Trends of the precipitation acidity over China during 1992–2006

Tang, Jie; Xu, Xiaobin; Ba, Jin; Wang, Shufeng

doi:10.1007/s11434-009-3618-1

Cited by 85 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…In southwestern China, the acidity of precipitation decreases significantly during 1992-2006, with pH increasing by 0.3-0.6 (at α = 0.10), However, a substantial increase in the acidity of precipitation in summer was observed in Central China, as shown in Fig. 3b and in (Tang et al, 2010), with the pH value decreasing by 0.6-1.2 (at α = 0.10).…”

Section: Eofs and The Svd Methodsmentioning

confidence: 87%

“…Strict quality assurance and quality control was applied to the dataset from the CMA-ARMN. Data for 14 of the 88 stations were found to be unsuitable for long-term trend analysis (Tang et al, 2007(Tang et al, , 2010 and precipitation acidity data from the 74 remaining stations are used in this study. In details, 37 among the 74 sites are located in relatively sparsely populated areas, including 3 GAW (Global Atmosphere Watch) regional stations and 3 weather stations on top of mountains, the rest 37 are city or near-city sites.…”

Section: Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this paper, we focus on variations of precipitation acidity and meteorological parameters in larger regions and the relationship between these quantities. The quality of data from all the 74 sites was checked by series procedures (Tang et al, 2010) and is believed meeting our purpose. For meteorological data we use reanalysis data for 850 hPa wind fields from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) and rainfall at 753 stations selected by CMA.…”

Section: Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…More recently, however, acid rain has seriously affected the central parts of China, especially in eastern areas (Xie et al, 2009). Tang et al (2010) used the Man-Kendall method to obtain a trend in precipitation acidity in China, and show that during 2000-2006 acid rain moved from southwestern to eastern and central China. We analyzed the change in precipitation acidity in China between 1992 and 2006, and found that the most distinct increase occurred in Central China.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Impact of the East Asian summer monsoon on long-term variations in the acidity of summer precipitation in Central China

Wang

et al. 2011

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

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Abstract. The acidity of precipitation has been observed at stations of the Acid Rain Monitoring Network run by the China Meteorological Administration (CMA-ARMN) since 1992. Previous studies have shown that different long-term trends exist in different regions but detailed analysis of the causes of these is lacking. In this paper, we analyze summertime precipitation acidity data from the CMA-ARMN during 1992-2006 using EOFs and show that the summertime pH in China had different trends before and after 2000. The most significant decrease of pH is found in Central China. To investigate the causes of this decrease of pH in summer, we explore the relationship between changes in the pH value, the East Asian summer monsoon index, rainfall data, and pollutants emissions. We find that the East Asian summer monsoon can significantly affect the acidity of summer precipitation in Central China. In strong monsoon years, the pH in Central China is about 0.33 lower than that in weak monsoon years. Chemical transport model simulations using fixed emissions indicate that about 65% of the pH value difference (i.e., 0.22) is related to the summer monsoon, and constitutes 18-36% of the observed pH change (0.6 ∼ 1.2) in Central China during 1992-2006. Further studies reveal a relationship between the pH in Central China and the rainfall in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River (MLYR), which can explain about 24% of the variance of pH in CenCorrespondence to: Z. F. Wang (zifawang@mail.iap.ac.cn) tral China. Simulations using an annually varying emission inventory show that at least 60% of the variation in precipitation acidity in Central China can be attributed to changes in pollutant emissions. Therefore, the increase in emissions of acidic species is the most important cause for the observed decrease of pH in Central China, and changes in meteorological factors, such as rainfall and other parameters related to the East Asian summer monsoon, play a less important but still significant role.

