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Luo H, Tang X, Wu H, Kong L, Wu Q, Cao K, Song Y, Luo X, Wang Y, Zhu J, Wang Z. The Impact of the Numbers of Monitoring Stations on the National and Regional Air Quality Assessment in China During 2013-18. Adv Atmos Sci 2022; 39:1709-1720. [PMID: 35669259 PMCID: PMC9148413 DOI: 10.1007/s00376-022-1346-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2021] [Revised: 02/11/2022] [Accepted: 02/28/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
China national air quality monitoring network has become the core data source for air quality assessment and management in China. However, during network construction, the significant change in numbers of monitoring sites with time is easily ignored, which brings uncertainty to air quality assessments. This study aims to analyze the impact of change in numbers of stations on national and regional air quality assessments in China during 2013-18. The results indicate that the change in numbers of stations has different impacts on fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and ozone concentration assessments. The increasing number of sites makes the estimated national and regional PM2.5 concentration slightly lower by 0.6-2.2 µg m-3 and 1.4-6.0 µg m-3 respectively from 2013 to 2018. The main reason is that over time, the monitoring network expands from the urban centers to the suburban areas with low population densities and pollutant emissions. For ozone, the increasing number of stations affects the long-term trends of the estimated concentration, especially the national trends, which changed from a slight upward trend to a downward trend in 2014-15. Besides, the impact of the increasing number of sites on ozone assessment exhibits a seasonal difference at the 0.05 significance level in that the added sites make the estimated concentration higher in winter and lower in summer. These results suggest that the change in numbers of monitoring sites is an important uncertainty factor in national and regional air quality assessments, that needs to be considered in long-term concentration assessment, trend analysis, and trend driving force analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hongyan Luo
- LAPC & ICCES, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029 China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049 China
| | - Xiao Tang
- LAPC & ICCES, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029 China
- Center for Excellence in Regional Atmospheric Environment, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen, 361021 China
| | - Huangjian Wu
- LAPC & ICCES, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029 China
| | - Lei Kong
- LAPC & ICCES, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029 China
| | - Qian Wu
- LAPC & ICCES, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029 China
| | - Kai Cao
- LAPC & ICCES, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029 China
| | - Yating Song
- LAPC & ICCES, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029 China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049 China
| | - Xuechun Luo
- LAPC & ICCES, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029 China
| | - Yao Wang
- LAPC & ICCES, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029 China
| | - Jiang Zhu
- LAPC & ICCES, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029 China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049 China
| | - Zifa Wang
- LAPC & ICCES, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029 China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049 China
- Center for Excellence in Regional Atmospheric Environment, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen, 361021 China
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