Dominant contribution of combustion-related ammonium during haze pollution in Beijing

Libin Wu; Peng Wang; Qiang Zhang; Hong Ren; Zongbo Shi; Wei Hu; Jing Chen; Qiaorong Xie; Linjie Li; Siyao Yue; Lianfang Wei; Linlin Song; Yonggen Zhang; Zihan Wang; Shuang Chen; Wan Wei; Xiaoman Wang; Yanlin Zhang; Shaofei Kong; Baozhu Ge; Ting Yang; Yunting Fang; Lujie Ren; Junjun Deng; Yele Sun; Zifa Wang; Hongliang Zhang; Jianlin Hu; Cong Qiang Liu; Roy M. Harrison; Qi Ying; Pingqing Fu

doi:10.1016/j.scib.2024.01.002

Dominant contribution of combustion-related ammonium during haze pollution in Beijing

Libin Wu, Peng Wang, Qiang Zhang, Hong Ren, Zongbo Shi, Wei Hu, Jing Chen, Qiaorong Xie, Linjie Li, Siyao Yue, Lianfang Wei, Linlin Song, Yonggen Zhang, Zihan Wang, Shuang Chen, Wan Wei, Xiaoman Wang, Yanlin Zhang, Shaofei Kong, Baozhu GeTing Yang, Yunting Fang, Lujie Ren, Junjun Deng, Yele Sun, Zifa Wang, Hongliang Zhang, Jianlin Hu, Cong Qiang Liu, Roy M. Harrison, Qi Ying, Pingqing Fu^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Earth and Environmental Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Aerosol ammonium (NH₄⁺), mainly produced from the reactions of ammonia (NH₃) with acids in the atmosphere, has significant impacts on air pollution, radiative forcing, and human health. Understanding the source and formation mechanism of NH₄⁺ can provide scientific insights into air quality improvements. However, the sources of NH₃ in urban areas are not well understood, and few studies focus on NH₃/NH₄⁺ at different heights within the atmospheric boundary layer, which hinders a comprehensive understanding of aerosol NH₄⁺. In this study, we perform both field observation and modeling studies (the Community Multiscale Air Quality, CMAQ) to investigate regional NH₃ emission sources and vertically resolved NH₄⁺ formation mechanisms during the winter in Beijing. Both stable nitrogen isotope analyses and CMAQ model suggest that combustion-related NH₃ emissions, including fossil fuel sources, NH₃ slip, and biomass burning, are important sources of aerosol NH₄⁺ with more than 60% contribution occurring on heavily polluted days. In contrast, volatilization-related NH₃ sources (livestock breeding, N-fertilizer application, and human waste) are dominant on clean days. Combustion-related NH₃ is mostly local from Beijing, and biomass burning is likely an important NH₃ source (∼15%–20%) that was previously overlooked. More effective control strategies such as the two-product (e.g., reducing both SO₂ and NH₃) control policy should be considered to improve air quality.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	978-987
Number of pages	10
Journal	Science Bulletin
Volume	69
Issue number	7
Early online date	4 Jan 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scib.2024.01.002
Publication status	Published - 15 Apr 2024

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42130513, 41905110, and 41961130384), the Royal Society Newton Advanced Fellowship, United Kingdom (NAF\R1\191220), and the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (T24/504/17 and A-PolyU502/16). The authors are especially grateful to Prof. Robert Mark Ellam from the School of Earth System Science, Tianjin University, China for his improvement in the manuscript and contributions to improving the English. Pingqing Fu, Libin Wu, and Peng Wang conceived the study. Pingqing Fu and Zongbo Shi organized the field campaign. Libin Wu, Hong Ren, Qiaorong Xie, Linjie Li, and Siyao Yue conducted experiments and analyses. Baozhu Ge provided the data on ammonia concentrations. Peng Wang, Hongliang Zhang, and Qi Ying developed the CMAQ model. All authors contributed to interpretations and revisions of the manuscript.

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China ( 42130513 , 41905110 , and 41961130384 ), the Royal Society Newton Advanced Fellowship , United Kingdom ( NAF\R1\191220 ), and the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region , China ( T24/504/17 and A-PolyU502/16 ). The authors are especially grateful to Prof. Robert Mark Ellam from the School of Earth System Science, Tianjin University, China for his improvement in the manuscript and contributions to improving the English.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 Science China Press

Keywords

Control policy
Nitrogen isotope
Particulate ammonium
PM
The Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ)

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1016/j.scib.2024.01.002Licence: None: All rights reserved

Coupling of organic and inorganic aerosol systems in coastal atmosphere: impact on secondary organic aerosol formation (COIAS)
Shi, Z. & Harrison, R.
The Royal Society
31/03/19 → 30/09/23
Project: Research Councils

