Response of Harbin aerosol to latest clean air actions in China

Abstract

Cities in Northeast China, e.g., Harbin, were brought to the forefront of air pollution control by a national-level policy promulgated in 2021, i.e., the Circular on Further Promoting the Pollution Prevention and Control Battle (the FP3CB Circular) which aimed at eliminating heavy or severe air pollution events. In this study, we explored the response of Harbin aerosol to the FP3CB Circular, based on observational results from two campaigns conducted during 2020–2021 and 2021–2022. A clear decreasing trend was identified for the impact of domestic biomass burning between the two winters, presumably driven by the clean heating actions. The 2021–2022 winter was also characterized by reduced formation of secondary organic aerosol but enhanced production of nitrate, which could be attributed to the less humid conditions but higher temperatures, respectively, compared to the 2020–2021 winter. The overall effect of these changes was a decrease in the contribution of organic species to wintertime aerosol in Harbin. In addition, the number of heavy or severe pollution days rebounded in the 2021–2022 winter compared to 2020–2021 (5 vs. 3), indicating that the emissions of primary particles and gaseous precursors must be further reduced to achieve the ambitious goals of the FP3CB Circular.