The Impact of Winter Heating on Air Pollution in China
Open Access
- 28 January 2015
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Public Library of Science (PLoS) in PLOS ONE
- Vol. 10 (1), e0117311
- https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0117311
Abstract
Fossil-fuel combustion related winter heating has become a major air quality and public health concern in northern China recently. We analyzed the impact of winter heating on aerosol loadings over China using the MODIS-Aqua Collection 6 aerosol product from 2004–2012. Absolute humidity (AH) and planetary boundary layer height (PBL) -adjusted aerosol optical depth (AOD*) was constructed to reflect ground-level PM2.5 concentrations. GIS analysis, standard statistical tests, and statistical modeling indicate that winter heating is an important factor causing increased PM2.5 levels in more than three-quarters of central and eastern China. The heating season AOD* was more than five times higher as the non-heating season AOD*, and the increase in AOD* in the heating areas was greater than in the non-heating areas. Finally, central heating tend to contribute less to air pollution relative to other means of household heating.This publication has 26 references indexed in Scilit:
- Analysis of the relationship between MODIS aerosol optical depth and particulate matter from 2006 to 2008Atmospheric Environment, 2011
- Spatial Variation and Distribution of Urban Energy Consumptions from Cities in ChinaEnergies, 2010
- Dynamics and origin of PM2.5during a three-year sampling period in Beijing, ChinaJournal of Environmental Monitoring, 2010
- Coal combustion and its pollution control in ChinaEnergy, 2010
- Primary air pollutant emissions of coal-fired power plants in China: Current status and future predictionAtmospheric Environment, 2008
- Source apportionment of PM2.5 in Beijing using principal component analysis/absolute principal component scores and UNMIXScience of The Total Environment, 2006
- Comparison of spatial and temporal variations of aerosol optical thickness and particulate matter over EuropeAtmospheric Environment, 2006
- Source apportionment of PM2.5 in Beijing by positive matrix factorizationAtmospheric Environment, 2006
- Modern dust storms in China: an overviewJournal of Arid Environments, 2004
- Generalized Inverses, Ridge Regression, Biased Linear Estimation, and Nonlinear EstimationTechnometrics, 1970