Strong biomass burning contribution to ambient aerosol during heating season in a megacity in Northeast China: Effectiveness of agricultural fire bans?

Variation pattern, influential factors, and prediction models of PM2.5 concentrations in typical urban functional zones of northeast China

This study investigated the spatial and temporal variations of PM2.5 concentrations in Harbin, China, under the influence of meteorological parameters and gaseous pollutants. The complex relationship between meteorological parameters and pollutants was explored using Pearson correlation analysis and interaction effect analysis. Using the correlation analysis and interaction analysis methods, four mechanical learning models, PCC-Is-CNN, PCC-Is-LSTM, PCC-Is-CNN-LSTM and PCC-Is-BP neural network, were developed for predicting PM2.5 concentration in different time scales by combining the long-term and short-term data with the basic mechanical learning models. The results show that the PCC-Is-CNN-LSTM model has superior prediction performance, especially when integrating short-term and long-term historical data. Meanwhile, applying the model to cities in other climatic zones, the results show that the model performs well in the Dwa climatic zone, while the prediction performance is lower in the CWa climatic zone. This suggests that although the model is well adapted in regions with a similar climate to Harbin, model performance may be limited in areas with complex climatic conditions and diverse pollutant sources. This study emphasizes the importance of considering meteorological and pollutant interactions to improve the accuracy of PM2.5 predictions, providing valuable insights into air quality management in cold regions.

Seasonal variations and sources of atmospheric EPFRs in a megacity in severe cold region: Implications for the influence of strong coal and biomass combustion

Environmentally persistent free radicals (EPFRs) can pose exposure risks by inducing the generation of reactive oxygen species. As a new class of pollutants, EPFRs have been frequently detected in atmospheric particulate matters. In this study, the seasonal variations and sources of EPFRs in a severe cold region in Northeastern China were comprehensively investigated, especially for the high pollution events. The geomean concentration of EPFRs in the total suspended particle was 6.58 × 1013 spins/m3 and the mean level in winter was one order of magnitude higher than summer and autumn. The correlation network analysis showed that EPFRs had significantly positive correlation with carbon component, K+ and PAHs, indicating that EPFRs were primarily emitted from combustion and pyrolysis process. The source appointment by the Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) model indicated that the dominant sources in the heating season were coal combustion (48.4%), vehicle emission (23.1%) and biomass burning (19.4%), while the top three sources in the non-heating season were others (41.4%), coal combustion (23.7%) and vehicle emissions (21.2%). It was found that the high EPFRs in cold season can be ascribed to the extensive use of fossil fuel for heating demand; while the high EPFRs occurred in early spring were caused by the large-scale opening combustion of biomass. In summary, this study provided important basic information for better understanding the pollution characteristics of EPFRs, which suggested that the implementation of energy transformation and straw utilization was benefit for the control of EPFRs in severe cold region.

Predicting environmental impacts of smallholder wheat production by coupling life cycle assessment and machine learning

Wheat grain production is a vital component of the food supply produced by smallholder farms but faces significant threats from climate change. This study evaluated eight environmental impacts of wheat production using life cycle assessment based on survey data from 274 households, then built random forest models with 21 input features to contrast the environmental responses of different farming practices across three shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs), spanning from 2024 to 2100. The results indicate significant environmental repercussions. Compared to the baseline period of 2018-2020, a similar upward trend in environmental impacts is observed, showing an average annual growth rate of 5.88 % (ranging from 0.45 to 18.56 %) under the sustainable pathway (SSP119) scenario; 5.90 % (ranging from 1.00 to 18.15 %) for the intermediate development pathway (SSP245); and 6.22 % (ranging from 1.16 to 17.74 %) under the rapid economic development pathway (SSP585). Variation in rainfall is identified as the primary driving factor of the increased environmental impacts, whereas its relationship with rising temperatures is not significant. The results suggest adopting farming practices as a vital strategy for smallholder farms to mitigate climate change impacts. Emphasizing appropriate fertilizer application and straw recycling can significantly reduce the environmental footprint of wheat production. Standardized fertilization could reduce the environmental impact index by 11.10 to 47.83 %, while straw recycling might decrease respiratory inorganics and photochemical oxidant formation potential by over 40 %. Combined, these approaches could lower the impact index by 12.31 to 63.38 %. The findings highlight the importance of adopting enhanced farming practices within smallholder farming systems in the context of climate change. SPOTLIGHTS.

