Typical Haze Episode Research Articles

Strict control of biomass burning inhibited particulate matter nitrate pollution over Tianjin: Perspective from dual isotopes of nitrate

Although nitrate (NO3−) has more importance to haze formation in the North China Plain, extensive research mainly aimed at a typical haze episode or season to explore its formation mechanisms and sources. This study aimed to better understand the formation mechanisms and sources of NO3− and their seasonal variations based on a one-year continuous sample observation at Tianjin. The water-soluble ions, δ15N–NO3− and δ18O–NO3− values were determined in PM2.5 samples collected from September 1, 2017 to August 31, 2018 in Tianjin. The results showed that NO3− was the most predominant water-soluble species and promoted the rapid accumulation of PM2.5. Both δ15N and δ18O of NO3− showed higher values in winter than in summer. The Bayesian mixing model was applied to quantify the formation pathways and sources of NO3− based on the NO3− dual-isotope of PM2.5. The model results revealed that homogeneous oxidation and heterogeneous processes contributed equally to producing NO3− in Tianjin. The heterogeneous contribution to NO3− increased from 34.6% in summer to 66.0% in winter, from 48.0% during clean days to 79.0% during heavily polluted days. The contribution fractions of biomass burning (BB), coal combustion (CC), biogenic soil emissions (SE), and vehicle emissions (VE) to NO3− of PM2.5 in Tianjin were 34.2 ± 21.6%, 24.5 ± 14.6%, 10.7 ± 7.6%, and 30.6 ± 18.1%, respectively. In addition, the contribution of CC was 42.6 ± 13.6% during the heating periods, while the fractional contribution of BB to NO3− exceeded CC during pollution days and heavy pollution days. The results highlighted that, in addition to controlling CC in winter, we should also pay more attention to preventing and controlling NOx emissions from BB for whole years in Tianjin.

Aqueous secondary organic aerosol formation attributed to phenols from biomass burning

Biomass burning emits large quantities of phenols, which readily partition into the atmospheric aqueous phase and subsequently may react to produce aqueous secondary organic aerosol (aqSOA). For the first time, we quantitatively explored the influence of phenols emitted from biomass burning on aqSOA formation in the winter of Beijing. A typical haze episode associated with significant aqSOA formation was captured. During this episode, aqueous-phase processing of biomass burning promoted aqSOA formation was identified. Furthermore, high-resolution mass spectrum analysis provided molecular-level evidence of the phenolic aqSOA tracers. Estimation of aqSOA formation rate (RaqSOA) with compiled laboratory kinetic data indicated that biomass-burning phenols can efficiently produce aqSOA at midday, with RaqSOA of 0.42 μg m−3 h−1 accounting for 15 % of total aqSOA formation rate. The results highlight that aqSOA formation of phenols contributes the haze pollution. This implies the importance of regional joint control of biomass burning to mitigate the heavy haze.

Wavelet periodic and compositional characteristics of atmospheric PM2.5 in a typical air pollution event at Jinzhong city, China

To investigate the contributions of atmospheric particulate matter less than 2.5 μm in aerodynamic diameter (PM2.5) to heavy air pollution events in Fen-Wei Plain, China and identify their sources, a combination of wavelet analysis and low-atomic number (Z) particle electron probe X-ray microanalysis (EPMA) was utilized in a typical haze episode lasting 10 days (from Nov. 11 to 20, 2016) at Jinzhong, an inland city adjacent to Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi Province. A 3-layer wavelet decomposition filtration was performed using the daubechies wavelet functions (db6) and the distribution of the real wavelet transformation coefficients and variance of wavelet series for various pollutants within 240 h was plotted. Five dominant periods of PM2.5 in mass concentration were observed, peaking at 101 h, 144 h, 50–51 h, 27–28 h, and 18 h in sequence from high to low in the wavelet variance chart. They were similar to those of PM10, SO2, and CO and partially overlapped with those of NO2, but different from those of O3, implying that PM2.5 have the same sources as PM10, SO2, and CO and have complicated relations with O3 and NO2. It was further found that the chemical compositions of PM2.5 in the dominant periods made great changes compared to the non-dominant periods. The relative number abundance of elemental carbon (EC) and droplets rich in CNOS (likely the mixture of carbonaceous matter with secondary aerosols such as NH4NO3 and (NH4)2SO4/NH4HSO4) in the first and second dominant period were significantly higher than that in other periods. It is concluded that coal and biomass combustion and secondary particles are still the main contributors to the wintertime heavy air pollution events in Fen-Wei Plain, suggesting that the wavelet analysis combined with low-Z particle EPMA is useful in examination of atmospheric particulate matter's origin, evolution, and roles played in haze events.

