Three-decade changes in chemical composition of precipitation in Guangzhou city, southern China: has precipitation recovered from acidification following sulphur dioxide emission control?

Yunting Fang; Xuemei Wang; Feifei Zhu; Zhiyong Wu; Jiong Li; Liuju Zhong; Duohong Chen; Muneoki Yoh

doi:10.3402/tellusb.v65i0.20213

Three-decade changes in chemical composition of precipitation in Guangzhou city, southern China: has precipitation recovered from acidification following sulphur dioxide emission control?

Tellus B: Chemical and Physical Meteorology

Volume 65 (2013): Issue 1

By: Yunting Fang, Xuemei Wang, Feifei Zhu, Zhiyong Wu, Jiong Li, Liuju Zhong, Duohong Chen and Muneoki Yoh

Open Access

|Jan 2013

Figures & Tables

Locations of four precipitation chemistry monitoring sites since 1994 (close cycle symbols, YX, BYS, HP and PY) and three air quality monitoring sites since 1986 (triangle symbols) in Guangzhou, Southern China. The boundary for the Pear River Delta (left panel) and for the rivers (right panel) is coloured in red and blue, respectively.

Annual emissions of SO₂ in (a) China and (b) Guangdong Province and Guangzhou city. Data are from Report on the State of the Environment in China (http://jcs.mep.gov.cn/hjzl/zkgb/) for SO₂ emissions in China, from Guangzhou Statistical Yearbook (http://data.gzstats.gov.cn/gzStat1/chaxun/njsj.jsp) for SO₂ and from Guangdong Environmental Quality Report (http://www.gdepb.gov.cn/hjzlyxx/hbzkgb/200906/t20090615_62862.html) for SO₂ emissions in Guangdong province. The dash line indicates when the policy of SO₂ emission abatement started. In Guangzhou, SO₂ emissions were reduced since 2001.

Annual precipitation (a) pH value, (b) acid rain frequency and (c) precipitation in Guangzhou city since 1983. Mean of four monitoring sites and standard error of mean are presented for the period of 2001–2010. The dash line indicates when the policy of SO₂ emission abatement started. In Guangzhou, SO₂ emissions were reduced since 2001.

Monthly mean (a) pH values and (b) precipitation amount in Guangzhou city since 2001.

Long-term trends of annual mean concentrations of major air pollutants in Guangzhou city (three sites in Fig. 1) since 1986. The dash line indicates when the policy of SO₂ emission abatement started. In Guangzhou, SO₂ emissions were reduced since 2001. Data were supplied by Guangdong Environmental Monitoring Center.

Table 1. Temporal patterns of annual SO₂ emissions and annual mean concentrations of major air pollutants

TrendsR²PTrendsR²P

Since 1986Since 2001SO₂ emissions in China^aincrease0.45<0.001Quadratic0.76<0.001SO₂ emissions in GD^bquadratic0.83<0.001Quadratic0.79<0.001SO₂ emissions in GZ^bquadratic0.76<0.001Decrease0.95<0.001SO₂ concentration in GZ^cdecrease0.54<0.001Quadratic0.660.009NO_x concentration in GZ^cns^d0.040.26Decrease0.93<0.001NO₂ concentration in GZ^cquadratic0.75<0.001Quadratic0.88<0.001PM₁₀ concentration in GZ^cdecrease0.49<0.001Quadratic0.420.06

[i] ^aSince 1991.

[ii] ^bSince 1995.

[iii] ^cSince 1986.

[iv] ^dns, not significant; Bold values indicate significant temporal trends over time.

Long-term trends of annual mean concentrations of major (a) cations and (b) anions in precipitation in Guangzhou city since 1986. Mean of four monitoring sites and standard error of mean are presented for the period of 2001–2010. The dash line indicates when the policy of SO₂ emission abatement started. In Guangzhou, the rate of SO₂ emissions has reduced since 2001.

Monthly mean concentrations of (a) $N H_{4}^{+}$ , Na⁺, K⁺, (b) Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, (c) F⁻, Cl⁻, and (d) $N O_{3}^{-}$ , in precipitation in Guangzhou city since 2001.

