Haze Research in Brunei Darussalam During the 1998 Episode

— Brunei Darussalam experienced a severe haze episode between the beginning of February and the end of April 1998 due mainly to local peat and forest fires in Brunei and in neighbouring Sabah and Sarawak. The extensive research studies of the haze carried out in Brunei are outlined together with selected results. Particulate matter (PM₁₀) was the only significant criteria pollutant and it exceeded WHO guidelines and accepted air quality standards on most days during the haze episode. Gaseous criteria pollutants (CO, SO₂, NO₂, O₃) were generally well below WHO guidelines and at these concentrations they are expected to have no significant health or environmental effects. Measurements of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) revealed the presence of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX), aldehydes, phenol, and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Personal exposure monitoring of PM₁₀ revealed significant differences in exposure patterns between different individuals depending on the location, time and activity. Data on outpatient visits showed an increase for some illnesses (e.g., acute respiratory infection) during the months of haze. No significant impacts of haze on rainwater acidity or deposition were noted. Emission factors for some volatile compounds were determined in combustion experiments in which peat was burned at temperatures typical of smouldering.     

Estimation of the PM2.5 effective hygroscopic parameter and water content based on particle chemical composition: Methodology and case study

Particle hygroscopicity plays a key role in understanding the mechanisms of haze formation and particle optical properties. The present study developed a method for predicting the effective hygroscopic parameter k and the water content of PM_(2.5) on the basis of the k-K?hler theory and bulk chemical components of PM_(2.5). Our study demonstrated that the effective hygroscopic parameter can be estimated using the PM_(2.5) mass concentration, water-soluble ions, and total water-soluble carbon. By combining the estimated k and ambient relative humidity, the water content of PM_(2.5) can be further estimated. As an example, the k and water content of PM_(2.5) in Beijing were estimated utilizing the method proposed in this study. The annual average value of k of PM_(2.5) in Beijing was 0.25±0.09, the maximum k value 0.26±0.08 appeared in summer, and the seasonal variation is insignificant. The PM_(2.5) water content was determined by both the PM_(2.5) hygroscopicity and the ambient relative humidity(RH). The annual average mass ratio of water content and PM_(2.5) was 0.18±0.20, and the maximum value 0.31±0.25 appeared in summer. Based on the estimated water content of PM_(2.5) in Beijing, the relationship between the PM_(2.5) water content and RH was parameterized as: m(%)=0.03+(5.73×10~(-8)) ×RH~(3.72).This parametric formula helps to characterize the relationship between the PM_(2.5) mass concentration and atmospheric visibility.     

Chemistry of Forest Fires and Regional Haze with Emphasis on Southeast Asia

— The current state of knowledge regarding the chemistry of forest fires and regional haze is reviewed. More than 100 compounds have been identified in wood smoke and many of these have also been observed in field studies. Products of biomass combustion can have different environmental effects: CO₂ and CH₄ may contribute to global warming, NO_x and SO₂ could contribute to rainwater acidity, whereas smoke particles and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) could affect human health. Also, photochemical reactions of primary emissions from biomass fires can lead to the production of secondary pollutants such as O₃. Regional haze episodes caused by forest fires have occurred in SE Asia on several occasions during the 1990s and the reported studies of these episodes are reviewed. Only total suspended particles (TSP) were determined in the earlier studies, and more comprehensive chemical investigations have only emerged during the more recent episodes, notably those of 1997 and 1998. To date, most of the measurements have centred on criteria pollutants (SO₂, NO₂, CO, O₃ and PM₁₀), however, other pollutants (e.g., VOCs, PAHs) have also been determined in certain studies. Rainwater analyses suggest that forest fires do not have a major acidifying effect because dissolved acidic gases (e.g., SO₂) are neutralised by alkaline substances (e.g., Ca, Mg, K) that are also emitted by forest fires. There is a need for further laboratory and field studies in order to investigate important pollutant transformation mechanisms.     

