Chemical and sulfur isotopic composition of precipitation in Beijing, China

Abstract

China is experiencing serious acid rain contamination, with Beijing among the worst-hit areas. To understand the chemical feature and the origin of inorganic ions in precipitation of Beijing, 128 precipitation samples were collected and analyzed for major water-soluble ions and δ 34 S. The pH values ranged from 3.68 to 7.81 and showed a volume weighted average value (VWA) of 5.02, with a frequency of acid rain of 26.8 %. The VWA value of electrical conductivity (EC) was 68.6 μS/cm, which was nearly 4 times higher than the background value of northern China. Ca 2+ represented the main cation; SO 4 2− and NO 3 − were the dominant anion in precipitation. Our study showed that SO 4 2− and NO 3 − originated from coal and fossil fuel combustion; Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ , and K + were from the continental sources. The δ 34 S value of SO 4 2− in precipitation ranged from +2.1 to +12.8‰ with an average value of +4.7‰. The δ 34 S value showed a winter maximum and a summer minimum tendency, which was mainly associated with temperature-dependent isotope equilibrium fractionation as well as combustion of coal with relatively positive δ 34 S values in winter. Moreover, the δ 34 S values revealed that atmospheric sulfur in Beijing are mainly correlated to coal burning and traffic emission; coal combustion constituted a significant fraction of the SO 4 2− in winter precipitation.

Effect of the pollution control measures on PM2.5 during the 2015 China Victory Day Parade: Implication from water-soluble ions and sulfur isotope

“…No signifi- during the sampling period. The data of sulfur isotope in the coal of North China are from Maruyama et al (2000); the data of sulfur isotope in rain water of Beijing are from Zhu et al (2015); the data of sulfur isotope in biogenic sulfur are from Mast et al (2001).…”

Contribution of Hydroxymethane Sulfonate to Ambient Particulate Matter: A Potential Explanation for High Particulate Sulfur During Severe Winter Haze in Beijing

“…We also specify SO 2 at 50 ppb, based on observations in January 2013 (Y. Wang et al, ). We select cloud pH value of 5 for the base case, based on the constraints described in section 1 (Jiang et al, ; Liu et al, ; Zhu et al, ). By varying pH and HCHO and SO 2 concentrations in a series of simulations, we test the sensitivity of HMS formation to these three parameters.…”

“…More recent observations infer an aerosol pH of ~4–5 during haze events (Guo et al, ; Liu et al, ; Song et al, ), which implies a somewhat higher pH in cloud droplets due to ion exchange between cloud and aerosol during cloud processing (Ervens, ; Liu et al, ). In addition, precipitation in Beijing reveals pH values of ~5.5–6 (Huo et al, ; Tang et al, ; Zhu et al, ). These observations together suggest that cloud pH in Beijing likely occurs in the 5–6 range.…”

Investigating Source Contributions of Size‐Aggregated Aerosols Collected in Southern Ocean and Baring Head, New Zealand Using Sulfur Isotopes

“…Geochemical and sulfur isotopic analyses are useful tools in determining the sources of sulfate. Cation and anion analyses are useful in partitioning between SO 4 2− SS and SO 4 2− NSS , and changes in the sulfur isotopic composition (δ 34 S) can help in differentiating SO 4 2− sources: δ 34 S of SO 4 2− SS (δ 34 S SS ) is a constant +21‰ (Rees et al, ), δ 34 S values of DMS range between +15‰ and +19‰ (Amrani et al, ; Krouse & Grinenko, ; Oduro et al, ), while most anthropogenic and terrestrial sulfates display much lower δ 34 S values between −5‰ and +10‰ (Calhoun et al, ; Krouse & Grinenko, ; McArdle et al, ; Sakai et al, ; Zhu et al, ). In this work, a full‐year sampling campaign was conducted to collect size‐segregated aerosols derived from the marine sector (subtropical frontal region and the Southern Ocean) and all sectors (ambient environment) at Baring Head, New Zealand (41.4°S, 174.9°E, Figure ).…”

“…Third, the observed seasonal variations of Southern Ocean sulfate (e.g., McCoy et al, 2015;Udisti et al, 2012) were unexplained and difficult to predict because the variation of each sulfate source was unknown. (Rees et al, 1978), δ 34 S values of DMS range between +15‰ and +19‰ (Amrani et al, 2013;Krouse & Grinenko, 1991;Oduro et al, 2012), while most anthropogenic and terrestrial sulfates display much lower δ 34 S values between À5‰ and +10‰ (Calhoun et al, 1991;Krouse & Grinenko, 1991;McArdle et al, 1998;Sakai et al, 1982;Zhu et al, 2016). In this work, a full-year sampling campaign was conducted to collect size-segregated aerosols derived from the marine sector (subtropical frontal region and the Southern Ocean) and all sectors (ambient environment) at Baring Head, New Zealand (41.4°S, 174.9°E, Figure 1).…”