From highly polluted inland city of China to “Lanzhou Blue”: The air-pollution characteristics

From highly polluted inland city of China to "Lanzhou Blue" :The air-pollution characteristics

Air quality was improved considerably and the so-called "Lanzhou Blue" appeared frequently in Lanzhou due to implementation of some strict emission-control measures in recent years. To better understand whether the concentration of each air pollutant had decreased significantly and then give some suggestions as to urban air-quality improvement in the near future, the variations of the Air Quality Index (AQI) and six criterion air pollutants (PM_2.5, PM₁₀, CO, SO₂, NO₂, and O₃) at five state-controlled monitoring sites of Lanzhou were studied from 2013 to 2016. The AQI, PM_2.5, PM₁₀, and SO₂ gradually decreased from 2013 to 2016, while CO and NO₂ concentrations had slightly increasing trends, especially in urban areas, due to the large number of motor vehicles, which had an annual growth rate of 30.87%. The variations of the air pollutants in the no-domestic-heating season were more significant than those in the domestic-heating season. The increase of ozone concentration for the domestic-heating season at a background station was the most significant among the five monitoring sites. The vehicle-exhaust and ozone pollution was increasingly severe with the rapid increase in the number of motor vehicles. The particulate-matter pollution became slight in the formerly highly polluted Lanzhou City. Some synergetic measures in urban and rural areas of Lanzhou should be taken by the local government in the near future to control fine particulate-matter (PM_2.5) and ozone pollution.