Analysis of the Trend and Seasonal Cycle of Carbon Monoxide Concentrations in an Urban Area (4 pp)

Background, Aim and Scope Air quality is an field of major concern in large cities. This problem has led administrations to introduce plans and regulations to reduce pollutant emissions. The analysis of variations in the concentration of pollutants is useful when evaluating the effectiveness of these plans. However, such an analysis cannot be undertaken using standard statistical techniques, due to the fact that concentrations of atmospheric pollutants often exhibit a lack of normality and are autocorrelated. On the other hand, if long-term trends of any pollutant’s emissions are to be detected, meteorological effects must be removed from the time series analysed, due to their strong masking effects. Materials and Methods The application of statistical methods to analyse temporal variations is illustrated using monthly carbon monoxide (CO) concentrations observed at an urban site. The sampling site is located at a street intersection in central Valencia (Spain) with a high traffic density. Valencia is the third largest city in Spain. It is a typical Mediterranean city in terms of its urban structure and climatology. The sampling site started operation in January 1994 and monitored CO ground level concentrations until February 2002. Its geographic coordinates are W0°22′52″ N39°28′05″ and its altitude is 11 m. Two nonparametric trend tests are applied. One of these is robust against serial correlation with regards to the false rejection rate, when observations have a strong persistence or when the sample size per month is small. A nonparametric analysis of the homogeneity of trends between seasons is also discussed. A multiple linear regression model is used with the transformed data, including the effect of meteorological variables. The method of generalized least squares is applied to estimate the model parameters to take into account the serial dependence of the residuals of this model. This study also assesses temporal changes using the Kolmogorov-Zurbenko (KZ) filter. The KZ filter has been shown to be an effective way to remove the influence of meteorological conditions on O₃ and PM to examine underlying trends. Results The nonparametric tests indicate a decreasing, significant trend in the sampled site. The application of the linear model yields a significant decrease every twelve months of 15.8% for the average monthly CO concentration. The 95% confidence interval for the trend ranges from 13.9% to 17.7%. The seasonal cycle also provides significant results. There are no differences in trends throughout the months. The percentage of CO variance explained by the linear model is 90.3%. The KZ filter separates out long, short-term and seasonal variations in the CO series. The estimated, significant, long-term trend every year results in 10.3% with this method. The 95% confidence interval ranges from 8.8% to 11.9%. This approach explains 89.9% of the CO temporal variations. Discussion The differences between the linear model and KZ filter trend estimations are due to the fact that the KZ filter performs the analysis on the smoothed data rather than the original data. In the KZ filter trend estimation, the effect of meteorological conditions has been removed. The CO short-term componentis attributable to weather and short-term fluctuations in emissions. There is a significant seasonal cycle. This component is a result of changes in the traffic, the yearly meteorological cycle and the interactions between these two factors. There are peaks during the autumn and winter months, which have more traffic density in the sampled site. There is a minimum during the month of August, reflecting the very low level of vehicle emissions which is a direct consequence of the holiday period. Conclusions The significant, decreasing trend implies to a certain extent that the urban environment in the area is improving. This trend results from changes in overall emissions, pollutant transport, climate, policy and economics. It is also due to the effect of introducing reformulated gasoline. The additives enable vehicles to burn fuel with a higher air/fuel ratio, thereby lowering the emission of CO. The KZ filter has been the most effective method to separate the CO series components and to obtain an estimate of the long-term trend due to changes in emissions, removing the effect of meteorological conditions. Recommendations and Perspectives Air quality managers and policy-makers must understand the link between climate and pollutants to select optimal pollutant reduction strategies and avoid exceeding emission directives. This paper analyses eight years of ambient CO data at a site with a high traffic density, and provides results that are useful for decision-making. The assessment of long-term changes in air pollutants to evaluate reduction strategies has to be done while taking into account meteorological variability     

Role of glycine on sulfuric acid-ammonia clusters formation: Transporter or participator

Glycine(Gly) is ubiquitous in the atmosphere and plays a vital role in new particle formation(NPF).However,the potential mechanism of its on sulfuric acid(SA)-ammonia(A)clusters formation under various atmospheric conditions is still ambiguous.Herein,a(Gly)_x·(SA)_y·(A)_z(z≤x+y≤3) multicomponent system was investigated by using density functional theory(DFT) combined with Atmospheric Cluster Dynamics Code(ACDC) at different temperatures and precursor concentrations.The results show that Gly,with one carboxyl(-COOH) and one amine(-NH_2) group,can interact strongly with SA and A in two directions through hydrogen bonds or proton transfer.Within the relevant range of atmospheric concentrations,Gly can enhance the formation rate of SA-A-based clusters,especially at low temperature,low [SA],and median [A].The enhancement(R) of Gly on NPF can be up to 340 at T=218.15 K,[SA]=10~4,[A]=10~9,and [Gly]=10~7 molecules/cm~3.In addition,the main growth paths of clusters show that Gly molecules participate into cluster formation in the initial stage and eventually leave the cluster by evaporation in subsequent cluster growth at low [Gly],it acts as an important "transporter" to connect the smaller and larger cluster.With the increase of [Gly],it acts as a "participator" directly participating in NPF.     

