Natural disasters cause considerable property damage and loss of life as well as destruction of ecosystem and natural resources. In the context of global change, extreme events are expected to increase in both frequency and intensity. To prevent natural disasters and mitigate the loss, we need to act quickly and effectively. It would be conducive to achieve sustainable economic development, reduce disaster vulnerabilities and risks, and build resilience through implementing effective measures of disaster prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery.

The concept design and detailed information of the SORPES station are introduced.

Main scientific findings based 5-year measurements at the station are summarized.

The future outlook of the development plan and its implications are discussed.

The results improved understanding of interaction of physical and chemical processes.

More SORPES-type stations are need to in different regions in China and the world.

This work presents an overall introduction to the Station for Observing Regional Processes of the Earth System – SORPES in Nanjing, East China, and gives an overview about main scientific findings in studies of air pollution-weather/climate interactions obtained since 2011. The main results summarized in this paper include overall characteristics of trace gases and aerosols, chemical transformation mechanisms for secondary pollutants like O₃, HONO and secondary inorganic aerosols, and the air pollution – weather/climate interactions and feedbacks in mixed air pollution plumes from sources like fossil fuel combustion, biomass burning and dust storms. The future outlook of the development plan on instrumentation, networking and data-sharing for the SORPES station is also discussed.

Formation of new atmospheric aerosol particles is a global phenomenon that has been observed to take place in even heavily-polluted environments. In China, new particle production has been observed at very high pollution levels (condensation sink about 0.1s⁻¹) in several megacities.

A holistic scientific understanding on the atmospheric phenomena associated with air quality as a whole, as well as on the connection between air quality and climate, is lacking at the moment.With a network of observation stations, we will be able to understand the interactions and feedbacks associated with the urban pollution mixture, and ultimately, are ready to make targeted strategies for the pollution control.

This paper summaries the recent advances in studying secondary new aerosol formation in China and shows how increased process-level understanding will help us to understand air quality-climate-weather interactions and how the feedbacks and interactions affect the air quality in highly-polluted environments such as those frequently encountered in Chinese megacities.

Formation of new atmospheric aerosol particles is a global phenomenon that has been observed to take place in even heavily-polluted environments. However, in all environments there appears to be a threshold value of the condensation sink (due to pre-existing aerosol particles) after which the formation rate of 3 nm particles is no longer detected. In China, new particle production has been observed at very high pollution levels (condensation sink about 0.1 s⁻¹) in several megacities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Nanjing as well as in Pearl River Delta (PRD). Here we summarize the recent findings obtained from these studies and discuss the various implications these findings will have on future research and policy.

We studied the heterogeneous reaction mechanism of gaseous HNO₃ with solid NaCl.

HCl is released from heterogeneous reactions between gaseous HNO₃ and solid NaCl.

Water molecules induce surface reconstruction of NaCl to facilitate the reaction.

Sea salt particles containing NaCl are among the most abundant particulate masses in coastal atmosphere. Reactions involving sea salt particles potentially generate Cl radicals, which are released into coastal atmosphere. Cl radicals play an important role in the nitrogen and O₃ cycles, sulfur chemistry and particle formation in the troposphere of the polluted coastal regions. This paper aimed at the heterogeneous reaction between gaseous HNO₃ and solid NaCl. The mechanism was investigated by density functional theory (DFT). The results imply that water molecules induce the surface reconstruction, which is essential for the heterogeneous reaction. The surface reconstruction on the defective (710) surface has a barrier of 10.24 kcal·mol⁻¹ and is endothermic by 9.69 kcal·mol⁻¹, whereas the reconstruction on the clean (100) surface has a barrier of 18.46 kcal·mol⁻¹ and is endothermic by 12.96 kcal·mol⁻¹. The surface reconstruction involved in water-adsorbed (710) surface is more energetically favorable. In comparison, water molecules adsorbed on NaCl (100) surface likely undergo water diffusion or desorption. Further, it reveals that the coordination number of the Cl⁻_out is reduced after the surface reconstruction, which assists Cl⁻_out to accept the proton from HNO₃. HCl is released from heterogeneous reactions between gaseous HNO₃ and solid NaCl and can react with OH free radicals to produce atomic Cl radicals. The results will offer further insights into the impact of gaseous HNO₃ on the air quality of the coastal areas.