Correlation between PM concentrations and meteorological conditions in Chengdu based on in-situ observations

Abstract

Abstract Atmospheric aerosol particle plays a vital role in the Earth’s radiation budget, affecting human health by raising air pollution events, which have become remarkably common in megacities of China. Three sites in Chengdu city were selected for measurement of air quality index(AQI) and pollutants like PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NO2, whose concentrations were indicators of air quality. The association between air pollution in terms of AQI (pollutants’ concentrations) and meteorological conditions like Relative Humidity(RH) and Wind Velocity(WV) have been evaluated in this study. The results show that AQI peaked on June 22nd and Jul 16th, when PM2.5 and PM10 dominated. Further analysis reveals that only PM2.5 and PM10 are related to RH. In particular, PM2.5(PM10) intends to decrease when RH increases with a coefficient of -0.4(-0.57). However, there is no evident co-variation between RH and SO2(NO2). The results also indicate that concentration of NO2 decreases when WV increases with a coefficient of -0.66. By contrast, corresponding relationship between PM2.5(PM10) and WV is less evident.