Modeling the impacts of land use/land cover change on meteorology and air quality during 2000-2018 in the Yangtze River Delta region, China

Li Li; Ansheng Zhu; Ling Huang; Qing Wang; Yixiao Chen; Maggie Chel Gee Ooi; Min Wang; Yangjun Wang; Andy Chan

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154669

Modeling the impacts of land use/land cover change on meteorology and air quality during 2000-2018 in the Yangtze River Delta region, China

Sci Total Environ. 2022 Jul 10:829:154669. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154669. Epub 2022 Mar 18.

Authors

Li Li¹, Ansheng Zhu¹, Ling Huang¹, Qing Wang², Yixiao Chen³, Maggie Chel Gee Ooi⁴, Min Wang², Yangjun Wang⁵, Andy Chan⁶

Affiliations

¹ School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, China; Key Laboratory of Organic Compound Pollution Control Engineering (MOE), Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, China.
² Shanghai Academy of Environmental Sciences, Shanghai 200233, China.
³ Department of Civil Engineering, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Semenyih 43500, Selangor, Malaysia.
⁴ Institute of Climate Change (IPI), National University of Malaysia (UKM), 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.
⁵ School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, China; Key Laboratory of Organic Compound Pollution Control Engineering (MOE), Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, China. Electronic address: yjwang326@shu.edu.cn.
⁶ Department of Civil Engineering, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Semenyih 43500, Selangor, Malaysia. Electronic address: Andy.Chan@nottingham.edu.my.

PMID: 35314237
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154669

Abstract

The land use/land cover (LULC) change in the fast-developing city clusters of China exhibits impacts on both the meteorology and air quality. However, this effect, especially in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD), has not been well quantified. In this study, the LULC data are extracted from Landsat satellite imageries for year 2000 and 2018 for the YRD region. The Weather Research and Forecasting with Chemistry (WRF/Chem) model is applied to investigate the impact of historical LULC change on regional meteorology and air pollution over the YRD region during the past two decades. Two simulation scenarios are performed with two sets of LULC data to represent the pre-urbanization (LULC of year 2000) and the most recent urban pattern (LULC of year 2018). Results indicate that rapid urbanization leads to an increase of monthly mean 2-m temperature by 0.4-2.1 °C but decrease of the 10-m wind speed by 0.5-1.3 m/s in urban areas; the maximum increase of daytime planetary boundary layer height (PBLH) in July and November is 289 and 132 m, respectively. Affected by favorable changes in the meteorological conditions due to LULC change, the PM_2.5 concentrations in most urban areas show a decreasing trend, especially during the nighttime in summer. On the contrary, surface ozone (O₃) concentration in urban areas has increased by 7.2-9.8 ppb in summer and 1.9-2.1 ppb in winter. Changes in O₃ concentration are inversely proportional to changes in NO_x and the spatial distribution of PM_2.5. Areas with higher O₃ concentration are consistent with areas of higher temperature and lower wind speed. Our findings reveal that LULC changes during the past years bring observable changes in air pollutant concentrations, which should not be neglected in the YRD region regarding air quality trends as well as policy evaluations under the warming threat.

Keywords: Air quality; LULC change; Meteorology; Yangtze River Delta.

MeSH terms

Air Pollutants* / analysis
Air Pollution* / analysis
China
Environmental Monitoring / methods
Meteorology
Particulate Matter / analysis

Substances

Air Pollutants
Particulate Matter