One-Year Real-Time Measurement of Black Carbon in the Rural Area of Qingdao, Northeastern China: Seasonal Variations, Meteorological Effects, and the COVID-19 Case Analysis

Shijie Cui; Jiukun Xian; Fuzhen Shen; Lin Zhang; Baoling Deng; Yunjiang Zhang; Xinlei Ge

doi:10.3390/atmos12030394

Atmosphere (Mar 2021)

One-Year Real-Time Measurement of Black Carbon in the Rural Area of Qingdao, Northeastern China: Seasonal Variations, Meteorological Effects, and the COVID-19 Case Analysis

Shijie Cui,
Jiukun Xian,
Fuzhen Shen,
Lin Zhang,
Baoling Deng,
Yunjiang Zhang,
Xinlei Ge

Affiliations

Shijie Cui: Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control, Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, School of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 210044, China
Jiukun Xian: Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control, Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, School of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 210044, China
Fuzhen Shen: Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control, Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, School of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 210044, China
Lin Zhang: Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control, Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, School of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 210044, China
Baoling Deng: Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control, Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, School of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 210044, China
Yunjiang Zhang: Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control, Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, School of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 210044, China
Xinlei Ge: Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control, Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, School of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 210044, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12030394
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 12, no. 3
p. 394

Abstract

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In this paper, we report the results obtained from one year of real-time measurement (i.e., from December 2019 to November 2020) of atmospheric black carbon (BC) under a rural environment in Qingdao of Northeastern China. The annual average concentration of BC was 1.92 ± 1.89 μg m−3. The highest average concentration of BC was observed in winter (3.65 ± 2.66 μg m−3), followed by fall (1.73 ± 1.33 μg m−3), spring (1.53 ± 1.33 μg m−3), and summer (0.83 ± 0.56 μg m−3). A clear weekend effect was observed in winter, which was characterized by higher BC concentration (4.60 ± 2.86 μg m−3) during the weekend rather than that (3.22 ± 2.45 μg m−3) during weekdays. The influence of meteorological parameters, including surface horizontal wind speed, boundary layer height (BLH), and precipitation, on BC, was investigated. In particular, such BLH influence presented evidently seasonal dependence, while there was no significant seasonality for horizontal wind speed. These may reflect different roles of atmospheric vertical dilution on affecting BC in different seasons. The △BC/△CO ratio decreased with the increase of precipitation, indicative of the influence of below-cloud wet removal of BC, especially during summertime where rainfall events more frequently occurred than any of other seasons. The bivariate-polar-plot analysis showed that the high BC concentrations were mainly associated with low wind speed in all seasons, highlighting an important BC source originated from local emissions. By using concentration-weighted trajectory analysis, it was found that regional transports, especially from northeastern in winter, could not be negligible for contributing to BC pollution in rural Qingdao. In the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID−19) case analysis, we observed an obvious increase in the BC/NO2 ratio during the COVID-19 lockdown, supporting the significant non-traffic source sector (such as residential coal combustion) for BC in rural Qingdao.

Published in Atmosphere

ISSN: 2073-4433 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Science: Physics: Meteorology. Climatology
Website: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/atmosphere/

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