An iteratively optimized downscaling method for city-scale air quality forecast emission inventory establishment.

Air quality models (AQMs) are pivotal in forecasting air quality and shaping pollution control strategies. Nonetheless, the effectiveness of AQMs is often compromised in many cities due to the absence of accurate local emission inventories. To address this gap, this study presents a novel AQM-ready emission inventory generation technique with iterative optimization ability for city-scale applications in China. An efficient emission processing tool was introduced in this study, which utilizes the High-Resolution Multi-resolution Emission Inventory for China (HR-MEIC) as input. Using environmental observations and a region map, the tool can justify emissions of different regions iteratively. With the iterative optimization method, the model performance can be notably improved even without local emissions. The optimization was realized by splitting model-ready emissions into different regions and adjusting the emissions using scale factors calculated with the modeling results and the observations of each region. This methodology was applied to the Eight Cities in the Chengdu Plain (CP8C), located in the western margin of Sichuan Basin with complex topography and meteorological conditions, southwestern China, monthly throughout 2023. Air quality modeling was carried out using Weather Forecast and Research Model (WRF) and the Community Multiscale Air Quality Model (CMAQ). The results showed that the optimization acquired a good performance after five cycles for PM2.5 and NO2, with correlation coefficients (R values) surging from 0.62 and 0.37 to 0.77 and 0.73, respectively, while their normalized mean bias (NMB) substantially decreased from 22.8 % and 100.4 % to 3.6 % and 3.3 %. The underestimation on O3 concentration was also improved by the optimization, although enhancements in O3 modeling remained modest. This technique provides an easy-to-copy method to generate reasonable AQM-ready emission files with open emission data and observation data, which would be beneficial for the cities' air quality forecast in cities without local emission inventories.

Ozone sensitivity regimes vary at different heights in the planetary boundary layer.

The sensitivity of tropospheric ozone (O3) to its precursors volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nitrogen oxides (NOX) determines the emission reduction strategy for O3 mitigation. Due to the lack of comprehensive vertical measurements of VOCs, the vertical distribution of O3 sensitivity regimes has not been well understood. O3 precursor sensitivity determined by ground-level measurements has been generally used to guide O3 control strategy. Here, to precisely diagnose O3 sensitivity regimes at different heights in the planetary boundary layer (PBL), we developed a vertical measurement system based on an unmanned aerial vehicle platform to conduct comprehensive vertical measurements of VOCs, NOX and other relevant parameters. Our results suggest that the O3 precursor sensitivity shifts from a VOC-limited regime at the ground to a NOX-limited regime at upper layers, indicating that the ground-level O3 sensitivity cannot represent the situation of the whole PBL. We also found that the state-of-the-art photochemical model tends to underestimate oxygenated VOCs at upper layers, resulting in overestimation of the degree of VOCs-limited regime. Therefore, thorough vertical measurements of VOCs to accurately diagnose O3 precursor sensitivity is in urgent need for the development of effective O3 control strategies.

Atmospheric Oxidation Capacity Elevated during 2020 Spring Lockdown in Chengdu, China: Lessons for Future Secondary Pollution Control.

This study presents the measurement of photochemical precursors during the lockdown period from January 23, 2020, to March 14, 2020, in Chengdu in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. To derive the lockdown impact on air quality, the observations are compared to the equivalent periods in the last 2 years. An observation-based model is used to investigate the atmospheric oxidation capacity change during lockdown. OH, HO2, and RO2 concentrations are simulated, which are elevated by 42, 220, and 277%, respectively, during the lockdown period, mainly due to the reduction in nitrogen oxides (NOx). However, the radical turnover rates, i.e., OH oxidation rate L(OH) and local ozone production rate P(O3), which determine the secondary intermediates formation and O3 formation, only increase by 24 and 48%, respectively. Therefore, the oxidation capacity increases slightly during lockdown, which is partly attributed to unchanged alkene concentrations. During the lockdown, alkene ozonolysis seems to be a significant radical primary source due to the elevated O3 concentrations. This unique data set during the lockdown period highlights the importance of controlling alkene emission to mitigate secondary pollution formation in Chengdu and may also be applicable in other regions of China given an expected NOx reduction due to the rapid transformation to electrified fleets in the future.

