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Relationship Between Fine-Particle Pollution and the Urban Heat Island in Beijing, China: Observational Evidence

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Abstract

Urbanization has led to a significant urban heat island (UHI) effect in Beijing in recent years. At the same time, air pollution caused by a large number of fine particles significantly influences the atmospheric environment, urban climate, and human health. The distribution of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentration and its relationship with the UHI effect in the Beijing area are analyzed based on station-observed hourly data from 2012 to 2016. We conclude that, (1) in the last five years, the surface concentrations of PM2.5 averaged for urban and rural sites in and around Beijing are 63.2 and 40.7 µg m−3, respectively, with significant differences between urban and rural sites (ΔPM2.5) at the seasonal, monthly and daily scales observed; (2) there is a large correlation between ΔPM2.5 and the UHI intensity defined as the differences in the mean (ΔTave), minimum (ΔTmin), and maximum (ΔTmax) temperatures between urban and rural sites. The correlation between ΔPM2.5 and ΔTmin (ΔTmax) is the highest (lowest); (3) a Granger causality analysis further shows that ΔPM2.5 and ΔTmin are most correlated for a lag of 1–2 days, while the correlation between ΔPM2.5 and ΔTave is lower; there is no causal relationship between ΔPM2.5 and ΔTmax; (4) a case analysis shows that downwards shortwave radiation at the surface decreases with an increase in PM2.5 concentration, leading to a weaker UHI intensity during the daytime. During the night, the outgoing longwave radiation from the surface decreases due to the presence of daytime pollutants, the net effect of which is a slower cooling rate during the night in cities than in the suburbs, leading to a larger ΔTmin.

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Acknowledgements

This study is supported by National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFC0203300) the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41575010, 41575003, 41601550, 41505004, and 41675009), National special project for international scientific and technological cooperation (2015DFA20870) National Key, and the CMA climate change special foundation (CCSF201726).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Urban Meteorology, China Meteorological Administration, Beijing, 100089, China

    Zuofang Zheng & Junxia Dou

  2. Department of Atmospheric Science, School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Guoyu Ren

  3. Laboratory for Climate Studies, National Climate Center, China Meteorological Administration, Beijing, 100081, China

    Guoyu Ren

  4. School of Remote Sensing and Geomatics Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210044, China

    Hong Wang, Zhiqiu Gao, Yubin Li, Chang Cao, Mei Jiang & Yuanjian Yang

  5. Anhui Climate Center, Hefei, 230031, China

    Chunfeng Duan

  6. School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230026, China

    Jean Paul Ngarukiyimana & Chun Zhao

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  1. Zuofang Zheng
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Correspondence to Yuanjian Yang.

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Zheng, Z., Ren, G., Wang, H. et al. Relationship Between Fine-Particle Pollution and the Urban Heat Island in Beijing, China: Observational Evidence. Boundary-Layer Meteorol 169, 93–113 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-018-0362-6

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