Modeling study of regional severe hazes over mid-eastern China in January 2013 and its implications on pollution prevention and control

The Nested Air Quality Prediction Model System(NAQPMS)was used to investigate the temporal and spatial variations of PM2.5over tropospheric central eastern China in January 2013.The impact of regional transport and its implications on pollution prevention and control were also examined.Comparison between simulated and observed PM2.5showed NAQPMS was able to reproduce the evolution of PM2.5during heavy haze episodes.The results indicated that regional transport of PM2.5played an important role in regional haze episodes in the city cluster including Hebei,Beijing and Tianjin(HBT).The cross-city clusters transport outside HBT and transport among cities inside HBT contributed 20%–35%and 26%–35%of PM2.5as compared with local emission,in HBT respectively.To meet the Air Quality Standards for Grade II,90%,90%and65%of emissions would have to be cut down in Hebei,Tianjin and Beijing,if non-control strategy was taken in the surrounding city clusters of HBT.This implicated that control of emissions in one city cluster is not sufficient to reduce regional haze events,and joint efforts among city clusters are essential.Besides regional transports,two-way feedback between boundary-layer evolution and PM2.5also significantly contributed to the formation of heavy hazes,which contributed 30%of monthly average PM2.5concentration in HBT.     

Mechanism for the formation of the January 2013 heavy haze pollution episode over central and eastern China

In January 2013,a long-lasting episode of severe haze occurred in central and eastern China,and it attracted attention from all sectors of society.The process and evolution of haze pollution episodes were observed by the"Forming Mechanism and Control Strategies of Haze in China"group using an intensive aerosol and trace gases campaign that simultaneously obtained data at 11 ground-based observing sites in the CARE-China network.The characteristics and formation mechanism of haze pollution episodes were discussed.Five haze pollution episodes were identified in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei(Jing-Jin-Ji)area;the two most severe episodes occurred during 9–15 January and 25–31 January.During these two haze pollution episodes,the maximum hourly PM2.5mass concentrations in Beijing were 680 and 530μg m 3,respectively.The process and evolution of haze pollution episodes in other major cities in the Jing-Jin-Ji area,such as Shijiazhuang and Tianjin were almost the same as those observed in Beijing.The external cause of the severe haze episodes was the unusual atmospheric circulation,the depression of strong cold air activities and the very unfavorable dispersion due to geographical and meteorological conditions.However,the internal cause was the quick secondary transformation of primary gaseous pollutants to secondary aerosols,which contributed to the"explosive growth"and"sustained growth"of PM2.5.Particularly,the abnormally high amount of nitric oxide(NOx)in the haze episodes,produced by fossil fuel combustion and vehicle emissions,played a direct or indirect role in the quick secondary transformation of coal-burning sulphur dioxide(SO2)to sulphate aerosols.Furthermore,gaseous pollutants were transformed into secondary aerosols through heterogeneous reactions on the surface of fine particles,which can change the particle’s size and chemical composition.Consequently,the proportion of secondary inorganic ions,such as sulphate and nitrate,gradually increased,which enhances particle hygroscopicity and thereby accelerating formation of the haze pollution.     

Inter-comparison of seasonal variability and nonlinear trend between AERONET aerosol optical depth and PM10 mass concentrations in Hong Kong

Here we used Empirical Mode Decomposition(EMD) method to study seasonal variability and nonlinear trend of corrected AERONET Aerosol Optical Depth(AOD/Hi) and corrected PM10 mass concentrations(PM10×f(RH)) in Hong Kong during 2005–2011. AOD/Hi is highly correlated with PM10×f(RH) in semi-annual and annual time scales(with correlation coefficient 0.67 for semi-annual and 0.79 for annual components, 95% confidence interval). On the semi-annual scale, both AOD/Hi and PM10×f(RH) can capture the two maxima in March and October, respectively, with much stronger amplitude in March probably due to the long-range transport of dust storm. On the annual cycle, the AOD/Hi and PM10×f(RH), which are negatively correlated with the precipitation and solar radiation, vary coherently with the maxima in February. This annual peak occurs about one month earlier than the first peak of the semi-annual variability in March, but with only half amplitude. During 2005–2011, both AOD/Hi and PM10×f(RH) exhibit the pronounced decreasing trend with the mean rate of 14 μg m–3 per year for PM10×f(RH), which reflects the significant effects of the air pollution control policy in Hong Kong during the past decade. The nonlinear trend analysis indicates that the decreasing of PM10×f(RH) is slower than that of AOD/Hi when the AOD/Hi is less than 0.44 but becomes faster when the AOD/Hi exceeds 0.44. These results illustrate that the AERONET AOD can be used quantitatively to estimate local air-quality variability on the semi-annual, annual, and long-term trend time scales.     