Atmospheric oxidation capacity and secondary pollutant formation potentials based on photochemical loss of VOCs in a megacity of the Sichuan Basin, China.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are significant precursors to photochemical pollution. However, reactive VOC species are easily oxidized during transportation, resulting in a systematic underestimate of the measured concentrations. To address this, we applied an improved calculation method to correct the measured VOC concentrations into photochemical initial concentrations (PICs) in Chengdu, a megacity in the Sichuan Basin, China, which is highly vulnerable to complex pollution. In this study, 56 VOC species on the Photochemical Assessment Monitor Station (PAMS) target list were quantitatively monitored throughout all four seasons. Comparing to directly measured values, photochemically initialized total mixing ratios of VOCs increased by 18.6 % in general. The photochemical loss percentages of alkenes and aromatics were prominent in summer (68.6 %, 28.7 %) and spring (65.9 %, 24.7 %), respectively. Furthermore, we examined contributions of VOCs to atmospheric oxidation capacity (AOC) depending on PICs and found that maximum daily total AOC showed a surge in spring and summer. Besides hydroxyl radicals, daytime O3 in spring and late-afternoon nitrate radicals in summer were essential for AOC with PICs. As expected, alkenes and aromatics dominated PIC-based ozone formation potentials (OFPs). Furthermore, contribution of alkenes to secondary organic aerosol formation potentials reached 15.5 % and 7.6 % in spring and summer, respectively. Using positive matrix factorization model, we identified five VOC sources including vehicular exhaust, industrial emissions, solvent usage, biogenic sources, and liquefied petroleum gas/natural gas use. Based on PICs, biogenic sources were significantly underestimated in spring and summer. Meanwhile, m,p-xylene from solvent usage and isoprene from biogenic sources were the primary contributors to OFPs. Consequently, these results emphasize the significance of photochemically oxidized VOC concentrations, especially for reactive species in typical seasons.

Primary sources of HONO vary during the daytime: Insights based on a field campaign.

Nitrous acid (HONO) is an established precursor of hydroxyl (OH) radical and has significant impacts on the formation of PM2.5 and O3. Despite extensive research on HONO observation in recent years, knowledge regarding its sources and sinks in urban areas remains inadequate. In this study, we monitored the atmospheric concentrations of HONO and related pollutants, including gaseous nitric acid and particulate nitrate, simultaneously at a supersite in downtown Chengdu, a megacity in southwestern China during spring, when was chosen due to its tolerance for both PM2.5 and O3 pollution. Furthermore, we employed the random forest model to fill the missing data of HONO, which exhibited good predictive performance (R2 = 0.96, RMSE = 0.36 ppbv). During this campaign, the average mixing ratio of HONO was measured to be 1.0 ± 0.7 ppbv. Notably, during periods of high O3 and PM2.5 concentrations, the mixing ratio of HONO was >50 % higher compared to the clean period. We developed a comprehensive parameterization scheme for the HONO budget, and it performed well in simulating diurnal variations of HONO. Based on the HONO budget analysis, we identified different mechanisms that dominate HONO formation at different times of the day. Vehicle emissions and NO2 heterogeneous conversions were found to be the primary sources of HONO during nighttime (21.0 %, 30.2 %, respectively, from 18:00 to 7:00 the next day). In the morning (7:00-12:00), NO2 heterogeneous conversions and the reaction of NO with OH became the main sources (35.0 %, 32.2 %, respectively). However, in the afternoon (12:00-18:00), the heterogeneous photolysis of HNO3 on PM2.5 was identified as the most substantial source of HONO (contributing 52.5 %). This study highlights the significant variations in primary HONO sources throughout the day.

Characteristics of ambient volatile organic compounds during spring O3 pollution episode in Chengdu, China.