Influence of meteorological factors on open biomass burning at a background site in Northeast China

Biomass burning (BB) is a very important emission source that significantly adversely impacts regional air quality. BB produces a large number of primary organic aerosol (POA) and black carbon (BC). Besides, BB also provides many precursors for secondary organic aerosol (SOA) generation. In this work, the ratio of levoglucosan (LG) to organic carbon (OC) and the fire hotspots map was used to identify the open biomass burning (OBB) events, which occurred in two representative episodes, October 13 to November 30, 2020, and April 1 to April 30, 2021. The ratio of organic aerosol (OA) to reconstructed PM2.5 concentration (PM2.5*) increased with the increase of LG/OC. When LG/OC ratio is higher than 0.03, the highest OA/PM2.5* ratio can reach 80%, which means the contribution of OBB to OA is crucial. According to the ratio of LG to K+, LG to mannosan (MN) and the regional characteristics of Longfengshan, it can be determined that the crop residuals are the main fuel. The occurrence of OBB coincides with farmers' preferred choices, i.e., burning biomass in "bright weather". The "bright weather" refers to the meteorological conditions with high temperature, low humidity, and without rain. Meteorological factors indirectly affect regional biomass combustion pollution by influencing farmers' active choices.

Hourly emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases from open biomass burning in China during 2016-2020

Open biomass burning (OBB) is a significant source of air pollutants and greenhouse gases that have contributed to air pollution episodes in China in recent years. An accurate emission inventory is critical for the precise control of OBB. Existing OBB emission datasets are commonly based on MODIS observations, and most only have a daily-scale temporal resolution. Daily OBB emissions, however, might not accurately represent diurnal variations, peak hours, or any open burning processes. The China Hourly Open Biomass Burning Emissions (CHOBE) dataset for mainland China from 2016 to 2020 was developed in this study using the spatiotemporal fusion of multiple active fires from MODIS, VIIRS S-NPP and Himawari-8 AHI detections. At a spatial resolution of 2 km, CHOBE provided gridded CO, NOx, SO2, NH3, VOCs, PM2.5, CO2, CH4 and N2O emissions from OBB. CHOBE will enhance insight into OBB spatiotemporal variability, improves air quality and climate modelling and forecasting, and aids in the formulation of precise OBB preventive and control measures.

Value conflicts in grassroots environmental management from a network perspective: a case study of crop residue management in Harbin, China

Open burning of crop residue is a hot issue in Asia and has attracted widespread attention. However, this attention rarely extends to the complex interactions between multi-stakeholders in the governance process, which is precisely the focus of today's environmental governance dilemma. Harbin is a major grain-producing area in China, the annual air pollution caused by the open burning of crop straw is more prominent than in other parts of China, and the conflicting relationships among multi-stakeholders are also typical. Taking Harbin as a case, this study quantifies the complex relationships among stakeholders through value demands conflicts and constructs a value conflict network in the context of straw governance. Through the analysis of the network nodes and relationships, we found that grassroots governments and farmers are the core of the conflict, while public and higher-level governments, as supervisory subjects, are marginalized. The multiple identities and value demands of the grassroots government, as well as cost and technology constraints, are the main reasons for the governance dilemma. In addition, the grassroots government in different scenario dimensions has different conflict resolution strategies, and it has a strong self-adaptation ability in the embedded value conflict network and can influence and reshape other stakeholders. These findings highlight the critical role of the grassroots government in crop residue governance, add to the research paradigm on grassroots environmental management from a multiple-stakeholder participation perspective, and provide a theoretical and methodological basis to formulate effective strategies.