Cite this

@article{a09d9408faea4e6eb78985b1ec93c1c3,

title = "Dominant contribution of combustion-related ammonium during haze pollution in Beijing",

abstract = "Aerosol ammonium (NH4+), mainly produced from the reactions of ammonia (NH3) with acids in the atmosphere, has significant impacts on air pollution, radiative forcing, and human health. Understanding the source and formation mechanism of NH4+ can provide scientific insights into air quality improvements. However, the sources of NH3 in urban areas are not well understood, and few studies focus on NH3/NH4+ at different heights within the atmospheric boundary layer, which hinders a comprehensive understanding of aerosol NH4+. In this study, we perform both field observation and modeling studies (the Community Multiscale Air Quality, CMAQ) to investigate regional NH3 emission sources and vertically resolved NH4+ formation mechanisms during the winter in Beijing. Both stable nitrogen isotope analyses and CMAQ model suggest that combustion-related NH3 emissions, including fossil fuel sources, NH3 slip, and biomass burning, are important sources of aerosol NH4+ with more than 60% contribution occurring on heavily polluted days. In contrast, volatilization-related NH3 sources (livestock breeding, N-fertilizer application, and human waste) are dominant on clean days. Combustion-related NH3 is mostly local from Beijing, and biomass burning is likely an important NH3 source (∼15%–20%) that was previously overlooked. More effective control strategies such as the two-product (e.g., reducing both SO2 and NH3) control policy should be considered to improve air quality.",

keywords = "Control policy, Nitrogen isotope, Particulate ammonium, PM, The Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ)",

author = "Libin Wu and Peng Wang and Qiang Zhang and Hong Ren and Zongbo Shi and Wei Hu and Jing Chen and Qiaorong Xie and Linjie Li and Siyao Yue and Lianfang Wei and Linlin Song and Yonggen Zhang and Zihan Wang and Shuang Chen and Wan Wei and Xiaoman Wang and Yanlin Zhang and Shaofei Kong and Baozhu Ge and Ting Yang and Yunting Fang and Lujie Ren and Junjun Deng and Yele Sun and Zifa Wang and Hongliang Zhang and Jianlin Hu and Liu, {Cong Qiang} and Harrison, {Roy M.} and Qi Ying and Pingqing Fu",

note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42130513, 41905110, and 41961130384), the Royal Society Newton Advanced Fellowship, United Kingdom (NAF\R1\191220), and the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (T24/504/17 and A-PolyU502/16). The authors are especially grateful to Prof. Robert Mark Ellam from the School of Earth System Science, Tianjin University, China for his improvement in the manuscript and contributions to improving the English. Pingqing Fu, Libin Wu, and Peng Wang conceived the study. Pingqing Fu and Zongbo Shi organized the field campaign. Libin Wu, Hong Ren, Qiaorong Xie, Linjie Li, and Siyao Yue conducted experiments and analyses. Baozhu Ge provided the data on ammonia concentrations. Peng Wang, Hongliang Zhang, and Qi Ying developed the CMAQ model. All authors contributed to interpretations and revisions of the manuscript. Funding Information: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China ( 42130513 , 41905110 , and 41961130384 ), the Royal Society Newton Advanced Fellowship , United Kingdom ( NAF\R1\191220 ), and the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region , China ( T24/504/17 and A-PolyU502/16 ). The authors are especially grateful to Prof. Robert Mark Ellam from the School of Earth System Science, Tianjin University, China for his improvement in the manuscript and contributions to improving the English. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2024 Science China Press",

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day = "15",

doi = "10.1016/j.scib.2024.01.002",

language = "English",

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Wu, L, Wang, P, Zhang, Q, Ren, H, Shi, Z, Hu, W, Chen, J, Xie, Q, Li, L, Yue, S, Wei, L, Song, L, Zhang, Y, Wang, Z, Chen, S, Wei, W, Wang, X, Zhang, Y, Kong, S, Ge, B, Yang, T, Fang, Y, Ren, L, Deng, J, Sun, Y, Wang, Z, Zhang, H, Hu, J, Liu, CQ, Harrison, RM, Ying, Q & Fu, P 2024, 'Dominant contribution of combustion-related ammonium during haze pollution in Beijing', Science Bulletin, vol. 69, no. 7, pp. 978-987. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scib.2024.01.002

TY - JOUR

T1 - Dominant contribution of combustion-related ammonium during haze pollution in Beijing

AU - Wu, Libin

AU - Wang, Peng

AU - Zhang, Qiang

AU - Ren, Hong

AU - Shi, Zongbo

AU - Hu, Wei

AU - Chen, Jing

AU - Xie, Qiaorong

AU - Li, Linjie

AU - Yue, Siyao

AU - Wei, Lianfang

AU - Song, Linlin

AU - Zhang, Yonggen

AU - Wang, Zihan

AU - Chen, Shuang

AU - Wei, Wan

AU - Wang, Xiaoman

AU - Zhang, Yanlin

AU - Kong, Shaofei

AU - Ge, Baozhu

AU - Yang, Ting

AU - Fang, Yunting

AU - Ren, Lujie

AU - Deng, Junjun

AU - Sun, Yele

AU - Wang, Zifa

AU - Zhang, Hongliang

AU - Hu, Jianlin

AU - Liu, Cong Qiang

AU - Harrison, Roy M.

