Seasonal variation of aerosol optical properties in an urban site of the Yangtze Delta region of China

Abstract

The characteristics of aerosol optical properties during 2012 at Hangzhou (30°14′N, 120°10′E), an urban site in the Yangtze Delta Region of China, were analyzed, including aerosol scattering and absorption coefficients, aerosol optical depth (AOD), Ångström exponent (α), single scattering albedo (SSA), and aerosol size distribution. Both aerosol absorption and scattering coefficients were lowest in summer; the highest absorption coefficient was observed in autumn; while the scattering was highest in winter. There were no significant differences in the seasonal average of AOD, with values of approximately 1.0 in spring, autumn and winter, and 0.72 in summer. The averaged Ångström exponent was found to be relatively high throughout the year, with a minimum value of 1.14 in spring and a maximum of 1.35 in autumn. The fine modes of the aerosol volume size distributions showed the highest peak around radius 0.15 μm in spring, autumn and winter, and radius 0.25 μm in summer, while the coarse modes showed maximum peaks at radius 2.9 μm in all seasons. The volume concentrations of coarse mode aerosols over Hangzhou were highest in spring compared with other seasons. The mean total SSA values were 0.89, 0.93, 0.89 and 0.88 at 440 nm for spring, summer, autumn and winter, respectively, indicating that the aerosols were mainly composed of scattering particles in Hangzhou. Furthermore, it was found continuous pollution events appeared in East China as a result of biomass burning during June 10–13 in 2012. The main causes of extremely severe air pollution and poor visibility in Hangzhou were related to the long-distance transport of pollutants, local pollution emission and stagnant weather conditions. Aerosol optical properties exhibited high value in absorption AOD and high aerosol volumes, low SSA in coarse mode after biomass burning.