Heterogeneous changes of chemical compositions, sources and health risks of PM2.5 with the "Clean Heating" policy at urban/suburban/industrial sites

China has enacted the "Clean Heating" (CH) policy in north China. The domain-specific impacts on PM2.5 constituents and sources in small cities are still lacking, which obstruct the further policy optimization. Here, we performed an intensive observation covering the heating period (HP) and pre-heating period (PHP) in winter of 2017 at urban (UR), industrial (IS), and suburban (SUR) sites in one of the "2 + 26" cities. The mean PM2.5 concentrations at UR and IS decreased by 15.2 % and 4.6 %, while increased by 9.8 % at SUR in the HP compared with the PHP, indicating the heterogeneous responses. The lowest contribution percentages of coal combustion (14.6 %) and industrial emissions (17.1 %) to PM2.5 at UR in the HP implied the CH policy played more effective role. The most increase in NO3-/SO42- ratio by 26.8 % and the highest NO3- concentration at UR in the HP were linked mainly with the thermal-NOx emitted from natural gas (NG) burning in view of NOx emission reductions from other sources. The highest concentrations of OC, SO42-, K+, and Cl-, and contribution percentages of biomass burning (20.0 %) and coal combustion (24.8 %) to PM2.5 at SUR in the HP evidenced the enhanced usage of biomass/coal. Coal banning in the HP at IS and UR led to the obvious decreases in OC, SO42-, As, and Sb. Secondary nitrate became the largest PM2.5 source at IS and UR in the HP. Coal banning, emission control on large-size enterprises and ignored control on small-size enterprises efficiently modified the concentrations and health risks of heavy metals. The lowest carcinogenic risks moved from SUR in the PHP to UR in the HP. The policies on de-NOx of NG-burning related enterprises, reduction of biomass/coal usage in suburban area, and strict regulation of small-size enterprises were urgently need to further improve the air quality.

Regional monitoring of biomass burning using passive air sampling technique reveals the importance of MODIS unresolved fires

Field-based sampling can provide more accurate evaluation than MODIS in regional biomass burning (BB) emissions given the limitations of MODIS on unresolved fires. Polyurethane foam-based passive air samplers (PUF-PASs) are a promising tool for collecting atmospheric monosaccharides. Here, we deployed PUF-PASs to monitor monosaccharides and other BB-related biomarkers and presented a dataset of 31 atmospheric BB-related biomarkers in the Indo-China Peninsula (ICP) and Southwest China. The peak concentrations of monosaccharides in the ICP occurred before monsoon season. The highest concentrations were in the eastern Mekong plain, while the lowest were along the eastern coast. BB-related biomarkers displayed elevated concentrations after April, particularly in the monsoon season; however, fewer active fires were recorded by MODIS. This revealed the importance of MODIS unresolved fires (e.g., indoor biofuel combustion, small-scale BB incidents, and charcoal fires) to the regional atmosphere. The PAS derived levoglucosan concentrations indicated that, with the inclusion of MODIS unresolved fires, the estimated top-down emissions of PM (4194-4974 Gg/yr), OC (1234-1719 Gg/yr) and EC (52-384 Gg/yr) would be higher than previous bottom-up estimations in the ICP. Future studies on these MODIS unresolved fires and regional monitoring data of BB are vital for improving the modeling of regional BB emissions.

Water-soluble iron in PM2.5 in winter over six Chinese megacities: Distributions, sources, and environmental implications

Water-soluble iron (ws-Fe) in PM_2.5 plays a crucial role in biogeochemical cycles and atmospheric chemical processes. The anthropogenic sources of ws-Fe have attracted considerable attention owing to its high solubility. However, few studies have investigated the content of PM_2.5 ws-Fe in the urban environment. In the present study, we characterized the spatial distributions of ws-Fe in six Chinese megacities in the winter of 2019. Furthermore, we investigated the speciation of PM_2.5 ws-Fe (ws-Fe(II) and ws-Fe(III)), potential sources of ws-Fe, and association between ws-Fe and particle-bound reactive oxygen species (ROS). Higher ws-Fe concentrations were observed in northern cities (Harbin, Beijing, and Xi'an) than in southern cities (Chengdu, Wuhan, and Guangzhou). Moreover, atmospheric ws-Fe concentrations in urban China were several folds higher than those in urban areas of the United States and several orders of magnitude higher than those in remote oceans, indicating that China is a key contributor to global atmospheric ws-Fe. The dominant form of ws-Fe was ws-Fe(III) in Beijing, whereas ws-Fe(II) was more abundant in the other five cities. The concentrations of ws-Fe and ws-Fe(II) concentrations increased with increasing PM_2.5 levels in all the six cities, however, we did not observe any consistent pattern of ws-Fe(III) concentration. Biomass burning was a dominant source of ws-Fe in all cities except Beijing. A strong positive correlation was observed between particle-bound ROS content and ws-Fe; this finding is consistent with those of previous studies indicating that ws-Fe in PM_2.5 notably influences atmospheric chemical processes and human health.

