Aerosol Optical Properties Based on Ground and Satellite Retrievals during a Serious Haze Episode in December 2015 over Beijing
Ke Gui,
Huizheng Che,
Quanliang Chen,
Linchang An,
Zhaoliang Zeng,
Zengyuan Guo,
Yu Zheng,
Hong Wang,
Yaqiang Wang,
Jie Yu,
Xiaoye Zhang
Affiliations
Ke Gui
Plateau Atmospheric and Environment Laboratory of Sichuan Province, College of Atmospheric Science, Chengdu University of Information Technology, Chengdu 610225, China
Huizheng Che
State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather (LASW), Institute of Atmospheric Composition, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Quanliang Chen
Plateau Atmospheric and Environment Laboratory of Sichuan Province, College of Atmospheric Science, Chengdu University of Information Technology, Chengdu 610225, China
Linchang An
State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather (LASW), Institute of Atmospheric Composition, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Zhaoliang Zeng
School of Architectural and Surveying & Mapping Engineering, Jiangxi University of Science and Technology, Ganzhou 34100, China
Zengyuan Guo
State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather (LASW), Institute of Atmospheric Composition, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Yu Zheng
State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather (LASW), Institute of Atmospheric Composition, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Hong Wang
State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather (LASW), Institute of Atmospheric Composition, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Yaqiang Wang
State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather (LASW), Institute of Atmospheric Composition, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Jie Yu
Plateau Atmospheric and Environment Laboratory of Sichuan Province, College of Atmospheric Science, Chengdu University of Information Technology, Chengdu 610225, China
Xiaoye Zhang
State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather (LASW), Institute of Atmospheric Composition, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
An extreme haze event occurred in the Beijing area from 17 to 23 December 2015. Ground-based measurements and satellite observations during this event were used to further our understanding of the formation process of haze pollution and aerosol optical properties. The results suggest that high relative humidity, poor diffusion conditions (low wind speed and stable stratification) and favorable secondary transformation conditions under the hygroscopic growth of aerosol and high emissions led to this serious haze episode. During the haze period, the daily average value was 1.15 and 0.42 for aerosol optical depth (AOD500nm) and columnar water-vapor (CWV, in cm), respectively. On 19 December, the correlation coefficient between CWV and AOD500nm was 0.91, indicating the effect of hygroscopic growth of fine-mode articles. The daily average values for Ångström exponent, fine-mode fraction, aerosol absorption optical depth, and Ångström absorption exponent were 1.19, 0.81, 0.11 and 1.47, respectively, which suggests that fine aerosol particles were dominant in the atmosphere and fine-mode particles were the dominant contributor to atmospheric extinction during the haze period. Moreover, it also reflects that there were more absorbing aerosol particles during the haze period. Compared with other polluted periods with a bimodal distribution, there was an obvious trimodal distribution on 19 December. There were three peaks at radii of about 0.1 μm, 0.5–0.8 μm and 4 μm. Satellite observations show that there was an obvious aerosol layer in the Beijing area during the haze period, concentrated at ground level to within 2 km in the upper layers. The types of aerosol were mainly composed of mixed pollution aerosols.
