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© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Rfn (formaldehyde/nitrogen dioxide) is a common indicator based on satellite observations used to classify ozone formation sensitivity. However, it may underestimate anthropogenic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in heavily polluted cities when only formaldehyde (HCHO) is used in Rfn to measure VOCs, since it is mainly derived from natural sources worldwide. In this study, we used multiaxis differential optical absorption spectroscopy to acquire tropospheric observations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), HCHO and glyoxal (CHOCHO) in Beijing from 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020. Combined with VOCs detected simultaneously by gas chromatography—mass spectrometry and proton transfer reaction–time-of-flight/mass spectrometry near the ground, we evaluated the representativeness of HCHO column densities on total VOCs (TVOC) in equivalent propylene concentrations, which is called reactivity. The results showed that there were significant seasonal differences in the response of HCHO to TVOC reactivity, with fitting slopes of 2.3 (spring), 2.6 (summer), 2.9 (autumn) and 1.0 (winter) in the four seasons, respectively. Since CHOCHO can be used to partly characterize the contribution of anthropogenic VOC emissions and demonstrated a better response to TVOC reactivity in winter, with fitting slopes of 0.2 (spring), 0.2 (summer), 0.2 (autumn) and 0.5 (winter) in the four seasons, respectively, we introduced CHOCHO to construct a new indicator (HCHO + 6 × CHOCHO). The fitting slopes of the four seasons were more similar, being 3.2 (spring), 3.6 (summer), 4.0 (autumn) and 4.0 (winter). The ratio of the new indicator to NO2, Rmn ((HCHO + 6 × CHOCHO)/NO2), was used to reclassify the ozone formation sensitivity of urban areas in North China, revealing that it is a transition regime before 1300 LST (LST = UST + 8) and an NOx-limited regime afterwards. Rmn improved the sensitivity from the VOC-limited regime to the NOx-limited regime, enhancing the sensitivity of NOx and providing new robust support for ozone pollution prevention and control.

Details

Title
Problems with and Improvement of HCHO/NO2 for Diagnosing Ozone Sensitivity—A Case in Beijing
Author
Kang, Yanyu 1 ; Tang, Guiqian 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Li, Qihua 3 ; Liu, Baoxian 4 ; Yao, Dan 5 ; Wang, Yiming 6 ; Wang, Yinghong 7 ; Wang, Yuesi 7 ; Liu, Wenqing 3 

 Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, China; State Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Physics and Atmospheric Chemistry, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China 
 State Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Physics and Atmospheric Chemistry, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China; State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Sources and Control of Air Pollution Complex, Beijing 100084, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China 
 Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, China 
 Beijing Key Laboratory of Airborne Particulate Matter Monitoring Technology, Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center, Beijing 100048, China 
 State Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Physics and Atmospheric Chemistry, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China; School of Environment, Key Laboratory for Yellow River and Huai River Water Environment and Pollution Control, Ministry of Education, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang 453007, China 
 China Meteorological Administration Institute for Development and Programme Design (CMAIDP), Beijing 100081, China 
 State Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Physics and Atmospheric Chemistry, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China 
First page
1982
Publication year
2023
Publication date
2023
Publisher
MDPI AG
e-ISSN
20724292
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2806594646
Copyright
© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.