A coupled framework for estimating pollutant emissions from open burning of specific crop residue: A case study for wheat

Crop residue open burning is considered to be one of the main sources of pollutant emissions from rural areas. It is necessary to accurately establish an emissions inventory of specific crops which could reflect the specific spatiotemporal distribution characteristics of crop residue burning emissions. However, the information for emission estimation of specific crop in each province and year is seriously data-deficient, resulting in a large uncertainty in the emissions inventory. In this study, taking the open burning of wheat residue as an example, we propose a framework for estimating pollutant emissions for specific crop residue by combining phenological information, land use data, field investigation/statistical data, and fire detection information. The wheat residue open burning proportion (OBP) and the corresponding pollutant emissions were estimated for each province in mainland China from 2003 to 2019. The national average OBP and emissions of wheat crop residue open burning first increased and then decreased during this period, with the peak in 2012. The gridded spatial distribution showed that high-emission areas were mainly concentrated in central-eastern China, and the emission areas gradually shifted from south to north from April to September. The change of daily emissions from large-scale concentrated emissions to small-scale emissions demonstrated that straw open burning prohibition policies were effective in reducing the annual emissions and peak daily emissions. This study provides a promising method for the combination of data from multiple sources to estimate open burning of crop residues. The method can be used to obtain accurate and detailed emissions data to support research into biomass burning and the development of targeted mitigation strategies.

Formation and evolution of secondary particulate matter during heavy haze pollution episodes in winter in a severe cold climate region of Northeast China

The formation and evolution of sulfate (SO₄^2-) and nitrate (NO₃^-) secondary contaminants under different stages of pollution episodes and different meteorological and emission conditions were compared, based on the simultaneous observation of fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) and its chemical components in four heavy haze pollution episodes at 14 sampling sites in a severe cold climate region of Northeast China in winter from 2017 to 2019. The results yielded two main findings. (1) Nitrate formation during the day was mainly due to the combination of high emissions and high relative humidity (RH, 50-90%), high temperature (T, 0 to 5 °C), high atmospheric oxidizability (ozone (O₃) and nitrous acid (HONO) concentrations), and high ammonia (NH₃) concentrations. Nitrate was formed by a gas-phase homogeneous reaction of the hydroxyl radical (OH·) with nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), and ammonia (NH₃). (2) The main differences in SO₄^2- formation between Northeast China and other regions were that the gas-phase oxidation process played an important role. This was mainly a result of the promotion of the gas-phase oxidation of SO₄^2- due to the high oxidizing ability and the suppression of the aqueous reaction due to the low Ts in winter and low-sulfur coal emissions. Sulfate formation mostly occurred through an aqueous phase reaction in winter, but the highest yield and the fastest production capacity were produced by the gas-phase reaction.

Impacts of chemical degradation of levoglucosan on quantifying biomass burning contribution to carbonaceous aerosols: A case study in Northeast China

Biomass burning (BB) is an important source of carbonaceous aerosols in Northeast China (NEC). Quantifying the original contribution of BB to organic carbon (OC) [BB-OC] can provide an essential scientific information for the policy-makers to formulate the control measures to improve the air quality in the NEC region. Daily PM_2.5 samples were collected in the rural area of Changchun city over the NEC region from May 2017 to May 2018. In addition to carbon contents, BB tracers (e.g., levoglucosan and K⁺_BB, defined as potassium from BB) were also determined, in order to investigate the relative contribution of BB-OC. The results showed that OC was the dominant (28%) components of PM_2.5 during the sampling period. Higher concentrations of OC, levoglucosan, and K⁺_BB were observed in the autumn followed by the winter, spring, and summer, indicating that the higher BB activities during autumn and winter in Changchun. By using the Bayesian mixing model, it was found that burning of crop residues were the dominant source (65-79%) of the BB aerosols in Changchun. During the sampling period, the aging in air mass (AAM) ratio was 0.14, indicating that ~86% of levoglucosan in Changchun was degraded. Without considering the degradation of levoglucosan in the atmosphere, the BB-OC ratios were 23%, 28%, 7%, and 4% in the autumn, winter, spring, and summer, respectively, which were 1.4-4.8 time lower than those (14-42%) with consideration of levoglucosan degradation. This illustrated that the relative contribution of BB to OC would be underestimated (~59%) without considering degradation effects of levoglucosan. Although some uncertainty was existed in our estimation, our results did highlight that the control of straw burning was an efficient way to decrease the airborne PM_2.5, improving the air quality in the NEC plain.