AU - Ying, Qi

AU - Fu, Pingqing

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42130513, 41905110, and 41961130384), the Royal Society Newton Advanced Fellowship, United Kingdom (NAF\R1\191220), and the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (T24/504/17 and A-PolyU502/16). The authors are especially grateful to Prof. Robert Mark Ellam from the School of Earth System Science, Tianjin University, China for his improvement in the manuscript and contributions to improving the English. Pingqing Fu, Libin Wu, and Peng Wang conceived the study. Pingqing Fu and Zongbo Shi organized the field campaign. Libin Wu, Hong Ren, Qiaorong Xie, Linjie Li, and Siyao Yue conducted experiments and analyses. Baozhu Ge provided the data on ammonia concentrations. Peng Wang, Hongliang Zhang, and Qi Ying developed the CMAQ model. All authors contributed to interpretations and revisions of the manuscript. Funding Information: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China ( 42130513 , 41905110 , and 41961130384 ), the Royal Society Newton Advanced Fellowship , United Kingdom ( NAF\R1\191220 ), and the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region , China ( T24/504/17 and A-PolyU502/16 ). The authors are especially grateful to Prof. Robert Mark Ellam from the School of Earth System Science, Tianjin University, China for his improvement in the manuscript and contributions to improving the English. Publisher Copyright: © 2024 Science China Press

PY - 2024/4/15

Y1 - 2024/4/15

N2 - Aerosol ammonium (NH4+), mainly produced from the reactions of ammonia (NH3) with acids in the atmosphere, has significant impacts on air pollution, radiative forcing, and human health. Understanding the source and formation mechanism of NH4+ can provide scientific insights into air quality improvements. However, the sources of NH3 in urban areas are not well understood, and few studies focus on NH3/NH4+ at different heights within the atmospheric boundary layer, which hinders a comprehensive understanding of aerosol NH4+. In this study, we perform both field observation and modeling studies (the Community Multiscale Air Quality, CMAQ) to investigate regional NH3 emission sources and vertically resolved NH4+ formation mechanisms during the winter in Beijing. Both stable nitrogen isotope analyses and CMAQ model suggest that combustion-related NH3 emissions, including fossil fuel sources, NH3 slip, and biomass burning, are important sources of aerosol NH4+ with more than 60% contribution occurring on heavily polluted days. In contrast, volatilization-related NH3 sources (livestock breeding, N-fertilizer application, and human waste) are dominant on clean days. Combustion-related NH3 is mostly local from Beijing, and biomass burning is likely an important NH3 source (∼15%–20%) that was previously overlooked. More effective control strategies such as the two-product (e.g., reducing both SO2 and NH3) control policy should be considered to improve air quality.

AB - Aerosol ammonium (NH4+), mainly produced from the reactions of ammonia (NH3) with acids in the atmosphere, has significant impacts on air pollution, radiative forcing, and human health. Understanding the source and formation mechanism of NH4+ can provide scientific insights into air quality improvements. However, the sources of NH3 in urban areas are not well understood, and few studies focus on NH3/NH4+ at different heights within the atmospheric boundary layer, which hinders a comprehensive understanding of aerosol NH4+. In this study, we perform both field observation and modeling studies (the Community Multiscale Air Quality, CMAQ) to investigate regional NH3 emission sources and vertically resolved NH4+ formation mechanisms during the winter in Beijing. Both stable nitrogen isotope analyses and CMAQ model suggest that combustion-related NH3 emissions, including fossil fuel sources, NH3 slip, and biomass burning, are important sources of aerosol NH4+ with more than 60% contribution occurring on heavily polluted days. In contrast, volatilization-related NH3 sources (livestock breeding, N-fertilizer application, and human waste) are dominant on clean days. Combustion-related NH3 is mostly local from Beijing, and biomass burning is likely an important NH3 source (∼15%–20%) that was previously overlooked. More effective control strategies such as the two-product (e.g., reducing both SO2 and NH3) control policy should be considered to improve air quality.

KW - Control policy

KW - Nitrogen isotope

KW - Particulate ammonium

KW - PM

KW - The Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ)

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U2 - 10.1016/j.scib.2024.01.002

DO - 10.1016/j.scib.2024.01.002

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85183562421

SN - 2095-9273

VL - 69

SP - 978

EP - 987

JO - Science Bulletin

JF - Science Bulletin

IS - 7

ER -

Dominant contribution of combustion-related ammonium during haze pollution in Beijing

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Projects

Coupling of organic and inorganic aerosol systems in coastal atmosphere: impact on secondary organic aerosol formation (COIAS)

Cite this