Aerosol influence domain of Beijing and peripheral city agglomeration and its climatic effect

Abstract

The aerosol distribution in Beijing and peripheral cities agglomeration (BPCA) and its regional climatic effect are investigated on the basis of the statistical analyses of satellite Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) retrieval aerosol optical depth (AOD) and the meteorological data of sunshine duration, fog days, and low cloud cover, observed at Beijing and its peripheral meteorological stations. The analysis on multi-samples variational correction of the satellite remote sensing Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) AOD under the clear sky and stable weather condition in conjunction with surface observations reveal that there was a “triangle-like” distribution pattern of the high values of aerosols in the southern “valley” of the “U-shape” megarelief of Beijing and its peripheral areas. The distribution pattern suggests that the large-scale transfer and diffusion of city agglomeration pollutants might form a relatively persistent characteristic spatial distribution of city agglomeration pollutants much larger than city-scale. Under the background of the particular megarelief effect of Beijing and peripheral areas, the high value area of TOMS AOD, as well as regional correlation distribution between clear sky sunshine duration and TOMS AOD are also similar to the composite image of MODIS AOD variational fields, that is to say, the effect of atmospheric aerosols was very distinctive in Beijing and peripheral areas. The high value area of the negative correlation between clear sky sunshine duration and TOMS AOD approximately accorded with the significant negative value area of the sunshine duration deviations of the 1980s to the 1990s, and the daily variations of the AOD also showed an anti-phase relation with those of clear sky sunshine duration. The above high correlation area of the urban aerosol impact of Beijing-Tianjin region leant towards south peripheral area, with its “center of gravity” in the south of Beijing-Tianjin agglomeration, and the main body of the high correlation area prolongating southwards, forming an aerosol influence domain of “eccentric ellipse” shape, that is to say, there was an aerosol influence domain of some “radius” in Beijing City and its peripheral areas, within and outside which sunshine duration, low cloud cover, and fog days showed a remarkable difference in interannual variation trend. At the downstream of the city agglomeration there was a significant interdecadal increment area of fog or low cloud cover, which might be associated with the local climatic feature of the regional flow convergent field in the diffusion process of city agglomeration pollutants in the aerosol influence domain, and such a local dynamical convergence feature might lead to the regional exacerbation of aerosol impact downstream of the city agglomeration. The research result reveals that the significant area of interdecadal change rate of low cloud cover within the aerosol influence domain is correlated with the regional strengthening effect of aerosol impact of the local wind structure in the “downstream plume area” of the city.