Characteristics of ultrafine particles and their relationships with meteorological factors and trace gases in Wuhan, Central China

Abstract

Ultrafine particles with a diameter below 1 μm are strongly linked to traffic and industrial emissions, causing a growing global health concern. In order to reveal the characteristics of ultrafine particles in central China, which makes up the sparse research in industrial cities of a developing country, particle number concentrations (PNC) together with meteorological parameters and concentrations of trace gases were measured over one year inWuhan. The number concentration of ultrafine particles peaked in winter and was the lowest in summer across the entire size range monitored. Further, particles with a diameter smaller than 30 nm increased dramatically in concentration with decreasing diameter. The monthly averaged number concentrations of particles discriminated in three size ranges formed a near- inverse parabolic distribution peaking in January. This trend is supported by a negative correlation between PNC and precipitation, temperature, and mixing layer height, which emphasizes the effect of these meteorological parameters on scouring, convection, and diffusion of particles. However, since wind not only disperses particulate matter but also brings in exogenous particles, wind speed plays an equivocal role in particle number concentrations. The diurnal analysis indicates that hourly measurements of trace gases concentrations could be used as a proxy for dense industrial activities and to reveal some complex chemical reactions. The results of this study offer reasonable estimations of particle impacts and provide references for policymaking of emission control in the industrial cities of developing countries.