Characteristics of Winter Haze Pollution in the Fenwei Plain and the Possible Influence of EU During 1984–2017

Abstract

During the past few years, air pollution in the Fenwei Plain (FWP) region had obviously rebounded. In this study, we used quantitative analysis, difference analysis, and correlation analysis methods to analyze the temporal and spatial distribution and the influence of the meteorological and climatic factors on haze pollution in FWP. The results showed that on the long-term timescale, the haze pollution had an overall upward trend during the winter of 1984-2017, and the pollution became more serious after 2000. In addition, the differences in meteorological parameters such as relative humidity, sea level pressure, temperature, vertical velocity, and wind fields near the surface between the regional haze days and the regional clean days were remarkable, indicating that the changes in these meteorological parameters had a distinct impact on haze pollution. Among several atmospheric circulations in the Northern Hemisphere mid-high latitudes, Eurasian (EU) pattern had the most obvious influence on haze pollution via two possible pathways: First, on the interannual timescale, the evolution of EU pattern affected the changes of Siberian high and Aleutian low pressure; second, changes in EU pattern could result in changes in wind speed at 850 hPa, boundary layer height and relative humidity in the lower troposphere. All these findings may provide some help for the government to take prevention measures for haze pollution in FWP.

Author's Response to Anonymous Referee 2

“…Further research and more attention are required. Nowadays, several mega urban agglomerations in China, such as the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta region, and the Fenwei Plain, are still suffering from severe air pollution Xiang et al, 2019;Haque et al, 2020;Zhao et al, 2020). Previous studies have shown that emissionreduction strategies, which are mainly based on the results of atmospheric chemistry simulations, play an important role in reducing pollutant concentrations and improving air quality .…”

“…Printer-friendly version Discussion paper Sciences (CAMS) Zhou et al, 2008Zhou et al, , 2012Wang et al, 2010. GRAPES (Global/Regional Assimilation and PrEdiction System) is a numerical weather prediction system built by China Meteorological Administration (CMA), and it can be used as a global model (GRAPES-GFS) or as a regional mesoscale model (GRAPES-Meso) .…”

“…GRAPES (Global/Regional Assimilation and PrEdiction System) is a numerical weather prediction system built by China Meteorological Administration (CMA), and it can be used as a global model (GRAPES-GFS) or as a regional mesoscale model (GRAPES-Meso) . CUACE (CMA Unified Atmospheric Chemistry Environmental Forecasting System) is a unified atmospheric chemistry model constructed by CAMS to study both air quality forecasting and climate change Zhou et al, 2008Zhou et al, , 2012. Using the meteorological fields provided by GRAPES-Meso, the GRAPES-CUACE model has been realized the online coupling of meteorology and chemistry Zhou et al, 2008Zhou et al, , 2012Wang et al, 2010.…”

“…CUACE (CMA Unified Atmospheric Chemistry Environmental Forecasting System) is a unified atmospheric chemistry model constructed by CAMS to study both air quality forecasting and climate change Zhou et al, 2008Zhou et al, , 2012. Using the meteorological fields provided by GRAPES-Meso, the GRAPES-CUACE model has been realized the online coupling of meteorology and chemistry Zhou et al, 2008Zhou et al, , 2012Wang et al, 2010. The GRAPES-CUACE model not only plays an important role in the scientific researches on air pollution in China Zhou et al, 2008Zhou et al, , 2012Wang et al, 2010, but also has been officially put into operation since 2014 at National Meteorological Center of CMA for providing guidance for air quality forecasting over China (Ke, 2019).…”

“…Using the meteorological fields provided by GRAPES-Meso, the GRAPES-CUACE model has been realized the online coupling of meteorology and chemistry Zhou et al, 2008Zhou et al, , 2012Wang et al, 2010. The GRAPES-CUACE model not only plays an important role in the scientific researches on air pollution in China Zhou et al, 2008Zhou et al, , 2012Wang et al, 2010, but also has been officially put into operation since 2014 at National Meteorological Center of CMA for providing guidance for air quality forecasting over China (Ke, 2019). Recently, An et al (2016) constructed the aerosol adjoint module of GRAPES-CUACE model, which has been subsequently applied in tracking influential BC and PM2.5 source areas in north China Wang et al, 2018aWang et al, , 2018b.…”