Persistent pollution episodes, transport pathways, and potential sources of air pollution during the heating season of 2016–2017 in Lanzhou, China

Abstract

As one of the most important industrial cities in Northwest China, Lanzhou currently suffers from serious air pollution. This study analyzed the formation mechanism and potential source areas of persistent air pollution in Lanzhou during the heating period from November 1, 2016 to March 31, 2017 based on the air pollutant concentrations and relevant meteorological data. Our findings indicate that particulate pollution was extremely severe during the study period. The daily PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ concentrations had significantly negative correlations with daily temperature, wind speed, maximum daily boundary layer height, while the daily PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ concentrations showed significantly positive correlations with daily relative humidity. Five persistent pollution episodes were identified and classified as either stagnant accumulation or explosive growth types according to the mechanism of pollution formation and evolution. The PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ concentrations and PM_2.5/PM₁₀ ratio followed a growing “saw-tooth cycle” pattern during the stagnant accumulation type event. Dust storms caused abrupt peaks in PM₁₀ and a sharp decrease in the PM_2.5/PM₁₀ ratio in explosive growth type events. The potential sources of PM₁₀ were mainly distributed in the Kumtag Desert in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the Qaidam Basin and Hehuang Valley in Qinghai Province, and the western and eastern Hexi Corridor in Gansu Province. The contributions to PM₁₀ were more than 120 μg/m³. The important potential sources of PM_2.5 were located in Hehuang Valley in Qinghai and Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture in Gansu; the concentrations of PM_2.5 were more than 60 μg/m³.