Spatial Distribution and Formation Mechanism of Water-soluble Inorganic Ions in PM2.5 During a Typical Winter Haze Episode in Guilin, China.

A 5-day PM2.5 sampling campaign was conducted during a typical haze episode from December 16 to 20, 2016, at five urban sites and one background site in Guilin, a famous tourist city in Southern China. A total of 30 PM2.5 samples were collected, and water-soluble inorganic ions (WSII) (SO42-, NO3-, NH4+, Ca2+, K+, Cl-, Na+, and Mg2+) were determined using ion chromatography. Correlation analysis, principal component analysis, and coefficient of divergence were applied to identify the formation mechanisms of secondary inorganic ions, potential sources, and spatial distribution of WSII. The average mass concentrations of PM2.5 at each sampling site were 71.6-127.85μgm-3, which were more than the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (GB3095-2012, GradeII (35μgm-3)) in China. SO42- NO3-, and NH4+ were the major WSII, accounting for 34.43-40.59% of PM2.5 mass. NO3-/SO42- ratio revealed that stationary sources-induced PM2.5 was still remarkable. Cl-/Na+ ratio and their strong correlation (r = 0.824) indicated that atmospheric transport from outside urban region played an effective role during the haze episode. Spatial variations of WSII are not pronounced at five urban sites except the background site. High relative humidity and O3 contributed to evidently influence the transformation of SO2 to SO42- but not obvious to NOx oxidation. Finally, the major sources of WSII are identified as the mixture of sea salt, coal combustion, biomass burning, vehicle exhaust and agricultural emissions (66.892%), and fugitive sources (19.7%).

Rayleigh based concept to track NOx emission sources in urban areas of China

Despite the implementation of some effective measures to control emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx = NO + NO2) in recent years, the ambient NOx concentration in urban cities of China remains high. Therefore, a quantitative understanding of NOx emission sources is critical to developing effective mediation policies. In the present study, the dual isotopic compositions of nitrate (p-NO3−) in fine-particle aerosol (PM2.5) collected daily at a regional scale (Beijing-Tianjin-Shijiazhuang) were measured to better constrain the NOx emission sources. The specific focus was on a typical haze episode that occurred simultaneously in the three urban cities (October 22–29, 2017). It was found that the nitrogen isotopic values of nitrate in PM2.5 (hereafter as δ15N-NO3−) ranged widely from −3.1‰ to + 11.4‰, with a mean value of 3.5 ± 3.7‰. Furthermore, a negative relationship between the δ15N-NO3− values and the corresponded p-NO3− concentrations during the haze period was observed. This implied the preferential formation of 15N-enriched NO3− into a fine-particle aerosol. Taking a different approach to previous publications, the Rayleigh fractionation model was used to characterize the initial isotopic signatures of ambient NOx. After accounting for the δ15N difference between p-NO3− and the source NOx, the estimated initial δ15N-NOx ranged from −20‰ to 0‰, which indicated a cosniderable contribution of non-fossil fuel emissions. The individual contributions of potential sources were further quantified using the Bayesian mixing model, revealing that NOx from coal or natural gas combustion, vehicle exhausts, biomass burning, and the microbial activity contributed 17.9 ± 11.4%, 29.4 ± 19.6%, 29.1 ± 18.9% and 23.5 ± 12.7% to NO3− in PM2.5, respectively. These results highlighted that tightening controls of gaseous NOx emissions from non-fossil sources may represent an opportunity to mitigate PM2.5 pollution in urban cities of China.

