Abstract
Air pollution has aroused significant public concern in China, therefore, long-term air-quality data with high temporal and spatial resolution are needed to understand the variations of air pollution in China. However, the yearly variations with high spatial resolution of air quality and six air pollutants are still unknown for China until now. Therefore, in this paper, we analyze the spatial and temporal variations of air quality and six air pollutants in 366 cities across mainland China during 2015–2017 for the first time to the best of our knowledge. The results indicate that the annual mean mass concentrations of PM2.5, PM10, SO2, and CO all decreased year by year during 2015–2017. However, the annual mean NO2 concentrations were almost unchanged, while the annual mean O3 concentrations increased year by year. Anthropogenic factors were mainly responsible for the variations of air quality. Further analysis suggested that PM2.5 and PM10 were the main factors influencing air quality, while NO2 played an important role in the formation of PM2.5 and O3. These findings can provide a theoretical basis for the formulation of future air-pollution control policy in China.
Highlights
Air pollution has aroused significant public concern in China, long-term air-quality data with high temporal and spatial resolution are needed to understand the variations of air pollution in China
Further analysis suggested that PM2.5 and PM10 were the main factors influencing air quality, while NO2 played an important role in the formation of PM2.5 and O3
Since new stricter environmental protection laws were put into place and enforced in China beginning on January 1, 2015, the air quality has been greatly improved based on an air quality index (AQI) decrease of 10.0% in 2017 compared with that in 2015, and the annual mean mass concentrations of PM2.5, PM10, SO2, and CO all decreased year by year during 2015–2017
Summary
Air pollution has aroused significant public concern in China, long-term air-quality data with high temporal and spatial resolution are needed to understand the variations of air pollution in China. The yearly variations with high spatial resolution of air quality and six air pollutants are still unknown for China until now. The results indicate that the annual mean mass concentrations of PM2.5, PM10, SO2, and CO all decreased year by year during 2015–2017. Further analysis suggested that PM2.5 and PM10 were the main factors influencing air quality, while NO2 played an important role in the formation of PM2.5 and O3 These findings can provide a theoretical basis for the formulation of future air-pollution control policy in China. A number of studies have reported temporal and spatial variations of gaseous and particulate matter pollutants in China[9,10,11], but most of them were limited only to a single city or air pollutant[12]. Wang et al.[7] indicated that
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