A Comprehensive Study of a Winter Haze Episode over the Area around Bohai Bay in Northeast China: Insights from Meteorological Elements Observations of Boundary Layer

Based on wind profile radar observations, along with high-frequency wave radar data, meteorological data, and air quality monitoring data, we studied a haze episode in Panjin—a coastal city around Bohai Bay in Northeast China—that occurred from 8 to 13 February 2020. The results show that this persistent pollution event was dominated by PM10 and PM2.5 and their mass concentrations were both ~120 μg/m3 in the mature stage. In the early stage, the southerly sea breeze of ~4.5 m/s brought a large amount of moist air from the sea, which provided sufficient water vapor for the condensation and nucleation of pollutants, and thus accelerated the formation of haze. In the whole haze process, a weak updraft first appeared in the boundary layer, according to the vertical profile, contributing to the collision and growth of particulate matter. Vertical turbulence was barely observed in the mature stage, with the haze layer reaching 900 m in its peak, suggesting stable stratification conditions of the atmospheric boundary layer. The explosive growth of pollutant concentrations was about 10 h later than the formation of the stable stratification condition of the boundary layer. The potential source areas of air pollutants were identified by the WRF-FLEXPART model, which showed the significant contribution of local emissions and the transport effect of sea breeze. This study provides insights into the formation mechanism of haze pollution in this area, but the data observed in this campaign are also valuable for numerical modeling.

Near-real-time estimation of hourly open biomass burning emissions in China using multiple satellite retrievals

Open biomass burning (OBB) is an important source of air pollutants and greenhouse gases, but its dynamic emission estimation remains challenging. Existing OBB emission datasets normally provide daily estimates based upon Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) retrievals but tend to underestimate the emissions due to the coarse spatial resolution and sparse observation frequency. In this study, we proposed a novel approach to improve OBB emission estimations by fusing multiple active fires detected by MODIS, Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer onboard the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (VIIRS S-NPP) and Himawari-8. The fusion of multiple active fires can capture the missing small fires and the large fires take place during the non-overpass time of MODIS observations. Also, regional-based fire radiative power (FRP) cycle reconstruction models and OBB emission coefficients were developed to address the large spatial discrepancies of OBB emission estimations across China and to promote the estimate to an hourly resolution. Using the new approach, hourly gridded OBB emissions in China were developed and can be updated with a lag of 1-day, or even near-real-time when real-time multiple active fires are available. OBB emissions in China based on this approach were more than 3 times of those in previous datasets. Evaluations revealed that the spatial distribution of the estimated PM_2.5 emissions from this study was more consistent with the ambient PM_2.5 concentrations during several episodes than existing datasets. The hourly OBB emissions provide new insight into its spatiotemporal variations, enhance timely and reliable air quality modeling and forecast, and support the formulation of accurate prevention and control policies of OBB.