Surface ozone (O3) has become a critical pollutant impeding air quality improvement in many Chinese megacities. Chengdu is a megacity located in Sichuan Basin in southwest China, where O3 pollution occurs frequently in both spring and summer. In order to understand the elevated O3 during spring in Chengdu, we conducted sampling campaign at three sites during O3 pollution episodes in April. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) compositions at each site were similar, and oxygenated VOCs (OVOCs) concentrations accounted for the highest proportion (35%-45%), followed by alkanes, alkens (including acetylene), halohydrocarbons, and aromatics. The sensitivity of O3 to its precursors was analyzed using an observation based box model. The relative incremental reactivity of OVOCs was larger than other precursors, suggesting that they also played the dominant role in O3 formation. Furthermore, the positive matrix factorization model was used to identify the dominant emission sources and to evaluate their contribution to VOCs in the city. The main sources of VOCs in spring were from combustion (27.75%), industrial manufacturing (24.17%), vehicle exhaust (20.35%), and solvent utilization (18.35%). Discussions on VOCs and NOx reduction schemes suggested that Chengdu was typical in the VOC-limited regime, and VOC emission reduction would help to prevent and control O3. The analysis of emission reduction scenarios based on VOCs sources showed that the emission reduction ratio of VOCs to NO2 needs to reach more than 3 in order to achieve O3 prevention. Emission reduction from vehicular exhaust source and solvent utilization source may be more effective.

Biogenic volatile organic compound emission patterns and secondary pollutant formation potentials of dominant greening trees in Chengdu, southwest China.

Integral to the urban ecosystem, greening trees provide many ecological benefits, but the active biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) they release contribute to the production of ozone and secondary organic aerosols, which harm ambient air quality. It is, therefore, necessary to understand the BVOC emission characteristics of dominant greening tree species and their relative contribution to secondary pollutants in various urban contexts. Consequently, this study utilized a dynamic enclosure system to collect BVOC samples of seven dominant greening tree species in urban Chengdu, Southwest China. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry was used to analyze the BVOC components and standardized BVOC emission rates of each tree species were then calculated to assess their relative potential to form secondary pollutants. We found obvious differences in the composition of BVOCs emitted by each species. Ficus virens displayed a high isoprene emission rate at 31.472 µgC/(gdw (g dry weight)•hr), while Cinnamomum camphora emitted high volumes of D-Limonene at 93.574 µgC/(gdw•hr). In terms of the BVOC emission rates by leaf area, C. camphora had the highest emission rate of total BVOCs at 13,782.59 µgC/(m2•hr), followed by Cedrus deodara with 5466.86 µgC/(m2•hr). Ginkgo biloba and Osmanthus fragrans mainly emitted oxygenated VOCs with lower overall emission rates. The high BVOC emitters like F. virens, C. camphora, and Magnolia grandiflora have high potential for significantly contributing to environmental secondary pollutants, so should be cautiously considered for future planting. This study provides important implications for improving urban greening efforts for subtropical Chinese urban contexts, like Chengdu.

[Sources Apportionment of Oxygenated Volatile Organic Compounds (OVOCs) in a Typical Southwestern Region in China During Summer].

Oxygenated volatile organic compounds (OVOCs) are important intermediates in the troposphere and the most important sources of ozone. Proton-transfer-reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometry (PTR-TOF-MS) was used to measure VOCs in the Chengdu Plain, Southwestern China. The diurnal variations, photochemical reactivity, O3 formation potential, and sources were also investigated. The mixing ratios of ten kinds of VOCs (acetaldehyde, acetone, isoprene, Methyl ethyl ketone, Methyl vinyl ketone and Methacrolein, benzene, toluene, styrene, C8 aromatics, and C9 aromatics) were (10.97±4.69)×10-9. The concentrations of OVOCs, aromatic hydrocarbons, and biogenic VOCs were (8.54±3.44)×10-9, (1.53±0.93)×10-9, and (0.90±0.32)×10-9, respectively. Isoprene, acetaldehyde, and m-xylene were the top three photochemically active species with the greatest O3 formation potentials. The dominant three OVOCs species (acetaldehyde, acetone, and MEK) were mainly derived from local biogenic sources and anthropogenic secondary sources, and acetone had a strong regional background level, indicating that pollution in this area is significantly affected by regional transmission. This study deepens the understanding of regional O3 formation mechanisms in southwest China and provides a basis for the scientifically informed control of O3 pollution.

Elucidating the effect of HONO on O3 pollution by a case study in southwest China.

