Oscillation cumulative volatile organic compounds on the northern edge of the North China Plain: Impact of mountain-plain breeze

Dan Yao; Guiqian Tang; Yinghong Wang; Yuan Yang; Yiming Wang; Yusi Liu; Miao Yu; Yuting Liu; Hao Yu; Jingda Liu; Bo Hu; Pucai Wang; Yuesi Wang

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.153541

Oscillation cumulative volatile organic compounds on the northern edge of the North China Plain: Impact of mountain-plain breeze

Sci Total Environ. 2022 May 15:821:153541. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.153541. Epub 2022 Jan 29.

Authors

Dan Yao¹, Guiqian Tang², Yinghong Wang³, Yuan Yang³, Yiming Wang³, Yusi Liu⁴, Miao Yu⁴, Yuting Liu⁵, Hao Yu⁶, Jingda Liu⁷, Bo Hu³, Pucai Wang⁸, Yuesi Wang⁹

Affiliations

¹ School of Environment, Key Laboratory for Yellow River and Huai River Water Environment and Pollution Control, Ministry of Education, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang 453007, China; State Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Physics and Atmospheric Chemistry, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Physics and Atmospheric Chemistry, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China; Center for Excellence in Regional Atmospheric Environment, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China. Electronic address: tgq@dq.cern.ac.cn.
³ State Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Physics and Atmospheric Chemistry, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing 100081, China.
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Physics and Atmospheric Chemistry, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
⁶ School of Environment, Key Laboratory for Yellow River and Huai River Water Environment and Pollution Control, Ministry of Education, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang 453007, China.
⁷ Wuxi Cas Photonics Co., Ltd, Wuxi 214135, China.
⁸ Key Laboratory of Middle Atmosphere and Global Environment Observation (LAGEO), Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China.
⁹ School of Environment, Key Laboratory for Yellow River and Huai River Water Environment and Pollution Control, Ministry of Education, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang 453007, China; State Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Physics and Atmospheric Chemistry, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China; Center for Excellence in Regional Atmospheric Environment, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen 361021, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.

PMID: 35101481
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.153541

Abstract

Under weak weather systems, pollutants circulate on plains and hillsides by means of oscillatory mountain-plain breezes (MPB). To investigate the impact of MPB on ambient volatile organic compounds (VOCs) on the northern edge of the North China Plain (NCP) region, synchronous online VOCs observations were first performed in the southwestern (Beijing, urban area) and northeastern (Xinglong, background area) of the dominant wind directions from September 11, 2020, to October 13, 2020. The results revealed that during the observation period, the average mixing ratios of TVOCs in Beijing and Xinglong were 32.5 ± 21.6 and 14.2 ± 8.6 ppbv, respectively, and a coincident temporal evolution trend of VOCs was observed at the two sites. Combined with the results of the backward trajectory, southerly air transport led to a significant increase in VOCs concentration, and southerly airflow was usually accompanied by apparent MPB circulation. Furthermore, the occurrence of MPB led to a sharp increase (1.5 times) in VOCs concentration in both Beijing and Xinglong. This study indicates that the periodic oscillation of the MPB leads to the large-scale pollution of "garbage out and garbage in", and the VOCs discharged by industry are the key to future control.

Keywords: Background area; Mountain-plain breeze; Urban area; Volatile organic compounds.

MeSH terms

Air Pollutants* / analysis
China
Environmental Monitoring / methods
Ozone* / analysis
Volatile Organic Compounds* / analysis
Wind

Substances

Air Pollutants
Volatile Organic Compounds
Ozone