Exploring the heavy air pollution in Beijing in the fourth quarter of 2015: assessment of environmental benefits for red alerts

Abstract

In recent years, Beijing has experienced severe air pollution which has caused widespread public concern. Compared to the same period in 2014, the first three quarters of 2015 exhibited significantly improved air quality. However, the air quality sharply declined in the fourth quarter of 2015, especially in November and December. During that time, Beijing issued the first red alert for severe air pollution in history. In total, 2 red alerts, 3 orange alerts, 3 yellow alerts, and 3 blue alerts were issued based on the adoption of relatively temporary emergency control measures to mitigate air pollution. This study explored the reasons for these variations in air quality and assessed the effectiveness of emergency alerts in addressing severe air pollution. A synthetic analysis of emission variations and meteorological conditions was performed to better understand these extreme air pollution episodes in the fourth quarter of 2015. The results showed that compared to those in the same period in 2014, the daily average emissions of air pollutants decreased in the fourth quarter of 2015. However, the emission levels of primary pollutants were still relatively high, which was the main intrinsic cause of haze episodes, and unfavorable meteorological conditions represented important external factors. Emergency control measures for heavy air pollution were implemented during this red alert period, decreasing the emissions of primary air pollutants by approximately 36% and the PM_2.5 concentration by 11%‒21%.

Keywords

heavy air pollution / red alert / emissions variation / meteorological conditions / emergency control measures

References

[1] Amil N, Latif M T, Khan M F, Mohamad M (2015). Meteorological-gaseous influences on seasonal PM_2.5 variability in the Klang valley urban-industrial environment. Atmos Chem Phys Discuss, 15(18): 26423–26479

[2] Andersson A, Deng J, Du K, Zheng M, Yan C, Sköld M, Gustafsson Ö (2015). Regionally-varying combustion sources of the January 2013 severe haze events over eastern China. Environ Sci Technol, 49(4): 2038–2043

[3] Bei N, Xiao B, Meng N, Feng T (2016). Critical role of meteorological conditions in a persistent haze episode in the Guanzhong basin, China. Sci Total Environ, 550: 273–284

[4] BJEPB (Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau) (2015a). Beijing Environmental Statement 2014

[5] BJEPB (Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau) (2015b). Emergency plan for heavy air pollution in Beijing

[6] BJEPB (Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau) (2016). Beijing Environmental Statement 2015

[7] BMRIEP (Beijing Municipal Research Institute of Environmental Protection) (2016). Technical Report for Emission Inventory of Primary Air Pollutants in Beijing, 2015

[8] Byun D, Schere K L (2006). Review of the governing equations, computational algorithms, and other components of the models-3 Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) modeling system. Appl Mech Rev, 59(2): 51–77

[9] Chen W, Yan L, Zhao H (2015). Seasonal variations of atmospheric pollution and air quality in Beijing. Atmosphere, 6(12): 1753–1770

[10] Cheng N, Li Y, Zhang D, Chen T, Xu W, Sun F, Dong X (2015). Analysis about the characteristics and formation mechanisms of a serious pollution event in October 2014 in Beijing. Research of Environmental Sciences, 28: 163–170

[11] Djalalova I, Delle Monache L, Wilczak J (2015). PM_2.5 analog forecast and Kalman filter post-processing for the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model. Atmos Environ, 108: 76–87

[12] Emery C, Tai E, Yarwood G (2001). Enhanced meteorological modeling and performance evaluation for two Texas ozone episodes. Prepared for The Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission by ENVIRON International Corporation. 2001

[13] Foley K M, Hogrefe C, Pouliot G, Possiel N, Roselle S J, Simon H, Timin B (2015). Dynamic evaluation of CMAQ Part I: separating the effects of changing emissions and changing meteorology on ozone levels between 2002 and 2005 in the eastern US. Atmospheric Environment 103: 247–255

[14] Gan C M, Binkowski F, Pleim J, Xing J, Wong D, Mathur R, Gilliam R (2015). Assessment of the aerosol optics component of the coupled WRF–CMAQ model using CARES field campaign data and a single column model. Atmos Environ, 115: 670–682

[15] Gao J, Tian H, Cheng K, Lu L, Zheng M, Wang S, Hao J, Wang K, Hua S, Zhu C, Wang Y (2015). The variation of chemical characteristics of PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ and formation causes during two haze pollution events in urban Beijing, China. Atmos Environ, 107: 1–8

[16] Guo S, Hu M, Guo Q, Zhang X, Schauer J J, Zhang R (2013). Quantitative evaluation of emission controls on primary and secondary organic aerosol sources during Beijing 2008 Olympics. Atmos Chem Phys, 13(16): 8303–8314

