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Title: Seesaw haze pollution in North China modulated by the sub-seasonal variability of atmospheric circulation

Abstract

Utilizing a recent observational dataset of particulate matter with diameters less than 2.5µm (PM2.5) in North China, this study reveals adistinct seesaw feature of abnormally high and low PM2.5 concentrationsin the adjacent two months of December 2015 and January 2016, accompanied bydistinct meteorological modulations. The seesaw pattern is postulated to belinked to a super El Niño and the Arctic Oscillation (AO). During themature phase of El Niño in December 2015, the weakened East Asian wintermonsoon (EAWM) and the associated low-level southerly wind anomaly reducedplanetary boundary layer (PBL) height, favoring strong haze formation. Thiscirculation pattern was completely reversed in the following month, in partdue to a sudden phase change of the AO from positive to negative and thebeginning of a decay of the El Niño, which enhanced the southward shiftof the upper tropospheric jet from December to January relative toclimatology, leading to an enhanced EAWM and substantially lower hazeformation. This sub-seasonal change in circulation is also robustly found in1982–1983 and 1997–1998, implicative of a general physical mechanismdynamically linked to El Niño and the AO. Numerical experiments using theWeather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Community Multiscale Air Quality(CMAQ) model were used to test the modulation of the meteorologicalconditions on haze formation. With the same emission, simulationsmore » for threesuper El Niño periods (1983, 1997 and 2015) robustly show higherPM2.5 concentrations under the mature phase of the super El Niño,but substantially lower PM2.5 concentrations during the decay phase ofEl Niño (and the sudden AO phase change), further verifying themodulation effect of the sub-seasonal circulation anomaly on PM2.5 concentrations in North China« less

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [3]; ORCiD logo [4]; ORCiD logo [5]; ORCiD logo [6]; ORCiD logo [7];  [1];  [2]; ORCiD logo [2]
  1. Ocean Univ. of China, Qingdao (China)
  2. Ocean Univ. of China, Qingdao (China); Qingdao National Lab. for Marine Science and Technology (China)
  3. Ocean Univ. of China, Qingdao (China); Qingdao National Lab. for Marine Science and Technology (China); CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, Aspendale, VIC (Australia)
  4. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
  5. Tsinghua Univ., Beijing (China)
  6. Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
  7. Nanjing Univ. (China)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1496805
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-139097
Journal ID: ISSN 1680-7324
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC05-76RL01830
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (Online)
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (Online); Journal Volume: 19; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 1680-7324
Publisher:
European Geosciences Union
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; Haze, El Nino, Arctic Oscillation, East Asian Winter Monsoon, WRF/CMAQ

Citation Formats

Zhang, Ge, Gao, Yang, Cai, Wenju, Leung, L. Ruby, Wang, Shuxiao, Zhao, Bin, Wang, Minghuai, Shan, Huayao, Yao, Xiaohong, and Gao, Huiwang. Seesaw haze pollution in North China modulated by the sub-seasonal variability of atmospheric circulation. United States: N. p., 2019. Web. doi:10.5194/acp-19-565-2019.
Zhang, Ge, Gao, Yang, Cai, Wenju, Leung, L. Ruby, Wang, Shuxiao, Zhao, Bin, Wang, Minghuai, Shan, Huayao, Yao, Xiaohong, & Gao, Huiwang. Seesaw haze pollution in North China modulated by the sub-seasonal variability of atmospheric circulation. United States. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-565-2019
Zhang, Ge, Gao, Yang, Cai, Wenju, Leung, L. Ruby, Wang, Shuxiao, Zhao, Bin, Wang, Minghuai, Shan, Huayao, Yao, Xiaohong, and Gao, Huiwang. Tue . "Seesaw haze pollution in North China modulated by the sub-seasonal variability of atmospheric circulation". United States. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-565-2019. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1496805.
@article{osti_1496805,
title = {Seesaw haze pollution in North China modulated by the sub-seasonal variability of atmospheric circulation},
author = {Zhang, Ge and Gao, Yang and Cai, Wenju and Leung, L. Ruby and Wang, Shuxiao and Zhao, Bin and Wang, Minghuai and Shan, Huayao and Yao, Xiaohong and Gao, Huiwang},
abstractNote = {Utilizing a recent observational dataset of particulate matter with diameters less than 2.5µm (PM2.5) in North China, this study reveals adistinct seesaw feature of abnormally high and low PM2.5 concentrationsin the adjacent two months of December 2015 and January 2016, accompanied bydistinct meteorological modulations. The seesaw pattern is postulated to belinked to a super El Niño and the Arctic Oscillation (AO). During themature phase of El Niño in December 2015, the weakened East Asian wintermonsoon (EAWM) and the associated low-level southerly wind anomaly reducedplanetary boundary layer (PBL) height, favoring strong haze formation. Thiscirculation pattern was completely reversed in the following month, in partdue to a sudden phase change of the AO from positive to negative and thebeginning of a decay of the El Niño, which enhanced the southward shiftof the upper tropospheric jet from December to January relative toclimatology, leading to an enhanced EAWM and substantially lower hazeformation. This sub-seasonal change in circulation is also robustly found in1982–1983 and 1997–1998, implicative of a general physical mechanismdynamically linked to El Niño and the AO. Numerical experiments using theWeather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Community Multiscale Air Quality(CMAQ) model were used to test the modulation of the meteorologicalconditions on haze formation. With the same emission, simulations for threesuper El Niño periods (1983, 1997 and 2015) robustly show higherPM2.5 concentrations under the mature phase of the super El Niño,but substantially lower PM2.5 concentrations during the decay phase ofEl Niño (and the sudden AO phase change), further verifying themodulation effect of the sub-seasonal circulation anomaly on PM2.5 concentrations in North China},
doi = {10.5194/acp-19-565-2019},
journal = {Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (Online)},
number = 1,
volume = 19,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Jan 15 00:00:00 EST 2019},
month = {Tue Jan 15 00:00:00 EST 2019}
}

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Cited by: 41 works
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Figures / Tables:

Figure 1 Figure 1: Monthly mean PM2.5 concentration in December 2015 (a), and the difference (b) between the anomaly of January 2016 (relative to January from 2015 to 2017) and December 2015 (relative to December from 2014 to 2016). The black box in (a) indicates the area of the NCP.

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