Bayesian autoregressive spatiotemporal model of PM<Subscript>10</Subscript> concentrations across Peninsular Malaysia

Rapid industrialization and haze episodes in Malaysia ensure pollution remains a public health challenge. Atmospheric pollutants such as PM₁₀ are typically variable in space and time. The increased vigilance of policy makers in monitoring pollutant levels has led to vast amounts of spatiotemporal data available for modelling and inference. The aim of this study is to model and predict the spatiotemporal daily PM₁₀ levels across Peninsular Malaysia. A hierarchical autoregressive spatiotemporal model is applied to daily PM₁₀ concentration levels from thirty-four monitoring stations in Peninsular Malaysia during January to December 2011. The model set in a three stage Bayesian hierarchical structure comprises data, process and parameter levels. The posterior estimates suggest moderate spatial correlation with effective range 157 km and a short term persistence of PM₁₀ in atmosphere with temporal correlation parameter 0.78. Spatial predictions and temporal forecasts of the PM₁₀ concentrations follow from the posterior and predictive distributions of the model parameters. Spatial predictions at the hold-out sites and one-step ahead PM₁₀ forecasts are obtained. The predictions and forecasts are validated by computing the RMSE, MAE, R² and MASE. For the spatial predictions and temporal forecasting, our results indicate a reasonable RMSE of 10.71 and 7.56, respectively for the spatiotemporal model compared to RMSE of 15.18 and 12.96, respectively from a simple linear regression model. Furthermore, the coverage probability of the 95% forecast intervals is 92.4% implying reasonable forecast results. We also present prediction maps of the one-step ahead forecasts for selected day at fine spatial scale.     

Statistical Estimation of Dose-response Functions of Respiratory Diseases and Societal Costs of Haze-related Air Pollution in Brunei Darussalam

— The effects on human health resulting from the January to April 1998 haze-related air pollution episode in Brunei Darussalam were analysed for five groups of diseases of the respiratory system. The analysis concentrated on the statistical estimation of dose-response functions which related the number of cases of respiratory diseases to the level of quality of ambient environment as measured by the pollutants standards index (PSI) and other environmental variables. The total number of cases of the five groups of diseases was shown to be significantly related to PSI and temperature. Societal costs were also estimated. The results showed that societal costs were significantly related to PSI, temperature and relative humidity. Societal costs increased with higher PSI and relative humidity but decreased with increasing temperature.     

Fine Particles (PM2.5) in Residential Areas of Lucknow City and Factors Influencing the Concentration

Urban populations are exposed to a high level of fine and ultrafine particles from motor vehicle emissions which affect human health. To assess the hourly variation of fine particle (PM_2.5) concentration and the influence of temperature and relative humidity (RH) on the ambient air of Lucknow city, monitoring of PM_2.5 along with temperature and RH was carried out at two residential locations, namely Vikas Nagar and Alambagh, during November 2005. The 24 h mean PM_2.5 concentration at Alambagh was 131.74 μg/m³ and showed an increase of 13.74%, which was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than the Vikas Nagar level. The 24 h mean PM_2.5 on weekdays for both locations was found to be 142.74 μg/m³ (an increase of 66.23%) which was significantly higher (p < 0.01) than the weekend value, indicating that vehicular pollution is one of the important sources of PM_2.5. The mean PM_2.5 at night for all the monitoring days was 157.69 μg/m³ and was significantly higher (p < 0.01) than the daytime concentration (89.87 μg/m³). Correlation and multiple regressions showed that the independent variables, i. e., time, temperature, and RH together accounted for 54%, whereas RH alone accounted for 53% of total variations of PM_2.5, suggesting that RH is the best influencing variable to predict the PM_2.5 concentration in the urban area of Lucknow city. The 24 h mean PM_2.5 for all the monitoring days was found to be higher than the NAAQS recommended by the US‐EPA (65 μg/m³) and can be considered to be an alarming indicator of adverse health effects for city dwellers.     

Lockdown as an Empirical Strategy to Curb Air Pollution: Evidence from a Quasi-Natural Experiment

In this study, three approaches namely parallel, sequential, and multiple linear regression are applied to analyze the local air quality improvements during the COVID-19 lockdowns. In the present work, the authors have analyzed the monitoring data of the following primary air pollutants: particulate matter (PM₁₀ and PM_2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), and carbon monoxide (CO). During the lockdown period, the first phase has most noticeable impact on airquality evidenced by the parallel approach, and it has reflected a significant reduction in concentration levels of PM₁₀ (27%), PM_2.5 (19%), NO₂ (74%), SO₂ (36%), and CO (47%), respectively. In the sequential approach, a reduction in pollution levels is also observed for different pollutants, however, these results are biased due to rainfall in that period. In the multiple linear regression approach, the concentrations of primary air pollutants are selected, and set as target variables to predict their expected values during the city's lockdown period.The obtained results suggest that if a 21-days lockdown is implemented, then a reduction of 42 µg m⁻³ in PM₁₀, 23 µg m⁻³ in PM_2.5, 14 µg m⁻³ in NO₂, 2 µg m⁻³ in SO₂, and 0.7 mg m⁻³ in CO can be achieved.     