[17] Hogrefe C, Pouliot G, Wong D, Torian A, Roselle S, Pleim J, Mathur R (2015). Annual application and evaluation of the online coupled WRF–CMAQ system over North America under AQMEII phase 2. Atmos Environ, 115: 683–694

[18] Hsu C Y, Chiang H C, Chen M J, Chuang C Y, Tsen C M, Fang G C, Tsai Y I, Chen N T, Lin T Y, Lin S L, Chen Y C (2017). Ambient PM_2.5 in the residential area near industrial complexes: spatiotemporal variation, source apportionment, and health impact. Sci Total Environ, 590–591: 204–214

[19] Huang R J, Zhang Y, Bozzetti C, Ho K F, Cao J J, Han Y, Daellenbach K R, Slowik J G, Platt S M, Canonaco F, Zotter P, Wolf R, Pieber S M, Bruns E A, Crippa M, Ciarelli G, Piazzalunga A, Schwikowski M, Abbaszade G, Schnelle-Kreis J, Zimmermann R, An Z, Szidat S, Baltensperger U, El Haddad I E, Prévôt A S H (2014). High secondary aerosol contribution to particulate pollution during haze events in China. Nature, 514(7521): 218–222

[20] Ji D, Zhang J, He J, Wang X, Pang B, Liu Z, Wang L, Wang Y (2016). Characteristics of atmospheric organic and elemental carbon aerosols in urban Beijing, China. Atmos Environ, 125: 293–306

[21] Li J, Du H Y, Wang Z F, Sun Y L, Yang W Y, Li J J, Tang X, Fu P F (2017). Rapid formation of a severe regional winter haze episode over a mega-city cluster on the North China Plain. Environ Pollut, 223: 605–615

[22] Li J, Xie S D, Zeng L M, Li L Y, Li Y Q, Wu R R (2015). Characterization of ambient volatile organic compounds and their sources in Beijing, before, during, and after Asia-Pacific Economic cooperation China 2014. Atmos Chem Phys, 15(14): 7945–7959

[23] Li Z, Gu X, Wang L, Li D, Xie Y, Li K, Dubovik O, Schuster G, Goloub P, Zhang Y, Li L, Ma Y, Xu H (2013). Aerosol physical and chemical properties retrieved from ground-based remote sensing measurements during heavy haze days in Beijing winter. Atmos Chem Phys, 13(20): 10171–10183

[24] Liu X G, Li J, Qu Y, Han T, Hou L, Gu J, Chen C, Yang Y, Liu X, Yang T, Zhang Y, Tian H Z, Hu M (2013). Formation and evolution mechanism of regional haze: a case study in the megacity Beijing, China. Atmos Chem Phys, 13(9): 4501–4514

[25] Lv B, Cai J, Xu B, Bai Y Q (2017). Understanding the rising phase of the PM_2.5 concentration evolution in Large China cities. Sci Rep, 7: 46456

[26] Park S U, Lee I H, Joo S J (2016). Spatial and temporal distributions of aerosol concentrations and depositions in Asia during the year 2010. Science of the Total Environment, 542(A): 210–222

[27] Porter W C, Heald C L, Cooley D, Russell B (2015). Investigating the observed sensitivities of air-quality extremes to meteorological drivers via quantile regression. Atmos Chem Phys, 15(18): 10349–10366

[28] Schleicher N J, Schäfer J, Blanc G, Chen Y, Chai F, Cen K, Norra S (2015). Atmospheric particulate mercury in the megacity Beijing: spatio-temporal variations and source apportionment. Atmos Environ, 109: 251–261

[29] Simon H, Baker K R, Phillips S (2012). Compilation and interpretation of photochemical model performance statistics published between 2006 and 2012. Atmos Environ, 61: 124–139

[30] Sun Y, Du W, Wang Q, Zhang Q, Chen C, Chen Y, Chen Z, Fu P, Wang Z, Gao Z, Worsnop D R (2015). Real-time characterization of aerosol particle composition above the urban canopy in Beijing: insights into the interactions between the atmospheric boundary layer and aerosol chemistry. Environ Sci Technol, 49(19): 11340–11347

[31] Sun Y, Jiang Q, Wang Z, Fu P, Li J, Yang T, Yin Y (2014). Investigation of the sources and evolution processes of severe haze pollution in Beijing in January 2013. J Geophys Res D Atmospheres, 119(7): 4380–4398

