Abstract
Due to its negative impact on the living environment of human beings, ambient air pollution has become a global challenge to human health. In this study, surface observations of six criteria air pollutants, including PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NO2, CO and O3, were collected to investigate the spatial and temporal variation in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH) region during 2013–2016 and to explore the relationships between atmospheric pollutants and meteorological variables using quantile regression model (QRM) and multiple linear regression model (MLRM). The results show that BTH region has experienced significant air pollution, and the southern part generally has more severe conditions. The annual average indicates clear decreasing trends of the particulate matters, SO2 and CO concentrations over the last 4 years and slight increasing trends of NO2 and O3 in several cities. The seasonal and monthly characteristics indicate that the concentrations of five species reach their maxima in the winter and their minima in the summer, whereas O3 has the opposite behaviour. Finally, the pseudo R2 values show that the QRMs have the best performance in the winter, followed by spring, fall, and summer. Specifically, all the meteorological factors have significant impacts on air pollution but change with pollutants and seasons. The MLRM results are generally consistent with the QRM results in all seasons, and the inconsistencies are more common in the fall and winter. The results of this research provide foundational knowledge for predicting the response of air quality to climate change in the BTH region.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41301417), the Chongqing Natural Science Foundation (No. cstc2014jcyjA20017), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. XDJK2015B022). We would like to thank the editors and anonymous referees for their constructive comments.
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Hu, Z., Tang, X., Zheng, C. et al. Spatial and temporal analyses of air pollutants and meteorological driving forces in Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region, China. Environ Earth Sci 77, 540 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-018-7705-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-018-7705-y