Spatial and temporal variations of six criteria air pollutants in 31 provincial capital cities in China during 2013–2014

Long-term air pollution data with high temporal and spatial resolutions are needed to support the research of physical and chemical processes that affect the air quality, and the corresponding health risks. However, such datasets were not available in China until recently. For the first time, this study examines the spatial and temporal variations of PM2.5, PM10, CO, SO2, NO2, and 8 h O3 in 31 capital cities in China between March 2013 and February 2014 using hourly data released by the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) of China. The annual mean concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 exceeded the Chinese Ambient Air Quality Standards (CAAQS), Grade I standards (15 and 40 μg/m(3) for PM2.5 and PM10, respectively) for all cities, and only Haikou, Fuzhou and Lasa met the CAAQS Grade II standards (35 and 70 μg/m(3) for PM2.5 and PM10, respectively). Observed PM2.5, PM10, CO and SO2 concentrations were higher in cities located in the North region than those in the West and the South-East regions. The number of non-attainment days was highest in the winter, but high pollution days were also frequently observed in the South-East region during the fall and in the West region during the spring. PM2.5 was the largest contributor to the air pollution in China based on the number of non-attainment days, followed by PM10, and O3. Strong correlation was found between different pollutants except for O3. These results suggest great impacts of coal combustion and biomass burning in the winter, long range transport of windblown dust in the spring, and secondary aerosol formation throughout the year. Current air pollution in China is caused by multiple pollutants, with great variations among different regions and different seasons. Future studies should focus on improving the understanding of the associations between air quality and meteorological conditions, variations of emissions in different regions, and transport and transformation of pollutants in both intra- and inter-regional contexts.