废塑料再生过程废水中微塑料去除模拟试验

微塑料是一种存在于不同环境介质中的新兴污染物,主要来源于废弃塑料制品,其存在污染范围广、潜在环境污染大的问题.废塑料再生企业生产废水中微塑料浓度远高于其他类型废水,对其生产废水中的微塑料进行处理具有重要的环境意义.模拟废塑料再生过程的生产废水并进行微塑料去除的絮凝沉淀试验,研究絮凝剂投加量、pH、水力快速搅拌条件的单因素和正交试验对废水中微塑料去除率及其各因素作用的影响.结果表明:①当PAC (聚合氯化铝)投加量为10 mL,PAM (聚丙烯酰胺)投加量为7 mL,pH为9,水力快速搅拌条件为100 r/min下维持40 s再200 r/min下维持40 s时,微塑料的总去除率最高,达91%.②PAC投加量是影响微塑料去除效果的主要因素,其次是pH.③微塑料的去除率与其本身的密度有关,密度大的ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene,丙烯腈-丁二烯-苯乙烯)去除率最高,密度小的PE (polyethylene,聚乙烯)去除率最低.④不同粒径区间的微塑料去除率区别较大,粒径小(0.1~0.25 mm)的微塑料去除效果最好.研究显示,通过控制PAC和PAM的投加量、pH和水力搅拌速率等条件,能够有效将废水中的微塑料通过絮凝沉淀的方法去除,从而达到净化含微塑料生产废水的目的.      

北山地区大气降水中水化学及稳定同位素特征

为揭示甘肃北山地区大气降水的水化学及同位素特征,利用2012~2019年度采集的97件大气降水样品,采用相关性分析,富集因子,气团后向轨迹分析等多种方法对北山地区稳定同位素变化特征及其影响因素,降水中主要离子变化特征,不同离子来源及贡献,水汽来源进行了分析.结果表明,北山地区区域降水线的斜率与截距均高于张掖地区大气降水线;该区降水中稳定同位素比率明显受季节性,温度和高程效应的影响,在年尺度下,降雨量效应不明显;该区降水中氘盈余变化较大,雨季降水中氘盈余显著小于旱季降水中氘盈余值;北山地区大气降水的水化学型主要为HCO₃·SO₄-Ca和HCO₃-Ca型,降水中离子浓度具有明显的季节性变化,降雨量的增加对离子浓度具有一定的稀释作用;Na⁺受海源和陆源物质的双重影响;绝大部分的Ca²⁺,K⁺,HCO₃^-和部分Mg²⁺来源于陆源,SO₄^2-与NO₃^-的主要来自于人类活动输入;区内冬夏季水汽来源基本一致,来源于西北方向的季风源是北山地区最主要的水汽来源.研究成果可为我国高放废物地质处置库选址和性能评价以及未来地下处置库建设提供依据,也有助于丰富西北干旱区的水文循环过程研究.     

大气污染物影响因素的灰色关联分析

运用灰色系统理论，对产生和影响城市大气主要污染物的相关因素，利用灰色关联分析方法进行了量化分析研究，根据研究结果，提出了控制大气污染的防治对策．     

中国华北地区冬季大气污染物航空测量(Ⅰ)——空中气态污染物污染特征研究

为掌握致酸大气污染物ＳＯ２ 和ＮＯｘ 的空间浓度分布，并探讨上述污染物扩散、迁移和传输规律，进而研究其在酸性降水形成过程中的作用，在“八五”期间酸性降水的研究中，针对中国华北地区城市和工业集中以及ＳＯ２ 和ＮＯｘ 等酸性大气污染物排放量大的特点，以石家庄及其以东地区为飞行区域，进行了华北地区冬季空中ＳＯ２ 和ＮＯｘ 污染特征的航空测量。通过测定发现在华北地区１－５ ｋｍ 左右的空中存在着ＳＯ２ 和ＮＯｘ 高浓度污染空域，同时ＳＯ２ 存在着高浓度汇集区     

东海海域春季降水的化学特征

根据１９９４年４月１７日－２７日东海海域的降水雨样化学组份分析，并将春与我国上海及日本西海岸的降水化学组分进行了地比。认为东海海域的降水经与陆地源污染的输送有关，在东南风系作用下，降水肥东南海上气闭影响，从上海以东到日本以西的广阔的海域中，降水呈弱酸或中性，其化学组份表现为海洋化学的特征；在东北风系作用下，东海海域的降水主要受朝鲜半岛和日本方面污染源的影响，降水中ＳＯ４＾２－非海盐浓度比东南风系时     

主成份分析法在大气环境质量综合评价中的应用

介绍了主成份分析法评价大气环境质量的基本原理，并对某市的大气环境质量进行了综合评价。最后，与其它方法的评价结果进行了对比分析，进一步证实了主成份分析法的科学性、合理性。     

斜管沉淀池应用中存在问题的探讨

斜管沉淀池是目前广泛使用的污水物化处理工艺。针对实际应用所遇到的问题，如沉淀池进口布水不均匀，致使出水水质下降，从沉淀的基础理论，通过水力学的分析，较深入地说明了斜管沉淀池矾花泛起，水质恶化的原因。并提出了应用斜管沉淀池应注意的事项。     

大气污染综合整治规划软件在中小城镇的应用

本文阐述了大气污染综合整治规划软件在北票市的实际应用，以北票市大气污染综合整治为实例，建立了大气污染综合整治计算机处理系统，取得了满意的效果．