Table 2. Temporal patterns of precipitation chemistry since 2001^a

TrendsR²PTrendsR²P

pHquadratic0.680.007ARF (%)^bquadratic0.820.001Annual concentration (µeq L⁻¹)Annual deposition (kg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹)

N H_{4}^{+}

ns^c0.120.177

N H_{4}^{+}

–Nns0.100.196Na⁺quadratic0.500.040Nans0.190.183K⁺ns0.030.294Kns0.060.238Mg²⁺ns0.100.699Mgns0.110.790Ca²⁺ns0.160.221Cans0.060.243F⁻quadratic0.710.006Fns0.110.188Cl⁻increase0.260.076Clns0.120.171

N O_{3}^{-}

quadratic0.600.016

N O_{3}^{-}

–Nns0.160.137

S O_{4}^{2 -}

quadratic0.670.008

S O_{4}^{2 -}

–Sdecrease0.400.003DINns0.130.161

[i] ^aFor pH and acid rain frequency since 1983, n=28, and for concentration and deposition of ions since 1986, n=25.

[ii] ^bAcid rain frequency.

[iii] ^cns, not significant; Bold values indicate significant temporal trends over time.

Long-term trends of annual deposition rates of major (a) cations and (b) anions in precipitation in Guangzhou city since 1986. Mean of four monitoring sites and standard error of mean are presented for the period of 2001–2010. The dash line indicates when the policy of SO₂ emission abatement started. In Guangzhou, the rate of SO₂ emissions has reduced since 2001.

Five-year means of (a) pH, (b) acid rain frequency, (c) concentrations and (d) annual deposition rates of major cations and anions in precipitation in Guangzhou city since 1986. n=5. Different letters indicate significant differences between periods obtained by one-way ANOVA.

Table 3. Long-term patterns of precipitation chemistry since 1983^a

TrendsR²PTrendsR²P

pHquadratic0.45<0.001ARF (%)^bquadratic0.55<0.001Annual concentration (µeq L⁻¹)Annual deposition (kg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹)

N H_{4}^{+}

decrease0.290.015

N H_{4}^{+}

–Ndecrease0.150.034Na⁺ns^c0.020.533Nans0.030.569K⁺decrease0.240.007Kns0.090.079Mg²⁺decrease0.250.006Mgns0.080.085Ca²⁺ns0.070.107Cans0.040.919F⁻ns0.010.340Fns0.030.660Cl⁻increase0.270.012Clquadratic0.48<0.001

N O_{3}^{-}

increase0.350.001

N O_{3}^{-}

–Nquadratic0.53<0.001

S O_{4}^{2 -}

decrease0.110.053

S O_{4}^{2 -}

–Sns0.040.180DINns0.040.739

[i] ^aFor pH and acid rain frequency since 1983, n=28, and for concentration and deposition of ions since 1986, n=25.

[ii] ^bAcid rain frequency.

[iii] ^cns, not significant; Bold values indicate significant temporal trends over time.

Table 4. Current status of pH, S and N deposition in precipitation in Guangzhou, in comparison with other Chinese cities

SitesSampling periodPrecipitation (mm) pH

S O_{4}^{2}

⁻–S (kg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹)

N H_{4}^{+}

–N (kg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹)

N O_{3}^{-}

–N (kg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹)DIN (kg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹) References

North China

Beijing2001–20034546.0118.114.95.320.2Yang et al., 2004 Xi'an20104596.6814.712.02.614.6EANET 2010 Zhengzhou19995286.4111.814.03.417.4Zhao et al., 2001South China

Chongqing20109774.1543.519.210.629.8EANET 2010 Shanghai200510714.4934.212.17.519.6Huang et al., 2008 Xiamen201015304.5713.18.56.214.7EANET 2010 Zhuhai201018574.8511.76.46.212.6EANET 2010 Guangzhou201023035.0842.821.713.835.5This study

Fuel consumptions in Guangzhou city from 1985 to 2009. Data are from Guangzhou Statistical Yearbook (http://data.gzstats.gov.cn/gzStat1/chaxun/njsj.jsp).

Long-term trends of proportion of (a) Cl⁻ and $N O_{3}^{-}$ and (b) to sum anions in precipitation in Guangzhou city since 1986.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3402/tellusb.v65i0.20213 | Journal eISSN: 1600-0889

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Language: English

Page range: 20213 - 20213

Submitted on: Dec 4, 2012

Accepted on: Aug 5, 2013

Published on: Jan 1, 2013

Published by: Stockholm University Press

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

Keywords:

chemical composition,

precipitation,

southern China,

sulphur and nitrogen deposition,

sulphur dioxide emission control

© 2013 Yunting Fang, Xuemei Wang, Feifei Zhu, Zhiyong Wu, Jiong Li, Liuju Zhong, Duohong Chen, Muneoki Yoh, published by Stockholm University Press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Volume 65 (2013): Issue 1

Three-decade changes in chemical composition of precipitation in Guangzhou city, southern China: has precipitation recovered from acidification following sulphur dioxide emission control?

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