Observation and Research on the Typical Atmosphere of Beijing Olympic Games by Optical Remote Sensing

Abstract

The 29th Olympic and Paralympics Games were held from August 8th to September 17th, 2008 in China’s capital – Beijing. Air quality is a critical concern to China and the world. To ensure good air quality during the Olympic Games, Beijing Municipal Government and the Environmental Protection Agency of China launched a program called “Air Quality Guarantee Plan for the 29th Olympics in Beijing (AQGP)”. The period starting from July 1st, 2008 marked an intensified endeavour to improve Beijing's air quality by shutting down heavy polluters. 3.3 million motor vehicles were removed from city streets on alternate days, depending on whether the license plate ended in an odd or even number during the period of July 20th to Sep. 20th, 2008 (the alternative day-driving scheme). At the same time, the adjacent cities and provinces also did their best to close major polluters that may have influence on the air quality of Beijing. The exceptional strict pollution control measures have hugely reduced the source emissions, making a green Olympic Games achievable. Beijing's air quality has witnessed significant improvements due to enhanced pollution control efforts and new environment criteria. Beijing's air quality was intensively monitored by environment protection authorities and research institutions before, during, and after the Olympic Games. The rich scientific data collected during the period have become solid evidences for judging the impact of exposure to air pollution on human health. To evaluate the effectiveness of the AQGP program, Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Agency led a plan named “Assessment of AQGP and Air quality Monitoring, Forecasting and Early Warning”. There are numerous publications (Cermak & Knutti, 2009; Huang et al., 2010; Y. Li et al., 2010; X. G. Liu et al., 2009; Mijling et al., 2009; Shao et al., 2009; Shen et al., 2011; Shou-bin et al., 2009; Simonich, 2009; Streets et al., 2007; X. Y. Tang et al., 2009; W. T. Wang et al., 2009; Westerdahl et al., 2009; Yao et al., 2009) to now on evaluation of these pollution measures. Hou. et. al. (Hou et al., 2010) measured the levels of Beijing residents' exposure to PM10 during three different time periods. Their study showed that during the Olympic Games, population-weighted PM10 exposure came down by 46% and 19%, respectively, compared with the pre-OG and the post-OG periods, indicating that in addition to favourable weather