Characterization of individual particles and meteorological conditions during the cold season in Zhengzhou using a single particle aerosol mass spectrometer

To investigate the formation of haze during the cold season, continuous ambient air measurements were taken at an urban site in Zhengzhou from October 10, 2016 through December 31, 2016 using a single particle aerosol mass spectrometer. In total, 4,099,800 particles were analyzed and classified into eight major particle types: elemental carbon (EC, 36.7%), organic carbon (OC, 30.0%), ECOC (8.6%), K-rich (13.0%), levoglucosan (1.2%), metal (2.2%), NH4-K (2.1%), and dust (6.2%). By combining these measurements with correlation analysis and wind data, particle sources were determined to be vehicles, industrial emissions, coal combustion, biomass burning, secondary aerosols, agriculture, and dust. Additionally, analysis of mixing states indicated that particles underwent substantial aging and secondary OC particles were dominant OC species. Temporal profiles of meteorological parameters, mixing states, and particle types during a typical haze episode revealed that EC and OC particles were dominant components during haze formation, and a northeastern transport route (Anyang-Zhengzhou and Puyang-Xuchang) for OC particles was identified by potential source contribution function and concentration weighted trajectory analysis. Relatively higher humidity and lower temperature favored the formation of secondary inorganic aerosol. Wind direction and speed determined the transport, formation, and elimination of stagnant weather conditions.In sum, heavy haze during the cold season in Zhengzhou was observed due to extensive aerosol aging under adverse weather conditions (i.e., northeastern wind direction, wind speed <2 m s−1, temperature < 10 °C, relative humidity >60%, temperature inversion, and uniform pressure field).

Characteristics and Sources of Heavy Metals in PM2.5 during a Typical Haze Episode in Rural and Urban Areas in Taiyuan, China

PM2.5 samples were collected in the rural and urban areas of Taiyuan, China during a typical haze episode and the heavy metals (Cr, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Cd and Pb) in PM2.5 were analyzed. The haze was characterized by start-up stage with a daily mean PM2.5 of 149.34 ± 52.33 and 146.73 ± 18.96 μg m−3 in the rural and urban sites, respectively, a peak stage (288.20 ± 12.43 and 323.44 ± 5.23 μg m−3), and a weakening stage (226.59 ± 12.43 and 195.60 ± 2.93 μg m−3). The concentrations of PM2.5 in the rural and urban sites in the peak stage were 5.9 and 5.5 times higher than those in the normal stage, respectively. The order of concentrations of heavy metals in PM2.5 at the rural and urban sites were the same and are listed as follows: Zn &gt; Pb &gt; Mn &gt; Cr &gt; Cu &gt; Ni &gt; Cd &gt; As. Pb at the rural site, As at the urban site, and Cd at the both sites failed to meet the air quality standard. The concentrations of Pb and Zn were higher at the rural site than those at the urban site. Principal component analysis indicated that the main sources of heavy metals for the rural area were raw coal combustion and soil/road dust, and for the urban area were coal combustion/industrial emissions, road/soil dust, and vehicle emissions/oil combustion.

Characteristics of the Size Distribution of Water-soluble Ions During a Heavy Pollution Episode in the Winter in Tianjin

To characterize the size distribution of water-soluble inorganic ions (WSⅡ) during a heavy pollution episode, particle samples were collected by an Andersen cascade sampler in Tianjin in January 2014, and the concentrations of eight WSⅡ (Na+, NH4+, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, Cl-, NO3-, and SO42-) during a typical haze episode were analyzed by ion chromatography. The sources and formation mechanisms of WSⅡ were analyzed based on their size distributions. The results showed that the daily average concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 were (138±100) μg·m-3 and (227±142) μg·m-3, respectively, and the average concentration of total WSⅡ concentrations (TWSⅡ) in the coarse and fine particles were (34.07+6.16) μg·m-3 and (104.16+51.76) μg·m-3, respectively. The concentrations of SO42-, NO3-, and NH4+ in the fine particles were much higher than concentrations of the other ions, and there were strong correlations between these three ions. The TWSⅡ on clear days, light pollution days, and heavy pollution days were (41.55±12.41) μg·m-3, (94.46±31.19) μg·m-3, and (147.55±27.76) μg·m-3, respectively. On clear days, SO42- showed a unimodal distribution, peaking at 0.43-0.65 μm; and NO3- showed a trimodal distribution, peaking at 0.43-0.65 μm, 2.1-3.3 μm, and 5.8-9.0 μm. NH4+ had a bimodal distribution, peaking at 0.43-0.65 μm and 4.7-5.8 μm. On heavy pollution days, however, the size distributions of these three secondary inorganic ions switched to a unimodal size distribution, peaking at 0.65-1.1 μm. Unimodal NH4+ mainly coexisted with SO42- and NO3-, and the excess NH4+ was found to be combined with Cl- in the fine particles. In the coarse particles, NH4+ completely coexisted with SO42- and NO3-.

