The spatial and temporal characteristics of surface ultraviolet radiation and total ozone in urban agglomeration of Yangtze River Delta

Abstract

Urban agglomeration of Yangtze River Delta is the most developed one of three urban agglomerations in China, which consists of Shanghai, some cities located in the south of Jiangsu province and the north of Zhejiang province. Shanghai is an international economic, financial, trade and shipping center, which leads the progress of urban agglomeration of Yangtze River Delta. It is a lively region which has the fastest economy growth and the largest economy amount. The development of urban agglomeration of Yangtze River Delta has played a very important role in China's sustained and steady economic growth all the while. However, with the economic advancement in urban agglomeration of Yangtze River Delta, the augment of chemical emissions gases, such as non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHC), CFCS, CO, NO, NO2, caused the decrease of the amount of O3. According to the previous research, O3 had a strongly relationship with ultraviolet radiation (UV), and the depletion of O3 would cause the increase of ultraviolet radiation reaching the earth surface. The ultraviolet radiation has a strong negative ecological effect in many aspects, such as people, animal, plant, biogeochemical cycles and the structure of the ecosystem. In the situation, it is very meaningful for us to study the spatial and temporal characteristics of O3 and ultraviolet radiation in urban agglomeration of Yangtze River Delta based on remote sensing data; it can also be very important to analyze the relationship between the ultraviolet radiation and O3. Government departments can legislate or make planning to protect ozone layer in order to reduce the surface ultraviolet radiation reaching the surface to maintain residents' health and ecosystem according the results of the article. We used the total ultraviolet radiation product of SCIAMACHY (from Jan. 2003 to Dec. 2007), the total ozone product of SCIAMACHY (from Jan. 2003 to Sep. 2004) and OMI (from Oct. 2004 to Dec. 2007) to analyze the ultraviolet radiation and total ozone spatiotemporal characteristics reaching the earth surface, as well as the relationship between them in urban agglomeration of Yangtze River Delta. Urban agglomeration of Yangtze River Delta was divided into sixteen cities according the administration management and economy activities. The calculation results revealed that (1) the spatial feature of the annual and seasonal of ultraviolet radiation and the total ozone presented significant regional difference, but the distribution characteristics of them were not the same. The spatial character of ultraviolet radiation in urban agglomeration of Yangtze River Delta was that cities located in the lower latitude had the higher ultraviolet radiation, but had the lower total ozone. However, the cities located in the higher latitude had the lower ultraviolet radiation, but had the higher total ozone. (2) the average value of summer ultraviolet radiation of urban agglomeration of Yangtze River Delta was the highest one followed by spring, autumn, and the average value of winter ultraviolet radiation was the lowest; the total ozone of spring of urban agglomeration of Yangtze River Delta was the highest followed by summer, winter, and the total ozone of autumn was the lowest. (3) The seasonal change amplitude of ultraviolet radiation was not significant, and the trends were different, while the seasonal change range of total ozone was significant, and the trends were different. (4) The calculation results showed that there were negative correlation between the ultraviolet radiation and total ozone in urban agglomeration of Yangtze River Delta. ©2009 IEEE.