SO 2 measurements made in recent years at sites in Beijing and its surrounding areas are performed to study the variations and trends of surface SO 2 at different types of sites in Northern China.The overall average concentrations of SO 2 are （16.8±13.1） ppb,（14.8±9.4） ppb,and （7.5±4.0） ppb at China Meteorological Administration （CMA,Beijing urban area）,Gucheng （GCH,relatively polluted rural area,110 km to the southwest of Beijing urban area）,and Shangdianzi （SDZ,clean background area,100 km to the northeast of Beijing urban area）,respectively.The SO 2 levels in winter （heating season） are 4–6 folds higher than those in summer.There are highly significant correlations among the daily means of SO 2 at different sites,indicating regional characteristics of SO 2 pollution.Diurnal patterns of surface SO 2 at all sites have a common feature with a daytime peak,which is probably caused by the downward mixing and/or the advection transport of SO 2 -richer air over the North China Plain.The concentrations of SO 2 at CMA and GCH show highly significant downward trends （–4.4 ppb/yr for CMA and –2.4 ppb/yr for GCH）,while a less significant trend （–0.3 ppb/yr） is identified in the data from SDZ,reflecting the character of SDZ as a regional atmospheric background site in North China.The SO 2 concentrations of all three sites show a significant decrease from period before to after the control measures for the 2008 Olympic Games,suggesting that the SO 2 pollution control has long-term effectiveness and benefits.In the post-Olympics period,the mean concentrations of SO 2 at CMA,GCH,and SDZ are （14.3±11.0） ppb,（12.1±7.7） ppb,and （7.5±4.0） ppb,respectively,with reductions of 26%,36%,and 13%,respectively,compared to the levels before.Detailed analysis shows that the differences of temperature,relative humidity,wind speed,and wind direction were not the dominant factors for the significant differences of SO 2 between the pre-Olympics and post-Olympics periods.By extractin
Weili LinXiaobin XUZhiqiang MaHuarong ZhaoXiwen LiuYing Wang
Previous measurements of peroxyacetyl nitrate （PAN） in Asian megacities were scarce and mainly conducted for relative short periods in summer. Here, we present and analyze the measurements of PAN, O3, NOx, etc., made at an urban site （CMA） in Beijing from 25 January to 22 March 2010. The hourly concentration of PAN averaged 0.70 × 10^-9 mol/mol （0.23 × 10^9-3.51 × 10^9 mol/mol） and was well correlated with that of NOa but not O3, indicating that the variations of the winter concentrations of PAN and O3 in urban Beijing are decoupled with each other. Wind conditions and transport of air masses exert very significant impacts on O3, PAN, and other species. Air masses arriving at the site originated either from the boundary layer over the highly polluted N-S-W sector or from the free troposphere over the W-N sector. The descending free-tropospheric air was rich in O3, with an average PAN/O3 ratio smaller than 0.O31, while the boundary layer air over the polluted sector contained higher levels of PAN and primary pollutants, with an average PAN/O3 ratio of 0.11. These facts related with transport conditions can well explain the observed PAN-O3 decoupling. Photochemical production is important to PAN in the winter over Beijing. The concentration of the peroxyacetyl （PA） radicai was estimated to be in the range of 0.0014 × 10^-12～0.0042 × 10^-12 mol/mol. The contributions of the formation reaction and thermal decomposition to PAN＇s variation were calculated and found to be significant even in the colder period in air over Beijing, with the production exceeding the decomposition.