Regional pollution and its formation mechanism over North China Plain: A case study with ceilometer observations and model simulations

AbstractTo investigate regional haze formation, ceilometer observations at the Beijing (BJ), Shijiazhuang (SJZ), Tianjin (TJ), and Qinhuangdao (QHD) stations were conducted from 12 October to 10 November 2014, to obtain the boundary layer height (BLH) and the attenuated backscattering coefficients (ABC). Particles at the four stations were highly correlated, whereas precursors of particles exhibited weaker correlations. By analyzing the typical haze episode between 21 and 26 October 2014, we found that warm advection at a height of 850 hPa from the Loess Plateau caused a gradual decline in the regional BLH. Moreover, water vapor transported from the southern NCP caused the column water vapor amount to increase from 0.015 kg m−2 to 0.042 kg m−2 in the boundary layer in BJ. As southerly transport prevailed during the transition period, ABC profiles in the BJ, TJ, and QHD stations showed a bilayer pattern, and the second layer was between 500 and 1000 m. As a result, the ABC integrations of BJ and TJ increased by 74.2 and 139.7%, respectively. During the polluted period, due to the weakened transport effect, the ABC integrations of the four stations decreased by 7.9, 18.2, 16.2, and 28.2%, respectively. Contributions of the secondary inorganic species (sulfate, nitrate, and ammonium) at BJ increased from 37.3% to 56.9%, and the mean particle size increased from 107.8 nm to 140.8 nm. Emissions in southern NCP should be mitigated during the transition period, whereas the inorganic precursors are the most important air pollutants during the polluted period.

Characteristics of the Size Distribution of Water Soluble Inorganic Ions During a Typical Haze Pollution in the Autumn in Shijiazhuang

To characterize the size distribution of water soluble inorganic ions (WSⅡ) in haze days, particle samples were collected by an Andersen cascade impactor in Shijiazhuang from October 15 to November 14 in 2013, and the concentrations of eight kinds of WSⅡ (Na+, NH4+, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, Cl-, NO3-and SO42-) during a typical haze episode were analyzed by ion chromatography. Sources and formation mechanism of WSⅡ were analyzed based on their size distributions. The results showed that Shijiazhuang suffers serious air pollution during the autumn season. The daily average concentrations of PM10and PM2.5were (361.2±138.7) μg·m-3 and (175.6±87.2) μg·m-3 and the daily average concentration of PM2.5was 2.3 times as high as the national secondary standard. The total water soluble inorganic ion concentrations (TWSⅡ) in clean days, light haze days and heavy haze days were(64.4±4.6)μg·m-3, (109.9±22.0)μg·m-3 and (212.9±50.1) μg·m-3 respectively. In addition, the ratio of secondary inorganic ions (SNA:SO42-, NO3- and NH4+) in TWSⅡ increased from 44.9% to 77.6% as changed from clean days to the heavy haze days, suggesting the evolution of haze episodes mainly originated from the formation and accumulation of SNA. The size distributions of SO42-, NO3- and NH4+ were bimodal in clean days, peaking at 0.43 -0.65 μm and 4.7-5.8 μm, respectively, which changed to unimodal distribution in both the light and heavy haze days, peaking at 0.65-1.1 μm. Owing to high humidity during the heavy haze days, the aqueous phase reactions of SO42- and NO3- were likely promoted, which led to the transformation of condensation mode in clean days to the droplet mode in haze days. The size distributions of Na+, Mg2+ and Ca2+ were different with that of SNA, which showed a coarse mode peaking at 4.7-5.8 μm both in clean and haze days, whereas K+and Cl- showed a bimodal distribution both in clean and haze days, although the modal size was different in clean and haze days.

