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Trade-driven relocation of ground-level SO2 concentrations across Chinese provinces based on satellite observations

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Abstract

The influence of trade on ground-level SO2 concentrations in China was evaluated based on multiregional input–output (MRIO) analysis, using the ozone monitoring instrument (OMI) SO2 columns and SO2 profiles from an atmospheric chemical and transport model, MOZART-4. The provincial sum of ground-level SO2 concentrations has a good consistency with the provincial SO2 emissions (R = 0.65, p < 0.01). The provincial SO2 concentrations presented strong spatial variations, with a range of 5.1–50.6 μg/m3 and an average of 19.7 μg/m3 across China. The international trade increased the SO2 concentrations in all of the provinces and increased the national population-weighted SO2 (PWM-SO2) concentration by 2.9 μg/m3. Interprovincial trade within China decreased the ambient SO2 concentrations in Beijing, Tianjin, and Chongqing and the provinces in southeast and central China, but increased SO2 in the remaining provinces of China. In general, interprovincial trade decreased the national PWM-SO2 concentration by 5.3 μg/m3.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the free use of PBL SO2 column data from the OMI sensor (https://disc.gsfc.nasa.gov/), the land use data (http://www.globallandcover.com), and the population data (http://www.resdc.cn/data.aspx?DATAID=251). This study is supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (No. BK2021156).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Institute for Earth System Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China

    Xiuying Zhang, Xinqing Lu, Zhen Wang & Xiaodi Wu

  2. Jiangsu Center for Collaborative Innovation in Geographical Information Resource Development and Application, Nanjing, 210023, China

    Xinqing Lu

  3. School of Geography and Ocean Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China

    Xiaowei Chuai

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  1. Xiuying Zhang
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Contributions

X. Zhang and X Chuai conceived and wrote this work, and X. Wu, Z. Wang, and X Lu proceeded the data. All authors made substantial contributions to discussions of content and reviewed and edited the manuscript before submission.

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Correspondence to Xiaowei Chuai.

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Zhang, X., Lu, X., Chuai, X. et al. Trade-driven relocation of ground-level SO2 concentrations across Chinese provinces based on satellite observations. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 14619–14629 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-23034-4

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