Resuspension of settled atmospheric particulate matter on plant leaves determined by wind and leaf surface characteristics

Abstract

Atmospheric particulate matter (APM) is temporarily settled on the leaf surface of plants and will return to the air via the resuspension process under certain meteorological conditions. How leaf surface characteristics affect the resuspension of settled APM on the leaf surface has been rarely studied. Therefore, the resuspension of APM after settling on plant leaves was analyzed using four common urban greening species, including Prunus triloba, Platanus acerifolia, Lonicera maackii, and Cercis chinensis. The results show that the leaf hair density has a significantly positive correlation with the maximum particulate matter (PM) retention and natural PM retention (p < 0.05). Under the same wind speed, the proportions of the resuspended PM that settled on the leaf surfaces of the four plant species increase with the wind blowing time. During the same wind blowing time, the resuspension rate of the settled PM on leaf surfaces of P. triloba, P. acerifolia, and L. maackii increase with the wind speed. The leaf hair and stomatal density is negatively correlated to the resuspension rate of PM under the wind speed of 1 m s-1 (p < 0.05), and the stomatal density is also negatively correlated to the resuspension rate of PM under the wind speed of 5 m s-1 for 10 min or 20 min (p < 0.05). However, as the wind speed further increase, the leaf characteristics are no longer correlated to the resuspension rate of PM (p > 0.05). These results indicate that when the wind force (wind speed + wind blowing time) is small, the stomatal density and leaf hair density have a significant effect on APM resuspension. When the wind force is large, the influence of leaf surface structure on APM resuspension becomes less profound. APM resuspension is comprehensively affected by the external wind and the leaf surface characteristics, and these two factors jointly determine the fate of the PM after it settles on leaves.