Impacts of Transboundary Transport on Coastal Air Quality of South China

Abstract

Transboundary transport plays an important role in air pollution formation in China. The coastal area of south China (CA‐SCHN) frequently experiences air pollution in spring and autumn, but the contribution of transboundary transport to the air quality is still not clear. Meteorological field analyses reveal that large‐scale synoptic patterns over east China in spring and autumn provide favorable situations facilitating southward transport of air pollutants originated from the North China Plain (NCP) and Yangtze River Delta (YRD). A springtime case study using the WRF‐Chem model shows that trans‐boundary transport of air pollutants from the NCP and YRD contributes to 27% and 46% of ozone (O3) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations in the CA‐SCHN, respectively. In the autumn case, the contribution is around 11% for O3 and 24% for PM2.5. In the spring, air pollutants in the NCP and YRD are transported over seas by large‐scale synoptic systems to the South China Sea and re‐circulated by the sea breeze to the CA‐SCHN during daytime. In the autumn, the transport is driven by northerly winds over the land induced by large‐scale synoptic systems, and is also modulated by the local mountain‐valley breeze circulation. The results provide support for design and implementation of air pollutants control strategies in the CA‐SCHN.

Shifts of Formation Regimes and Increases of Atmospheric Oxidation Led to Ozone Increase in North China Plain and Yangtze River Delta From 2016 to 2019

“…That was caused by that the O 3 pollution in the VOC‐limited regime was usually more serious than that of NO x ‐limited and transition regimes in NCP and YRD (Wang, Zhu, et al., 2021; S. Q. Zhu et al., 2021), thus causing more O 3 V accumulation. Furthermore, the significant effects of atmospheric transport brought more O 3 V from the regions covered by VOC‐limited to those regions covered by NO x ‐limited and transition regimes (L. Shen et al., 2022; Wu et al., 2022). An obvious seasonal variations of O 3 formation regimes showed that the NCP and YRD regions were mainly covered by NO x ‐limited regimes in the summer and VOC‐limited regimes in the winter, which were similar with the previous studies (Figures S18–S21 in Supporting Information ; Y. P. Chen et al., 2023; S. Q. Zhu et al., 2021).…”

Spatiotemporal Variations of the Effects of Aerosols on Clouds and Precipitation in an Extreme‐Rain‐Producing MCS in South China

“…During this rainy season, 20%–90% of precipitation is produced by MCSs (Luo et al., 2013; Yun et al., 2021). This season of South China is also often affected by air pollution, having local surface concentrations of the particular matter with diameters of ≤2.5 μm (PM 2.5 ) reaching 100+ μg m −3 (Cui et al., 2015; Wu et al., 2022). Meanwhile, agriculture‐related wildfires frequently occur in the Indo‐China Peninsula (Zhu et al., 2022).…”

Assessing transboundary air pollution and joint prevention control policies: evidence from China

“…Chen et al (2021) indicated that transboundary air mass transport still significantly contributes to pollutant levels, suggesting the need for further regional control strategies. Wu et al (2022) conducted modeling research showing that transboundary transport of air pollutants from northern China and the Yangtze River Delta has a significant impact on air quality in the southern coastal areas of China.…”