentrations from 30 to 60 µg/m3 in these seasons. In spring and summer, the potential source areas with the high weighted PSCF values were distributed in eastern Kazakhstan, northern Xinjiang, the border between northeast Kazakhstan, and southern Russia. These areas contributed the highest PM2.5 concentrations from 10 to 20 µg/m3 and PM10 concentrations from 20 to 60 µg/m3 in these seasons.
Highlights
With the deterioration of air quality, the environmental effects of particulate matter (PM) have become one of the leading scientific issues in global climate change and ecosystems in the past few decades [1,2,3,4,5]
We identified the main potential source regions of PM2.5 and PM10 at Akedala Station in different seasons from January 2017 to December 2019, combining hourly PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations using the potential source contribution function (PSCF) and concentration-weight trajectory (CWT) methods
The number of days exceeding the limit of the Class I standard of the CAAQS [47] was 38 days for PM2.5 and 39 days for PM10 daily mean concentrations, and those days accounted for the 7.7% contribution to PM mean values
Summary
With the deterioration of air quality, the environmental effects of particulate matter (PM) have become one of the leading scientific issues in global climate change and ecosystems in the past few decades [1,2,3,4,5]. Many studies have concluded that PM2.5 (PM with an aerodynamic diameter less than or equal to 2.5 μm) and PM10 (PM with an aerodynamic diameter less than or equal to 10 μm) are important pollutants directly emitted into the atmosphere from anthropogenic and natural sources or are formed from secondary processes [6,7,8], which may severely affect human health at the surface level. Desert dust, which is of natural origin, can be spread over long distances by the upper airflow, which impacts air quality over a wide range from arid and semi-arid regions [14]. PM10 emitted into the air in desert areas from North Africa affected the atmospheric environment of Central Spain, but the whole Iberian Peninsula, other parts of Europe, and even America [15,16]
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