Average mass concentrations of TSP, PM10 and PM2.5 in Erzurum urban atmosphere, Turkey

In this study, particulate matters (TSP, PM₁₀, PM_2.5 and PM_10–2.5) which are hazardous for environment and human health were investigated in Erzurum urban atmosphere at a sampling point from February 2005 to February 2006. During sampling, two low volume samplers were used and each sampling period lasted approximately 24 h. In order for detection of representative sampling region and point of Erzurum, Kriging method was applied to the black smoke concentration data for winter seasons. Mass concentrations of TSP, PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 of Erzurum urban atmosphere were measured on average, as 129, 31 and 13 μg/m³, respectively, in the sampling period. Meteorological factors, such as temperature, wind speed, wind direction and rainfall were typically found to be affecting PMs, especially PM_2.5. Air temperature did not seem to be significantly affecting TSP and PM₁₀ mass concentrations, but had a considerably negative induction on PM_2.5 mass concentrations. However, combustion sourced PM_2.5 was usually diluted from the urban atmosphere by the speed of wind, soil sourced coarse mode particle concentrations (TSP, PM₁₀) were slightly affected by the speed of wind. Rainfall was found to be decreasing concentrations to 48% in all fractions (TSP, PM₁₀, PM_10–2.5, PM_2.5) and played an important role on dilution of the atmosphere. Fine mode fraction of PM (PM_2.5) showed significant daily and seasonal variations on mass concentrations. On the other hand, coarse mode fractions (TSP, PM₁₀ and PM_10–2.5) revealed more steady variations. It was observed that fine mode fraction variations were affected by the heating in residences during winter seasons.     

Three-dimensional analysis of ozone and PM<Subscript>2.5</Subscript> distributions obtained by observations of tethered balloon and unmanned aerial vehicle in Shanghai,China

A lightweight unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and a tethered balloon platform were jointly used to investigate three-dimensional distributions of ozone and PM_2.5 concentrations within the lower troposphere (1000 m) at a localized coastal area in Shanghai, China. Eight tethered balloon soundings and three UAV flights were conducted on May 25, 2016. Generalized additive models (GAMs) were used to quantitatively describe the relationships between air pollutants and other obtained parameters. Field observations showed that large variations were captured both in the vertical and horizontal distributions of ozone and PM_2.5 concentrations. Significant stratified layers of ozone and PM_2.5 concentrations as well as wind directions were observed throughout the day. Estimated bulk Richardson numbers indicate that the vertical mixing of air masses within the lower troposphere were heavily suppressed throughout the day, leading to much higher concentrations of ozone and PM_2.5 in the planetary boundary layer (PBL). The NO and NO₂ concentrations in the experimental field were much lower than that in the urban area of Shanghai and demonstrated totally different vertical distribution patterns from that of ozone and PM_2.5. This indicates that aged air masses of different sources were transported to the experimental field at different heights. Results derived from the GAMs showed that the aggregate impact of the selected variables for the vertical variations can explain 94.3% of the variance in ozone and 94.5% in PM_2.5. Air temperature, relative humidity and atmospheric pressure had the strongest effects on the variations of ozone and PM_2.5. As for the horizontal variations, the GAMs can explain 56.3% of the variance in ozone and 57.6% in PM_2.5. The strongest effect on ozone was related to air temperature, while PM_2.5 was related to relative humidity. The output of GAMs also implied that fine aerosol particles were in the stage of growth in the experimental field, which is different from ozone (aged air parcels of ozone). Geographical parameters influenced the horizontal variations of ozone and PM_2.5 concentrations by changing underlying surface types. The differences of thermodynamic properties between land and sea resulted in quick changes of PBL height, air temperature and dew point over the coastal area, which was linked to the extent of vertical mixing at different locations. The results of GAMs can be used to analyze the sources and formation mechanisms of ozone and PM_2.5 pollutions at a localized area.     