New open burning policy reshaped the aerosol characteristics of agricultural fire episodes in Northeast China

The massive agricultural sector in the Northeast Plain, which is of great importance for the food security in China, results in a huge amount of crop residues and thus substantial concern on haze pollution due to biomass burning (BB). To seek for effective control measures on BB emissions, a dramatic transition of open burning policy occurred in Heilongjiang Province, from the "legitimate burning" policy released in 2018 to the "strict prohibition" policy implemented in 2019 and beyond. Here we explored the BB aerosols during 2020-2021 in Harbin, the capital city of Heilongjiang. Although open burning was strictly prohibited by mandatory bans, agricultural fires were not actually eliminated, as indicated by the levoglucosan levels and fire count results. In general, the BB aerosols in Harbin were attributed to the overlaying of household burning and agricultural fire emissions. The former factor laid the foundation of biomass burning impacts, with BB contributions to organic carbon and elemental carbon (f_BBOC and f_BBEC) of 35 and 47%, respectively. The latter further enhanced the BB impacts during specific episodes breaking out in the spring of 2021 as well as the fall of 2020, when f_BBOC and f_BBEC increased to 64 and 57%, respectively. In addition, comparing to the fires of 2018-2019 which occurred in winter (in response to the "legitimate burning" policy), the agricultural fires were shifted to spring and fall in the 2020-2021 campaign, accompanied with an increase of combustion efficiency. This study illustrated how the agricultural fire emissions were influenced by the transition of open burning policy.

Phosphorus emission from open burning of major crop residues in China

Biomass burning has been recognized as an important primary source of atmospheric phosphorus (P), but the measurements of P from biomass burning particles are lacking. In this work, emission factors of different P forms, including total P (TP), total dissolved P (TDP), dissolved inorganic P (DIP) and dissolved organic P (DOP), in emission particles from four types of crop residues burning were measured in a number of chamber experiments. Based on the measured emission factors and the amount of crop residue burned, a high-resolution (0.25° × 0.25°) emission inventory of P for China during 2011-2015 was firstly developed. The emission factors of TP, DIP and DOP were 0.23, 0.06 and 0.13 g/kg, 0.57, 0.17 and 0.27 g/kg, 0.52, 0.15 and 0.27 g/kg, 0.43, 0.13 and 0.25 g/kg for wheat, corn, soybean and rice straw burning, respectively. The total emissions of TP, TDP, DIP, and DOP from the four types of crop straw open burning were 72.0 × 10³ ± 6.7 × 10³ Tons, 56.3 × 10³ ± 5.5 × 10³, 20.9 × 10³ ± 2.0 × 10³ and 35.4 × 10⁴ ± 3.4 × 10³ Tons, respectively. TDP dominated the TP fraction, indicating that biomass burning was the important source of bioavailable P. The high P emission areas were mainly distributed in the Northeast and North China Plain, where were the main grain production areas in China, while P emission in economically developed areas such as Beijing and Shanghai and western areas such as Tibet and Qinghai was lower. Affected by the harvesting periods of crops, high P emissions peaked in March, April, June and October. The results herein can provide a dataset for modeling research in calculating the contribution of biomass burning sources to atmospheric P; therefore reduce uncertainties in estimating atmospheric P deposition.

Air Quality in the Harbin-Changchun Metropolitan Area in Northeast China: Unique Episodes and New Trends

Because of the unique geographical, climate, and anthropogenic emission characteristics, it is meaningful to explore the air pollution in the Harbin-Changchun (HC) metropolitan area. In this study, the Air Quality Index (AQI) and the corresponding major pollutant were investigated for the HC cities, based on the air quality data derived from the China National Environmental Monitoring Center. The number of days with the air quality level of "good" gradually increased during recent years, pointing to an improvement of the air quality in HC. It was also found that ozone, a typical secondary pollutant, exhibited stronger inter-city correlations compared to typical primary pollutants such as carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide. In addition, for nearly all the HC cities, the concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) decreased substantially in 2020 compared to 2015. However, this was not the case for ozone, with the most significant increase of ozone observed for HC's central city, Harbin. This study highlights the importance of ozone reduction for further improving HC's air quality, and the importance of agricultural fire control for eliminating heavily-polluted and even off-the-charts PM2.5 episodes.