Multifractal Processes and Self-Organized Criticality of PM2.5 during a Typical Haze Period in Chengdu, China

Scaling and multifractal properties of the hourly PM2.5 average concentration series at the four air monitoring stations of Chengdu (southwestern China) were explored by using a multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis method, during a typical haze episode (from 1 March to 17 March, 2013). Using shuffling procedure and phase randomization procedure, the major sources of multifractality in these PM2.5 series are studied. The results show that the multifractality nature of PM2.5 series is mainly due to long-range correlation. At the same time, the non-Gaussian probability distributions also partly contribute to the multifractal behaviour. The scale-free power laws behaviours are found to govern the cumulative distributions statistics for PM2.5 concentration fluctuations. The temporal evolutions of the multifractality were investigated by the approach of a sliding window. Further, we attempt to find the answers to the following questions: how does longrange correlation and power-law distribution in PM2.5 evolution emerge? It is inviting to do it in a self-organized criticality (SOC) framework, which was specially designed to model the dynamics of complex systems. A novel PM2.5 evolution model is developed on the bases of SOC theory. The model displays robust power law behaviour in certain dynamical region. The self-organized criticality properties of PM2.5 evolution are discussed. This SOC behaviour is related to a statistically steady state that implies the presence of long-range correlation and power-law distribution in PM2.5 evolution during the haze period. It is the stability of SOC that causes the haze period to be sustained for a long time in Chengdu.

Pollution Characteristics of PM2.5 during a Typical Haze Episode in Xiamen, China

In this study, mass concentrations and chemical compositions of fine particles, mass concentrations of coarse particles, light extinction, and meteorological parameters in the atmosphere ofXiamenwere presented and analyzed to study the chemical and optical characteristics of a typical haze episode from Dec 25, 2010 to Jan 1, 2011. The major chemical compositions of PM2.5, such as water soluble inorganic ions (WSIIs), carbonaceous fractions (mainly composed of organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC)), and elements were determined. The results showed that with the typical haze episode process, the concentrations of PM2.5 mass, WSIIs, OC, EC, and TE first increased and then decreased. The average concentrations of PM2.5 mass in the stages of Before Haze, During Haze, and After Haze were (88.80 ± 19.97), (135.41 ± 36.20), and (96.35 ± 36.26) μg/m3, respectively. The corresponding average concentrations of secondary organic carbon (SOC) were 6.72, 8.18, and 10.39 μg/m3, accounting for 46.5%, 27.0%, and 61.0% of OC, respectively. S42- , NO3-, and NH4+ were three major WSIIs species, accounting for 31.4%, 26.0%, and 12.1% of total WSIIs. The major elements in PM2.5 were S, K, Fe, Zn, Pb, Ti, and Mn, covering 97.9% of the total elements, while the percentage of the other ten elements was only 2.1%. The average value of light extinction coefficients (bext) was 371.0 ±147.1 Mm-1 during the typical haze episode. The average percentage contributions to bext were 39.3% for organic mass, 19.9% for elemental carbon, 16.0% for ammonium sulfate, 13.0% for coarse mass, and 11.8% for ammonium nitrate.

Gravity-Current Driven Transport of Haze from North China Plain to Northeast China in Winter 2010-Part I: Observations

Haze exerts a large effect on visibility reduction and has serious impacts on air quality and human health. Understanding the sources and transport of haze is of importance to improve the regional air quality and evaluate its health effects. In this study, we investigated a typical haze episode that occurred in northeast (NE) China during 4-6 November 2010 by analyzing the ground PM10 measurements from 11 monitoring sites, aerosol Lidar observations, synoptic charts, MODIS satellite imageries, and back trajectories. Our analyses suggest that the regional haze formed in the North China Plain (NCP) under stagnant conditions can be transported to NE China in ∼1-3 days across Bohai Bay and Liaodong Bay - a typical transport pathway associated with the topography of northern China. The haze episode appeared to evolve progressively from southwest to northeast in the region of NE China, in agreement with the appearance of PM10 peak values, wind patterns, MODIS images and the back trajectories of air masses. Due to the haze impact, NE China showed significantly elevated particulate matter pollution by a factor of ∼4-6 with the peak concentrations reaching ∼410 μg m-3. The results together indicate that the regional transport from the NCP has a significant contribution to the PM pollution in NE China, thus efforts to control the source emissions over the NCP would be effective to improve the air quality in NE China.

