Substantial contribution of transported emissions to organic aerosol in Beijing
Haze in Beijing is linked to atmospherically formed secondary organic aerosol, which has been shown to be particularly harmful to human health. However, the sources and formation pathways of these secondary aerosols remain largely unknown, hindering effective pollution mitigation. Here we have quantified the sources of organic aerosol via direct near-molecular observations in central Beijing. In winter, organic aerosol pollution arises mainly from fresh solid-fuel emissions and secondary organic aerosols originating from both solid-fuel combustion and aqueous processes, probably involving multiphase chemistry with aromatic compounds. The most severe haze is linked to secondary organic aerosols originating from solid-fuel combustion, transported from the Beijing-Tianjing-Hebei Plain and rural mountainous areas west of Beijing. In summer, the increased fraction of secondary organic aerosol is dominated by aromatic emissions from the Xi'an-Shanghai-Beijing region, while the contribution of biogenic emissions remains relatively small. Overall, we identify the main sources of secondary organic aerosol affecting Beijing, which clearly extend beyond the local emissions in Beijing. Our results suggest that targeting key organic precursor emission sectors regionally may be needed to effectively mitigate organic aerosol pollution.
Authors
- Markku Kulmala (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3464-7825)
- Alexander L. Vogel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1293-6370)
- Wei Du (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7890-3099)
- Douglas R. Worsnop (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8928-8017)
- Simo Hakala (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1185-9211)
- Feixue Zheng
- Neil M. Donahue (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3054-2364)
- Lei Yao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2680-1629)
- Chao Yan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5735-9597)
- Lubna Dada (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1105-9043)
- Gaëlle Uzu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7720-0233)
- Jialiang Ma
- Jean‐Luc Jaffrezo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6921-5160)
- Dominik Stolzenburg (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1014-1360)
- Jing Cai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4480-6498)
- Federico Bianchi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2996-3604)
- Florian Ungeheuer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4557-3844)
- Yufang Hao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6582-0742)
- Kaspar R. Daellenbach
- Yongchun Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9055-970X)
Institutions
- Institut polytechnique de Grenoble (FR)
- Goethe University Frankfurt (DE)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- University of Helsinki (FI)
- TU Wien (AT)
- Stockholm University (SE)
- Fudan University (CN)
- Paul Scherrer Institute (CH)
- Aerodyne Research (US)
- Institut des Géosciences de l'Environnement (FR)
- Bolin Centre for Climate Research (SE)
- Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (FR)
- Carnegie Mellon University (US)
- Beijing University of Chemical Technology (CN)
- Nanjing University (CN)
- Université Grenoble Alpes (FR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Geoscience
- Published
- 2024-08-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-024-01493-3
- Citations
- 23
- Primary Topic
- Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 8.65
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- Helsingin Yliopisto
- Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Vienna Science and Technology Fund
- Jane ja Aatos Erkon Säätiö
- Beijing University of Chemical Technology