Photolysis of nitrous acid (HONO) is one of the major sources for atmospheric hydroxyl radicals (OH), playing significant role in initiating tropospheric photochemical reactions for ozone (O3) production. However, scarce field investigations were conducted to elucidate this effect. In this study, a field campaign was conducted at a suburban site in southwest China. The whole observation was classified into three periods based on O3 levels and data coverage: the serious O3 pollution period (Aug 13-18 as P1), the O3 pollution period (Aug 22-28 as P2) and the clean period (Sep 3-12 as P3), with average O3 peak values of 96 ppb, 82 ppb and 44 ppb, respectively. There was no significant difference of the levels of O3 precursors (VOCs and NOx) between P1 and P2, and thus the evident elevation of OH peak values in P1 was suspected to be the most possible explanation for the higher O3 peak values. Considering the larger contribution of HONO photolysis to HOX primary production than photolysis of HCHO, O3 and ozonolysis of Alkenes, sensitivity tests of HONO reduction on O3 production rate in P1 are conducted by a 0-dimension model. Reduced HONO concentration effectively slows the O3 production in the morning, and such effect correlates with the calculated production rate of OH radicals from HONO photolysis. Higher HONO level supplying for OH radical initiation in the early morning might be the main reason for the higher O3 peak values in P1, which explained the correlation (R2 = 0.51) between average O3 value during daytime (10:00-19:00 LT) and average HONO value during early morning (00:00-05:00 LT). For nighttime accumulation, a suitable range of relative humidity that favored NO2 conversion within P1 was assumed to be the reason for the higher HONO concentration in the following early morning which promoted O3 peak values.

Temporal and spatial distribution characteristics and source origins of volatile organic compounds in a megacity of Sichuan Basin, China.

As important pollution gases and represented precursors of both ozone and second organic aerosol (SOA), the component characteristics, source origins, environmental health and emission control of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), are gaining more and more attention in Chinese megacities. In order to understand the concentration, composition and temporal and spatial distribution characteristics of VOCs in the atmosphere of Chengdu, a megacity located in Sichuan basin in southwest China, the offline sampling measurements of VOCs were carried out at 28 different field sites covering all the districts and counties of Chengdu during special periods from May 2016 to January 2017. Speciated VOCs measurement was performed by the GC-FID/MS, and 99 species were identified. The averaged total VOC mixing ratios of each sampling site were in the range from 35.03 to 180.57 ppbv. Based on these observational data, the distribution characteristics of VOCs in different months and different regions of Chengdu were clarified. The VOCs data were used to estimate the potential amount of ozone, secondary aerosol formation and health risk assessment in Chengdu. Furthermore, the positive matrix factorization (PMF) model was used to identify the dominant emission sources and evaluate their contribution to VOCs in the city. The two main sources of VOCs in Chengdu were motor vehicle exhaust and solvent utilization. These accounted for 43% of all emission sources. In the summertime, due to higher temperatures and stronger sunlight, the contribution of natural sources and secondary emissions were also relatively high, which were supported by the regional emission inventories. Finally, the controlling direction of VOCs and O3 pollution in Chengdu was discussed, and the VOCs pollution control strategy was proposed for the near future.

Understanding the sources and spatiotemporal characteristics of VOCs in the Chengdu Plain, China, through measurement and emission inventory.

In order to evaluate the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) pollution characteristics in Chengdu and to identify their sources, ambient air sample collection and measurement were conducted at 28 sampling sites covering all districts/counties of Chengdu from May 2016 to January 2017. Meanwhile, a county-level anthropogenic speciated VOCs emission inventory was established by "bottom-up" method for 2016. Then, a comparison was made between the VOCs emissions, spatial variations, and source structures derived from the measurement and emission inventory. Ambient measurements showed that the annual average mixing ratios of VOCs in Chengdu were 57.54 ppbv (12.36 to 456.04 ppbv), of which mainly dominated by alkanes (38.8%) and OVOCs (22.0%). The ambient VOCs in Chengdu have distinct spatiotemporal characteristics, with a high concentration in January at the middle-northern part of the city and a low concentration in September at the southwestern part. The spatial distribution of VOCs estimated by the emission inventory was in good agreement with ambient measurements. Comparison of individual VOCs emissions indicated that the emissions of non-methane hydrocarbon species agreed within ±100% between the two methods. Both positive matrix factorization (PMF) model results and emission inventory showed that vehicle emissions were the major contributor of anthropogenic VOCs in Chengdu (31% and 37%), followed by solvent utilization (26% and 27%) and industrial processes (23% and 30%). The large discrepancies were found between the relative contribution of combustion sources, and the PMF resolved more contributions (20%) than the emission inventory (6%). Overall, this study demonstrates that measurement results and emission inventory were in a good agreement. However, to improve the reliability of the emission inventory, we suggest significant revision on source profiles of oxygenated volatile organic compounds (OVOCs) and halocarbons, as well as more detailed investigation should be made in terms of energy consumption in household.