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Section: Eofs and The Svd Methodsmentioning

confidence: 87%

Section: Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Impact of the East Asian summer monsoon on long-term variations in the acidity of summer precipitation in Central China

Wang

et al. 2011

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

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“…China is one of the three regions in the world with the highest occurrence of acid rain, next to Europe and North America (Zhang et al 2010b). Widespread acid rain was observed in southern and southwestern China before the 1990s (Zhao et al 1988;Wang and Wang 1995), and more recently, it has extended to eastern and central China (Huang et al 2008;Xie et al 2009;Tang et al 2010). Beijing is located out of the traditional regions impacted by acid rain in China.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chemical and sulfur isotopic composition of precipitation in Beijing, China

Zhu

Guo

Chen

et al. 2015

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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China is experiencing serious acid rain contamination, with Beijing among the worst-hit areas. To understand the chemical feature and the origin of inorganic ions in precipitation of Beijing, 128 precipitation samples were collected and analyzed for major water-soluble ions and δ 34 S. The pH values ranged from 3.68 to 7.81 and showed a volume weighted average value (VWA) of 5.02, with a frequency of acid rain of 26.8 %. The VWA value of electrical conductivity (EC) was 68.6 μS/cm, which was nearly 4 times higher than the background value of northern China. Ca 2+ represented the main cation; SO 4 2− and NO 3 − were the dominant anion in precipitation. Our study showed that SO 4 2− and NO 3 − originated from coal and fossil fuel combustion; Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ , and K + were from the continental sources. The δ 34 S value of SO 4 2− in precipitation ranged from +2.1 to +12.8‰ with an average value of +4.7‰. The δ 34 S value showed a winter maximum and a summer minimum tendency, which was mainly associated with temperature-dependent isotope equilibrium fractionation as well as combustion of coal with relatively positive δ 34 S values in winter. Moreover, the δ 34 S values revealed that atmospheric sulfur in Beijing are mainly correlated to coal burning and traffic emission; coal combustion constituted a significant fraction of the SO 4 2− in winter precipitation.

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On the potential high acid deposition in northeastern China

et al. 2013

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[1] There is an acid deposition conundrum in China: contrary to conventional wisdom, extremely high ambient sulfate concentrations in northeastern China are not always accompanied by correspondingly high acidities. To investigate this discrepancy, data from two independent sets of in situ field measurements were analyzed along with Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Chartography (SCIAMACHY) satellite observations and Model for Ozone and Related chemical Tracers (MOZART) chemical transport model calculations. The field measurements included soluble aerosol ion concentrations and pH and particulate data from 11 cities, as well as pH measurement data from 74 sites in China. This study explores the basis for and the impacts of the large discrepancy in northeastern China between the major acidity precursors (SO 2 and NOx) and measured acidity levels as indicated by pH values. There are extremely high SO 2 emissions and ambient concentrations in northeastern China, while the corresponding acidity is unusually low (high pH) in this region. This is inconsistent with the usual situation where high-acidity precursor pollutants result in low pH (high acidity) values and acid rain conditions. In other regions, such as southern China and the United States, high SO 2 concentrations are typically well correlated with high acidities. Using measured soluble particle measurements (including both positively and negatively charged ions), it is seen that there are high values of alkaline ions in northeastern China that play an important role in neutralizing acidity in this region. This result strongly suggests that the high alkaline concentrations, especially Ca 2+ , increase warm season pH values by about 0.5 in northern China, partially explaining the inconsistency between sulfate concentrations and acidity. This has a very important implication for acid rain mitigation-especially in northeastern China. However, there are additional issues pertaining to the precursor-acidity relationship that need further investigation. Why is it that the reduction in acidity due to the alkaline ions is only significant in summer? During winter, the measured alkaline ions play a much smaller role in explaining the discrepancy. The measured alkaline ions in this study were mostly obtained from particles in the PM 2.5 range. However, the size of calcium particles is typically much larger-extending well beyond 2.5 mm-and so a significant amount of calcium may be underestimated by PM 2.5 measurements alone. The under-sampling of calcium particles is further exacerbated in that the sampling protocol excluded particle (and soluble ion and pH) measurements during dust storms. This all leads to the need for an improved understanding of pollutant-ion-particulate interactions in China, and their role in explaining the counter-intuitive conclusion that dust mitigation strategies in China could have the unintended consequence of exacerbating acid rain conditions.

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Trends of the precipitation acidity over China during 1992–2006

Cited by 85 publications

References 8 publications

Impact of the East Asian summer monsoon on long-term variations in the acidity of summer precipitation in Central China

Impact of the East Asian summer monsoon on long-term variations in the acidity of summer precipitation in Central China

Chemical and sulfur isotopic composition of precipitation in Beijing, China

On the potential high acid deposition in northeastern China

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