Characteristics of particulate PAHs during a typical haze episode in Guangzhou, China

The concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in PM 2.5 and TSP were measured in Guangzhou during a typical haze episode. This episode included NH (non-haze, 3 days), HFN (haze when air masses from north and northeast, 6 days) and HFS (haze when air masses from south, 4 days). The air quality in HFN was much worse than that in NH and HFS. The total average concentrations of PAHs in PM 2.5 were 13.25 ng m −3, 59.82 ng m −3 and 13.09 ng m −3 in NH, HFN and HFS, respectively. It indicated PAH pollution had been substantially aggravated by HFN. PAHs(5 + 6) were the most abundant compounds in HFN and HFS, which accounted for 55–75% of total concentration of PAHs, while PAHs(3 + 4) were the most abundant compounds in NH, which accounted for 54–67% of total concentration of PAHs. TEF (Toxic Equivalency Factors)-adjusted concentrations of 13 particulate PAHs were very high in HFN, indicating high health risks to humans for PAH exposure in HFN. The characteristic ratios of PAHs indicated coal combustion and traffic emission were the major contributors to PAHs in HFN and HFS. The concentrations of particulate PAHs in haze episode were strongly affected by wind speed and wind direction. PAHs in NH could be from long-range transport with high north wind speed, while local emission could be the main contributor of particle-associated PAHs in HFN. The transport speed of air masses was found to play an important role on PAH concentrations.

Characterisation of individual aerosol particles collected during a haze episode in Incheon, Korea using the quantitative ED-EPMA technique

Abstract. A quantitative energy-dispersive electron probe X-ray microanalysis (ED-EPMA), called low-Z particle EPMA, was used to analyse individual aerosol particles collected in Incheon, Korea on 13–18 October 2008 (a typical haze episode occurred from 15 to 18 October). Overall 3600 individual particles in PM2.5-10 and PM1.0-2.5 fractions from 12 aerosol samples collected on haze and non-haze days were analysed. The analysed particles were classified, based on their X-ray spectral data together with their secondary electron images. The major particle types included organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC), sea-salt, mineral dust (such as aluminosilicate, SiO2, CaCO3/CaMgCO3, etc.), (NH4)2SO4/NH4HSO4-containing, K-containing, Fe-rich and fly ash particles. Their relative number abundance results showed that OC particles were significantly increased while sea-salts and mineral dust particles were significantly decreased (especially in PM1.0-2.5 fraction) when haze occurred. For the other particle types (except Fe-rich particles in PM2.5-10 fraction), there were no significant differences in their relative abundances between haze and non-haze samples. On non-haze days, the nitrate-containing reacted sea-salt and mineral dust particles in PM1.0-2.5 fraction significantly outnumbered the sulfate-containing ones, whereas it was the reverse on haze days, implying that on haze days there were special sources or formation mechanisms for fine aerosol particles (≤2.5 μm in aerodynamic diameter). The emission of air pollutants from motor vehicles and stagnant meteorological conditions, such as low wind speed and high relative humidity, might be responsible for the elevated level of OC particles on haze days.

Chemical characteristics of PM 2.5 during a typical haze episode in Guangzhou

The chemical characteristics (water-soluble ions and carbonaceous species) of PM 2.5 in Guangzhou were measured during a typical haze episode. Most of the chemical species in PM 2.5 showed significant difference between normal and haze days. The highest contributors to PM 2.5 were organic carbon (OC), nitrate, and sulfate in haze days and were OC, sulfate, and elemental carbon (EC) in normal days. The concentrations of secondary species such as, NO 3 −, SO 4 2−, and NH 4 + in haze days were 6.5, 3.9, and 5.3 times higher than those in normal days, respectively, while primary species (EC, Ca 2+, K +) show similar increase from normal to haze days by a factor about 2.2–2.4. OC/EC ratio ranged from 2.8 to 6.2 with an average of 4.7 and the estimation on a minimum OC/EC ratio showed that SOC (secondary organic carbon) accounted more than 36.6% for the total organic carbon in haze days. The significantly increase in the secondary species (SOC, NO 3 −, SO 4 2−, and NH 4 +), especially in NO 3 −, caused the worst air quality in this region. Simultaneously, the result illustrated that the serious air pollution in haze episodes was strongly correlated with the meteorological conditions. During the sampling periods, air pollution and visibility had a good relationship with the air mass transport distance; the shorter air masses transport distance, the worse air quality and visibility in Guangzhou, indicating the strong domination of local sources contributing to haze formation. High concentration of the secondary aerosol in haze episodes was likely due to the higher oxidation rates of sulfur and nitrogen species.