Characterizing the composition and evolution of firework-related components in air aerosols during the Spring Festival.

To examine the impacts of fireworks, size-resolved PM samples were collected using a single-particle aerosol mass spectrometer before, during and after the Spring Festival in a megacity in Chengdu, China. Chemical composition and atmospheric behavior of urban particles were studied. Ten major single particle types were resolved with ART-2a algorithm including elemental and organic carbon (ECOC), EC, OC, levoglucosan (LEV), high molecular weight organic molecules (HOM), hard metal (HM), K rich, Na rich and SiO3-. The average OC/EC ratios decreased in the order AY (4.7) > overall (4.1) > NY (4.0) > BY period (3.6), indicating that many organic pollutants had been generated after the Spring Festival. The concentrations of many species exhibited an increasing trend during the firework period, and the SOR and NOR showed a strong increase in NY period. SOR and NOR had a slight positive relationship with fireworks activity but no obvious relationship with temperature.

[X-Ray Fluorescence Intensity Calculation for Micro-Particles via MCNPX and WDXRF Experiment].

In order to research the effect of X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis on the results in the sample's micro particles, MCNPX models had been established for an X-ray fluorescence analyzer in this paper. It had studied the characteristics of the samples with different particle sizes, the fluorescence peak counts, the peak to total ratios and the peak to source ratios. A micro particle analysis experiment had been designed for its verification. The results showed that: as for the relationship between the fluorescence intensity and the particle sizes, the MCNPX calculations were consistent with the theoretical, but contrary with the experimental results; the reason is that some hypotheses about samples in the MCNPX models were contrary with the actual states; the samples were crushed by grinding to small particles and tableting process, the MCNPX calculations and experimental results can be conversion; when the particle sizes of the samples reached the certain sizes, the fluorescence peak counts, the peak to total ratios and the peak to source ratios were stable value; within a particular size range, the influence of the particle size effects cannot be ignored, otherwise this influence can be ignored. The research methods and conclusions in this paper can provide a technical reference guide for X-ray analysis in practices.

[Analyzer Design of Atmospheric Particulate Matter's Concentration and Elemental Composition Based on ß and X-Ray's Analysis Techniques].

Monitoring atmospheric particulate matter requires real-time analysis, such as particulate matter's concentrations, their element types and contents. An analyzer which is based on ß and X rays analysis techniques is designed to meet those demands. Applying ß-ray attenuation law and energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence analysis principle, the paper introduces the analyzer's overall design scheme, structure, FPGA circuit hardware and software for the analyzer. And the analyzer can measure atmospheric particulate matters' concentration, elements and their contents by on-line analysis. Pure elemental particle standard samples were prepared by deposition, and those standard samples were used to set the calibration for the analyzer in this paper. The analyzer can monitor atmospheric particulate matters concentration, 30 kinds of elements and content, such as TSP, PM10 and PM2.5. Comparing the measurement results from the analyzer to Chengdu Environmental Protection Agency's monitoring results for monitoring particulate matters, a high consistency is obtained by the application in eastern suburbs of Chengdu. Meanwhile, the analyzer are highly sensitive in monitoring particulate matters which contained heavy metal elements (such as As, Hg, Cd, Cr, Pb and so on). The analyzer has lots of characteristics through technical performance testing, such as continuous measurement, low detection limit, quick analysis, easy to use and so on. In conclusion, the analyzer can meet the demands for analyzing atmospheric particulate matter's concentration, elements and their contents in urban environmental monitoring.