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The northeastern China frequently experiences severe aerosol pollution in winter under unfavorable meteorological conditions. How and to what extent the meteorological factors affect the air quality there are not yet clearly understood. Thus, this study investigated the impacts of synoptic patterns on the aerosol transport and planetary boundary layer (PBL) structure in Shenyang from 1 to 3 December 2016, using surface observations, sounding measurements, satellite data, and three-dimensional simulations. Results showed that the aerosol pollution occurred in Shenyang was not only related to the local emissions, but also contributed by trans-boundary transport of aerosols from the Beiijng-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region. In the presence of the westerly and southwesterly synoptic winds, the aerosols emitted from BTH could be brought to Shenyang. From December 2 to 3, the aerosols emitted from BTH accounted for ∼20% of near-surface PM2.5 in Shenyang. In addition, the large-scale synoptic forcings could affect the vertical mixing of pollutants through modulating the PBL structure in Shenyang. The westerly and southwesterly synoptic winds not only brought the aerosols but also the warmer air masses from the southwest regions to Shenyang. The strong warm advections above PBL could enhance the already existing thermal inversion layers capping over PBL in Shenyang, leading to the suppressions of PBL. Both the trans-boundary transport of aerosols and the suppressions of PBL caused by the large-scale synoptic forcings should be partly responsible for the poor air quality in Shenyang, in addition to the high pollutant emissions. The present study revealed the physical mechanisms underlying the aerosol pollution in Shenyang, which has important implications for better forecasting and controlling the aerosols pollution.

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region experiences heavy aerosol pollution, which is found to have close relationships with the synoptic- and local-scale atmospheric circulations. However, how and to what extent these multi-scale circulations interplay to modulate aerosol transport have not been fully understood. To this end, this study comprehensively investigated the impacts of these circulations on aerosol transport in BTH by focusing on an episode occurred on 1 June 2013 through combining both observations and three-dimensional simulations. It was found that during this episode, the Bohai Sea acted as a transfer station, and the high-pressure system over the Yellow Sea and sea-breeze in BTH took turns to affect the transport of aerosols. In the morning, influenced by the high-pressure system, lots of aerosols emitted from Shandong and Jiangsu provinces were first transported to the Bohai Sea. After then, these aerosols were brought to the BTH region in the afternoon through the inland penetration of sea-breeze, significantly exacerbating the air quality in BTH. The inland penetration of sea-breeze could be identified by the sharp changes in ground-based observed temperature, humidity, and wind when the sea-breeze front (SBF) passed by. Combining observations with model outputs, the SBF was found to be able to advance inland more than ∼150 km till reaching Beijing. This study has important implications for better understanding the aerosol transport in BTH, and improving the forecast of such aerosol pollution.

Emission control measures have been implemented to make air quality good enough for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) China 2014, which provides us with an ideal test-bed to determine how these measures affect air quality in Beijing and surrounding areas. Based on hourly observations at eight monitoring sites of Beijing, the concentrations of other primary atmospheric pollutants during APEC were found to have significantly lower magnitudes than those before APEC, with the exception of a higher O3 concentration. Overall, WRF/Chem reproduced the observed time series of PM2.5, PM10, NO2, CO, and O3 notably well. To investigate the impact of emission control measures on air quality on both local and regional scales, four emission control schemes were developed according to the locations where emission reduction had taken place; the corresponding simulations were subsequently run separately. Scheme S2 (emission control implemented in Beijing) resulted in reductions of 22%, 24%, 10% and 22% for the concentrations of PM2.5, PM10, NO2 and CO, respectively, compared with 14%, 14%, 8%, and 13% for scheme S3 (emission controls implemented from outside of Beijing). This finding indicates that the local emission reduction in Beijing contributes more to the improved air quality in Beijing during APEC China 2014 than does the emission reduction from outside of Beijing. In terms of the impact on the regional scale, the real emission control scheme led to significant reduction of PM2.5 throughout the whole domain. Although the regional impact cannot be completely ignored, both emission reduction measures implemented in Beijing and those implemented outside of Beijing favor greater reduction in PM2.5 in the domains where measurements are presumably taken, as compared with other domains. Therefore, to improve the air quality in Beijing, more coordinated efforts should be made, particularly in the aspect of more stringent reduction and control strategies on pollutant emission sources across the NCP.

Wuhan, one of the most developed cities in Central China, has been experiencing frequent heavy haze pollution. To understand the impacts of large-scale synoptic patterns and the local-scale planetary boundary layer (PBL) structures on the PM2.5 pollution in Wuhan, this study applied an objective approach to the classifying of the daily synoptic patterns in 2017. It then combined observational analyses and meteorology-chemistry coupled simulations to investigate a typical pollution episode at the end of November 2017. The synoptic type associated with the heaviest PM2.5 pollution in Wuhan was characterized by high pressure to the northwest and low pressure to the northeast at the 850-hPa level, which can support northwesterly prevailing winds towards Wuhan. As a result, the aerosols from the highly polluted northern regions can be transported to Wuhan, leading to a high PM2.5 concentration. Also, when there was high pressure located to the east/southeast of Wuhan at the 850-hPa level, southerly warm advections could be induced. The warming of upper air can significantly suppress the development of PBL by enhancing thermal stability, favoring the accumulation of aerosols. This study elucidated the multi-scale physical mechanisms underlying the aerosol pollution in Wuhan, and has important implications for the forecasting and the mitigating of pollution.