Spatiotemporal Characterization of Ambient PM2.5 Concentrations in Shandong Province (China).
China experiences severe particulate matter (PM) pollution problems closely linked to its rapid economic growth. Advancing the understanding and characterization of spatiotemporal air pollution distribution is an area where improved quantitative methods are of great benefit to risk assessment and environmental policy. This work uses the Bayesian maximum entropy (BME) method to assess the space-time variability of PM2.5 concentrations and predict their distribution in the Shandong province, China. Daily PM2.5 concentrations obtained at air quality monitoring sites during 2014 were used. On the basis of the space-time PM2.5 distributions generated by BME, we performed three kinds of querying analysis to reveal the main distribution features. The results showed that the entire region of interest is seriously polluted (BME maps identified heavy pollution clusters during 2014). Quantitative characterization of pollution severity included both pollution level and duration. The number of days during which regional PM2.5 exceeded 75, 115, 150, and 250 μg m(-3) varied: 43-253, 13-128, 4-66, and 0-15 days, respectively. The PM2.5 pattern exhibited an increasing trend from east to west, with the western part of Shandong being a heavily polluted area (PM2.5 exceeded 150 μg m(-3) during long time periods). Pollution was much more serious during winter than during other seasons. Site indicators of PM2.5 pollution intensity and space-time variation were used to assess regional uncertainties and risks with their interpretation depending on the pollutant threshold. The observed PM2.5 concentrations exceeding a specified threshold increased almost linearly with increasing threshold value, whereas the relative probability of excess pollution decreased sharply with increasing threshold.
Department of Resources & Environmental Information, College of Resources & Environment, Huazhong Agricultural University , Wuhan, Hubei 430070, China.|Key Laboratory of Arable Land Conservation (Middle & Lower Reaches of Yangtse River), Ministry of Agriculture , Wuhan, Hubei 430070, China.
Yong
Y
Yang
Institute of Island and Coastal Ecosystems, Ocean College, Zhejiang University , Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310027, China.|Department of Geography, San Diego State University , San Diego, California 92182, United States.
George
G
Christakos
D000397:Air Pollution / Q000032:analysis; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D002681:China; D019277:Entropy; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D015386:Hazardous Substances / Q000032:analysis; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000032:analysis*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012621:Seasons; D062211:Spatio-Temporal Analysis
D015386:Hazardous Substances; D052638:Particulate Matter