[Nonlinear Response Relationship Between Ozone and Precursor Emissions in the Pearl River Delta Region Under Different Transmission Channels].

Huan Jing Ke Xue

Guangdong-Hongkong-Macau Joint Laboratory of Collaborative Innovation for Environmental Quality, Institution for Environmental and Climate Research, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510443, China.

Published: January 2022

AI Article Synopsis

  • Urbanization in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) is leading to significant ozone (O) pollution challenges due to a complex relationship between ozone formation and pollution sources, influenced by weather conditions.
  • The study used a regional air quality model to identify ozone formation regimes and how pollution travels between cities, revealing that areas in the center of PRD are more sensitive to volatile organic compounds (VOCs), while suburbs are more affected by nitrogen oxides (NO).
  • When different winds are present, pollutant transport patterns change, affecting the sensitivity of downwind areas; efforts to reduce ozone levels can be most effective by targeting VOC reductions, especially in regions where VOC sensitivity predominates.

Article Abstract

With the rapid development of urbanization, ozone (O) pollution is an ongoing occurrence in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region in China. The effective control of O pollution is a great challenge owing to the nonlinear relationship between O and precursor emissions and the effect of meteorological conditions. Based on the regional air quality model CAMx-OSAT (ozone source apportionment technology), O formation regimes were determined, and inter-city transportation across PRD was quantified under different transmission channels. The results showed that spatial differences were observed for the O formation regimes under different transmission channels. The VOCs-sensitive regime was mainly located in the central areas of the PRD region, and the NO-sensitive regime was distributed in the suburban areas of the PRD regions under calm wind conditions. When the northeast wind was prevailing, the polluted air mass of the urban agglomeration was transmitted southwesterly downward, resulting in the downwind areas being transformed to VOCs-sensitive; the upwind areas were still NO-sensitive. Under the southeast wind, the VOCs-sensitive regime had a banding distribution along the southeast-northwest direction, and the remaining areas were NO-sensitive. With the influence of transmission channels, downwind cities were significantly affected by the transmission of upwind urban agglomerations (41%-87%), whereas the local formation was the main contributor under the calm wind conditions (60%-87%). To explore the relationship between O and precursor emissions, a series of sensitivity tests were designed. The results showed that maximized areas (20%-36%) with reductions in O can be achieved by reducing VOCs and NO in the corresponding sensitive regimes, and the maximized level with the reduction in O can be fulfilled by reducing VOCs in the VOCs-sensitive regime. For the typical city Jiangmen, the area that met the standard increased the most under the calm wind (11%) and southeast wind (8%) conditions when VOCs and NO were reduced in the corresponding sensitive regimes. Additionally, under northeast wind conditions, reducing VOCs in the VOCs-sensitive regime can more effectively control O, as the area up to the standard increased by 140%.

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Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.13227/j.hjkx.202104141DOI Listing

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