Indoor Radon Radioactivity at the University of Brunei Darussalam

— Indoor radon radioactivity in the rooms on the ground floor and first floor of the Physics Department, Faculty of Science, Universiti Brunei Darussalam was measured using a system that consists of an air filter pump, ZnS detector, photomultiplier tube and counter. Ground floor rooms' radon radioactivity was found to be about three times higher than that of the first floor. The maximum ground floor indoor radioactivity is only 0.39 Bqm^?3, a value relatively low and safe compared to the mean outdoor radon concentration of 1.41 Bqm^?3 measured (HU and TAN, 2000). The main source of radon emanation originates from the ground soil rather than the building materials.     

Evaluation and potential improvements of WRF/CMAQ in simulating multi-levels air pollution in megacity Shanghai,China

The accuracy of atmospheric numerical model is important for the prediction of urban air pollution. This study investigated and quantified the uncertainties of meteorological and air quality model during multi-levels air pollution periods. We simulated the air quality of megacity Shanghai, China with WRF/CMAQ (Weather Research and Forecasting model and Community Multiscale Air Quality model) at both non-pollution and heavy-pollution episodes in 2012. The weather prediction model failed to reproduce the surface temperature and wind speed in condition of high aerosol loading. The accuracy of the air quality model showed a clear dropping tendency from good air quality conditions to heavily polluted episodes. The absolute model bias increased significantly from light air pollution to heavy air pollution for SO₂ (from 2 to 14%) and for PM₁₀ (from 1 to 33%) in both urban and suburban sites, for CO in urban sites (from 8 to 48%) and for NO₂ in suburban sites (from 1 to 58%). A test of applying the Urban Canopy Model scheme to the WRF model showed fairly good improvement on predicting the meteorology field, but less significant effect on the air pollutants (6% for SO₂ and 19% for NO₂ decease in model bias found only in urban sites). This study gave clear evidence to the sensitivities of the model performance on the air pollution levels. It is suggested to consider this impact as a source for model bias in the model assessment and make improvement in the model development in the future.     

Correlation between plasmid DNA damage induced by PM10 and trace metals in inhalable particulate matters in Beijing air

Based on the study of Beijing PM₁₀ bioreactivity with the newly developed plasmid DNA assay method, and analysis for trace elements of PM₁₀, the cause of plasmid DNA damage by PM₁₀ was investigated. The study showed that plasmid DNA oxidative damages by PM₁₀ are of difference in different seasons at various areas. The concentrations of TM50 of PM₁₀ in whole samples respectively collected at urban and comparison sites during winter were 900 μg mL⁻¹ and 74 μg mL⁻¹, while those in their corresponding soluble fractions were 540 μg mL⁻¹ and 86 μg mL⁻¹. In contrast, TM50 contents of PM₁₀ from summer whole samples at urban areas and comparison sites were 116 μg mL⁻¹ and 210 μg mL⁻¹, whereas those in their soluble fractions were 180 μg mL⁻¹ and 306 μg mL⁻¹. The difference of bioreactivity of Beijing PM₁₀ resulted from the variation of trace elements. The oxidative damage of plasmid DNA caused by Pb, Zn, As in PM₁₀ (whole sample) was relatively strong. TM50 and Mn, V, Zn display stronger correlation in the soluble fraction. It implies that Zn could be the major trace element in Beijing PM₁₀ which contributes to oxidative damage to plasmid DNA.     

The factors influencing the abrasion efficiency of saltating grains on a clay‐crusted playa

The entrainment and subsequent transport of PM₁₀ (particulate matter <10 µm) has become an important and challenging focus of research for both scientific and practical applications. Arid and semi‐arid environments are important sources for the atmospheric loading of PM₁₀, although the emission of this material is often limited by surface crusts. It has been suggested that the primary mechanisms through which PM₁₀ is released from a crusted surface are abrasion by saltating grains or disturbance by agricultural and recreational activities. To examine the importance of saltation abrasion in the emission of PM₁₀, a series of field wind tunnel tests were conducted on a clay‐crusted surface near Desert Wells, Arizona. In a previous part of this study it was found that the emission rate varies linearly with the saltation transport rate, although there can be considerable variation in this relationship. This paper more closely examines the source of the variability in the abrasion efficiency, the amount of PM₁₀ emitted by a given quantity of saltating grains. The abrasion efficiency was found to vary with the susceptibility of the surface to abrasion, the ability of the sand to abrade that surface and the availability of material with a caliper size <10 µm within the crust. Specifically, the results of the study show that the abrasion efficiency is related to the crust strength, the amount of surface disturbance and the velocity of the saltating grains. It is concluded that the spatial and temporal variability of these controls on the abrasion efficiency imposes severe contextual limitations on experimentally derived models, and can make theoretical models too complex and impractical to be of use. Copyright­© 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modelling air pollution data by the skew-normal distribution

Particulate matter with an aerodynamic equivalent diameter of up 10 μm is commonly referred to as PM₁₀ and its harmful effects on human health are well known. We model annual means of daily concentrations of PM₁₀ in Italy by the skew-normal distribution, giving theoretical as well as empirical motivations for the model’s choice. Its adequacy is checked through Anderson–Darling statistic. The skew-normal distribution gives a very good fit to the data and it is particularly useful in estimating probabilities of high PM₁₀ concentrations.     