Biomass-burning emissions could significantly enhance the atmospheric oxidizing capacity in continental air pollution

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are important precursors of photochemical pollution. However, a substantial fraction of VOCs, namely, oxygenated VOCs (OVOCs), have not been sufficiently characterized to evaluate their sources in air pollution in China. In this study, a total of 119 VOCs, including 60 OVOCs in particular, were monitored to provide a more comprehensive picture based on different online measurement techniques, proton-transfer-reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometry (PTR-ToF-MS) and online gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), at a receptor site in southeastern China during a photochemically active period. Positive matrix factorization (PMF) and photochemical age-based parameterization were combined to identify and quantify different sources of major VOCs during daytime hours, with the advantage of including VOC decay processes. The results revealed the unexpected role of biomass burning (21%) in terms of ozone (O₃) formation potential (OFP) when including the contributions of OVOCs and large contributions (30-32%) of biomass burning to aldehydes, as more OVOCs were measured in this study. We argue that biomass burning could significantly enhance the continental atmospheric oxidizing capacity, in addition to the well-recognized contributions of primary pollutants, which should be seriously considered in photochemical models and air pollution control strategies.

Source Apportionment and Toxic Potency of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the Air of Harbin, a Cold City in Northern China

A total of 68 PUF samples were collected seasonally from 17 sampling sites in Harbin, China from May 2016 to April 2017 for analyzing 15 congeners of gaseous polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (Σ15PAHs). An improved non-negative matrix (NMF) model and a positive matrix factorization (PMF) model were used to apportion the sources of PAHs. The carcinogenic risk due to exposure to PAHs was estimated by the toxicity equivalent of BaP (BaPeq). The results showed that the average concentration of Σ15PAHs was 68.3 ± 22.3 ng/m3, and the proportions of 3-ring, 4-ring, 5-ring, and 6-ring PAHs were 64.4%, 32.6%, 2.10%, and 0.89%, respectively. Among the six typical functional areas in Harbin, the Σ15PAHs concentrations were 98.1 ± 76.7 ng/m3, 91.2 ± 76.2 ng/m3, 71.4 ± 75.6 ng/m3, 67.9 ± 65.6 ng/m3, 42.6 ± 34.7 ng/m3, and 38.5 ± 38.0 ng/m3 in the wastewater treatment plant, industrial zone, business district, residential area, school, and suburb, respectively. During the sampling period, the highest concentration of Σ15PAHs was in winter. The improved NMF model and PMF model apportioned the PAHs into three sources including coal combustion, biomass burning, and vehicle exhaust. The contributions of coal combustion, biomass burning, and vehicle exhausts were 34.6 ± 3.22%, 48.6 ± 4.03%, and 16.8 ± 5.06%, respectively. Biomass burning was the largest contributor of Σ15PAHs concentrations in winter and coal combustion contributed significantly to the concentrations in summer. The average ΣBaPeq concentration was 0.54 ± 0.23 ng/m3 during the sampling period, high concentrations occurred in the cold season and low levels presented in the warm period. Vehicle exhaust was the largest contributor to the ΣBaPeq concentration of PAHs in Harbin.

Model vs. observation discrepancy in aerosol characteristics during a half-year long campaign in Northeast China: The role of biomass burning

Complex air pollutant sources and distinct meteorological conditions resulted in unique wintertime haze pollution in the Harbin-Changchun (HC) metropolitan area, China's only national-level city cluster located in the severe cold climate region. In this study, field observation and air quality modeling were combined to investigate fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) pollution during a six-month long heating season in HC's central city (Harbin). The model significantly underpredicted PM_2.5 and organic carbon (by up to ∼230 μg/m³ and 110 μgC/m³, respectively, in terms of daily average) when levoglucosan concentrations were above 0.5 μg/m³. Based on a synthesis of levoglucosan concentrations and fire counts, the large gaps were attributed to underestimation of open burning emissions by the model. However, the model tended to overpredict elemental carbon (more significantly at higher NO₂), likely pointing to an overestimation of vehicle emissions. With increasing levoglucosan, the difference between observed and simulated nitrate (nitrate_obs ‒ nitrate_mod, i.e., Δnitrate) showed a transition from negative to positive values. The positive Δnitrate were attributed to underprediction of the open-burning related nitrate, whereas the negative Δnitrate were likely caused by overprediction of nitrate from other sources (presumably vehicle emissions). The dependence of Δnitrate on levoglucosan indicated that with stronger impact of open burning, the overprediction effect was gradually offset and finally overwhelmed. Influence of open burning on sulfate formation was evident as well, but less apparent compared to nitrate. This study illustrates how the uncertainties in open burning emissions will influence PM_2.5 simulation, on not only primary components but also secondary species.