The impact of particulate pollution control on aerosol hygroscopicity and CCN activity in North China

Bibliographic Data

ID15547017
AuthorsYuxiang Wang (0000-0002-1049-8469, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, corresponding author), Yuying Wang (0009-0003-3740-8472, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, corresponding author), Xiaorui Song (0000-0001-6225-1516, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology), Yi Shang (0000-0001-5795-1198, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, corresponding author), Yunxiang Zhou (Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology), Xin Huang (0009-0007-5355-1008, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology), Zhanqing Li (0000-0001-6737-382X, University of Maryland, College Park)
Year2023
Volume18
Issue7
Pages074028-074028
Publication date2023-06-15
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEnvironmental Research Letters (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1748-9326 • E-ISSN: 1748-9326
PublisherIOP Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1088/1748-9326/acde91
OpenAlexW4380854285
LanguageEN
References cited28

Air quality has greatly improved in China owing to the strict control policy enforced during the last decade. This study investigated the impact of particulate pollution control on aerosol hygroscopicity and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activity in North China based on several data sources. The mass concentration of particles with an aerodynamic diameter smaller than 2.5 μ m (PM 2.5 ) decreased by one third from the summer of 2014 to the summer of 2020 in Xinzhou (XZ). The mass fractions of aerosol chemical components in PM 2.5 also clearly changed, showing an increase in hydrophilic inorganics and a decrease in hydrophobic organics and black carbon from 2014 to 2020. Measurements of the particle number size distribution in XZ indicate that the occurrence frequency of new particle formation (NPF) events decreased significantly from 2014 to 2020, leading to a reduction in the generation of daytime ultrafine particles. The weakened NPF and increasing influence of morning and evening peak emissions modified the diurnal variations of the number concentration of condensation nuclei ( N CN ) and CCN ( N CCN ). The aerosol activation ratio was always higher in the summer of 2014 than in the summer of 2020. These results demonstrate that particulate pollution control can decrease N CN and N CCN but enhance aerosol hygroscopicity and activation ability

Aerodynamic diameter · Aerosol · Air pollution · Atmospheric sciences · Cloud condensation nuclei · Geography · Mass concentration (chemistry) · Meteorology · Morning · Particle (ecology · Particulate pollution · Particulates · Physics · Relative humidity · Air Quality and Health Impacts · Atmospheric aerosols and clouds · Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols · Chemistry · Environmental Science · Environmental Chemistry · Pollution

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