An empirical analysis of the impact of a bus rapid transit system on the concentration of secondary pollutants in the roadside areas of the TransJakarta corridors

A bus rapid transit (BRT) system began operation in Jakarta City, Indonesia, in January 2004 and led to a modal shift from private to public modes of transport. This modal shift from car and motorcycle to BRT reduced the emission intensity of primary pollutants, such as NO_x and CO. We applied a combined structural equation model and an artificial neural network to evaluate the impact of the BRT system on the concentration of secondary pollutants in the roadside areas in the BRT corridors. An empirical analysis was carried out using data collected at five continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations located near to the BRT TransJakarta corridors in 2005. The establishment of our structural equation model gives a better understanding of the cause–effect relationship among the factors influencing roadside ambient air pollution, and was useful in simplifying the complexity of our artificial neural network model for predicting the modal shift’s impact on the PM₁₀ values and concentration of O₃. The introduction of the BRT system, and the modal shift it produced, had a greater influence on rapidly decaying pollutants, such as PM₁₀, than on O₃ because of the exposure to near-source microenvironments, such as the roadside of the TransJakarta corridors.     

Horizontal and vertical fluxes of particulate matter during wind erosion on arable land in the province La Pampa,Argentina

A detailed analysis of horizontal and vertical particulate matter (PM) fluxes during wind erosion has been done, based on measurements of PM smaller than 10, 2.5, and 1.0 μm, at windward and leeward positions on a measuring field. The three fractions of PM measurement are differently influenced by the increasing wind and shear velocities of the wind. The measured concentrations of the coarser fractions of the fine dust, PM₁₀, and PM_2.5, increase with wind and shear velocity, whereas the PM_1.0 concentrations show no clear correlation to the shear velocity. The share of PM_2.5 on PM₁₀ depends on the measurement height and wind speed and varies between 4 and 12 m/s at the 1 m height ranging from 25% to 7% (average 10%), and at the 4 m height from 39% to 23% (average 30%). Although general relationships between wind speed, PM concentration, and horizontal and vertical fluxes could be found, the contribution of the measuring field was very low, as balances of incoming and outgoing fluxes show. Consequently, the measured PM concentrations are determined from a variety of sources, such as traffic on unpaved roads, cattle drives, tillage operations, and wind erosion, and thus, represent all components of land use and landscape structure in the near and far surroundings of the measuring field. The current results may reflect factors from the landscape scale rather than the influence of field-related variables. The measuring devices used to monitor PM concentrations showed differences of up to 20%, which led to considerable deviations when determining total balances. Differences up to 67% between the calculated fluxes prove the necessity of a previous calibration of the devices used.     

Analysis of long-term variations of fog and haze in China in recent 50 years and their relations with atmospheric humidity

Our analysis of fog and haze observations from the surface weather stations in China in recent 50 years(from 1961 to 2011)shows that the number of fog days has experienced two-stage variations,with an increasing trend before 1980 and a decreasing trend after 1990.Especially,an obvious decreasing trend after 1990 can be clearly seen,which is consistent with the decreasing trend of the surface relative humidity.However,the number of haze days has demonstrated an increasing trend.As such,the role of reduction of atmospheric relative humidity in the transition process from fog into haze has been further investigated.It is estimated that the mean relative humidity of haze days is about 69%,lower than previously estimated,which implies that it is more difficult for the haze particles to transform into fog drops.This is possibly one of the major environmental factors leading to the reduction of number of fog days.The threshold of the relative humidity for transition from fog into haze is about82%,also lower than previously estimated.Thus,the reduction of the surface relative humidity in China mainly due to the increase of the surface temperature and the saturation specific humidity may exert an obvious impact on the environmental conditions for the formations of fog and haze.In addition,our investigation of the relationship between haze and visibility reveals that with the increase of haze days,the visibility has declined markedly.Since 1961,the mean visibility has dropped from 4–10to 2–4 km,about a half of the previous horizontal distance of visibility.