Continuous ground-based aerosol Lidar observation during seasonal pollution events at Wuxi, China

Abstract

Haze pollution has long been a significant research topic and challenge in China, with adverse effects on air quality, agricultural production, as well as human health. In coupling with ground-based Lidar measurements, air quality observation, meteorological data, and backward trajectories model, two typical haze events at Wuxi, China are analyzed respectively, depicting summer and winter scenarios. Results indicate that the winter haze pollution is a compound pollution process mainly affected by calm winds that induce pollution accumulation near the surface. In the summer case, with the exception of influence from PM2.5 concentrations, ozone is the main pollutant and regional transport is also a significant influencing factor. Both events are marked by enhanced PM2.5 concentrations, driven by anthropogenic emissions of pollutants such as vehicle exhaust and factory fumes. Meteorological factors such as wind speed/direction and relative humidity are also contributed. These results indicate how the vertical profile offered by routine regional Lidar monitoring helps aid in understanding local variability and trends, which may be adapted for developing abatement strategies that improve air quality.