[32] Sun Y, Zhuang G, Tang A A, Wang Y, An Z (2006). Chemical characteristics of PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ in haze-fog episodes in Beijing. Environ Sci Technol, 40(10): 3148–3155

[33] Syrakov D, Prodanova M, Georgieva E, Etropolska I, Slavov K (2016). Simulation of European air quality by WRF–CMAQ models using AQMEII-2 infrastructure. J Comput Appl Math, 293: 232–245

[34] Tian H Z, Zhu C Y, Gao J J, Cheng K, Hao J M, Wang K, Hua S B, Wang Y, Zhou J R (2015). Quantitative assessment of atmospheric emissions of toxic heavy metals from anthropogenic sources in China: historical trend, spatial distribution, uncertainties, and control policies. Atmos Chem Phys, 15(17): 10127–10147

[35] Wang L, Wei Z, Wei W, Fu J S, Meng C, Ma S (2015a). Source apportionment of PM_2.5 in top polluted cities in Hebei, China using the CMAQ model. Atmos Environ, 122: 723–736

[36] Wang N, Guo H, Jiang F, Ling Z H, Wang T (2015b). Simulation of ozone formation at different elevations in mountainous area of Hong Kong using WRF-CMAQ model. Sci Total Environ, 505: 939–951

[37] Wang X, Zhang Y, Hu Y, Zhou W, Lu K, Zhong L, Zeng L, Shao M, Hu M, Russell A G (2010). Process analysis and sensitivity study of regional ozone formation over the Pearl River Delta, China, during the PRIDE-PRD2004 campaign using the community multiscale air quality modeling system. Atmos Chem Phys, 10(9): 4423–4437

[38] Xue Y, Tian H, Yan J, Zhou Z, Wang J, Nie L, Pan T, Zhou J, Hua S, Wang Y, Wu X (2016a). Temporal trends and spatial variation characteristics of primary air pollutants emissions from coal-fired industrial boilers in Beijing, China. Environ Pollut, 213: 717–726

[39] Xue Y F, Zhou Z, Nie T, Pan T, Qi J, Nie L, Wang Z S, Li Y T, Li X F, Tian H Z (2016b). Exploring the severe haze in Beijing during December, 2015: pollution process and emissions variation. Environmental Science, 37(5): 1593–1601

[40] Yang Y, Zhou R, Wu J, Yu Y, Ma Z, Zhang L, Di Y A (2015). Seasonal variations and size distributions of water-soluble ions in atmospheric aerosols in Beijing, 2012. J Environ Sci (China), 34: 197–205

[41] Zhang W, Capps S L, Hu Y, Nenes A, Napelenok S L, Russell A G (2012). Development of the high-order decoupled direct method in three dimensions for particulate matter: enabling advanced sensitivity analysis in air quality models. Geosci Model Dev, 5(2): 355–368

[42] Zhang X Y, Wang J Z, Wang Y Q, Liu H L, Sun J Y, Zhang Y M (2015). Changes in chemical components of aerosol particles in different haze regions in China from 2006 to 2013 and contribution of meteorological factors. Atmos Chem Phys, 15(22): 12935–12952

[43] Zhao Y, Qiu L P, Xu R Y, Xie F J, Zhang Q, Yu Y Y, Nielsen C P, Qin H X, Wang H K, Wu X C, Li W Q, Zhang J (2015). Advantages of a city-scale emission inventory for urban air quality research and policy: the case of Nanjing, a typical industrial city in the Yangtze River Delta, China. Atmos Chem Phys, 15(21): 12623–12644

[44] Zheng G J, Duan F K, Su H, Ma Y L, Cheng Y, Zheng B, Zhang Q, Huang T, Kimoto T, Chang D, Pöschl U, Cheng Y F, He K B (2015). Exploring the severe winter haze in Beijing: the impact of synoptic weather, regional transport and heterogeneous reactions. Atmos Chem Phys, 15(6): 2969–2983

[45] Zhou M, Wang H, Zhu J, Chen W, Wang L, Liu S, Li Y, Wang L, Liu Y, Yin P, Liu J, Yu S, Tan F, Barber R M, Coates M M, Dicker D, Fraser M, González-Medina D, Hamavid H, Hao Y, Hu G, Jiang G, Kan H, Lopez A D, Phillips M R, She J, Vos T, Wan X, Xu G, Yan L L, Yu C, Zhao Y, Zheng Y, Zou X, Naghavi M, Wang Y, Murray C J, Yang G, Liang X (2016). Cause-specific mortality for 240 causes in China during 1990‒2013: a systematic subnational analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013. Lancet, 387(10015): 251–272

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany