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Satellite nitrogen dioxide (NO2/observations have been widely used to evaluate emission changes. To determine trends in nitrogen oxides (NOx/emission over China, we used a method independent of chemical transport models to quantify the NOx emissions from 48 cities and seven power plants over China, on the basis of Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) NO2 observations from 2005 to 2015. We found that NOx emissions over 48 Chinese cities increased by 52% from 2005 to 2011 and decreased by 21% from 2011 to 2015. The decrease since 2011 could be mainly attributed to emission control measures in power sector; while cities with different dominant emission sources (i.e., power, industrial, and transportation sectors) showed variable emission decline timelines that corresponded to the schedules for emission control in different sectors. The time series of the derived NOx emissions was consistent with the bottom-up emission inventories for all power plants (r = 0:8 on average), but not for some cities (r = 0:4 on average). The lack of consistency observed for cities was most probably due to the high uncertainty of bottom-up urban emissions used in this study, which were derived from downscaling the regional-based emission data to city level by using spatial distribution proxies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air quality observations by satellite instruments are global and have a regular temporal resolution, which makes them very useful in studying long-term trends in atmospheric species. To monitor air quality trends in China for the period 2005-2015, we derive SO2 columns and NOx emissions on a provincial level with improved accuracy. To put these trends into perspective they are compared with public data on energy consumption and the environmental policies of China. We distinguish the effect of air quality regulations from economic growth by comparing them relatively to fossil fuel consumption. Pollutant levels, per unit of fossil fuel, are used to assess the effectiveness of air quality regulations. We note that the desulfurization regulations enforced in 2005-2006 only had a significant effect in the years 2008-2009, when a much stricter control of the actual use of the installations began. For national NOx emissions a distinct decreasing trend is only visible from 2012 onwards, but the emission peak year differs from province to province. Unlike SO2, emissions of NOx are highly related to traffic. Furthermore, regulations for NOx emissions are partly decided on a provincial level. The last 3 years show a reduction both in SO2 and NOxemissions per fossil fuel unit, since the authorities have implemented several new environmental regulations. Despite an increasing fossil fuel consumption and a growing transport sector, the effects of air quality policy in China are clearly visible. Without the air quality regulations the concentration of SO2 would be about 2.5 times higher and the NO2 concentrations would be at least 25 % higher than they are today in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Currently, haze events in winter occur more frequently than decades ago, especially in Eastern and Central China, including the Yangtze River Delta (YRD). WRF-Chem is applied in this study to explore the discrepancies of the simulated air pollutants induced by employing different emission inventories, particularly during haze events. Two inventories are involved in this study, MEIC (Multi-resolution Emission Inventory for China) and GlobEmission (inventory from GlobEmission project emission estimates), representing the emission inventories based on quite different ways. We first compared monthly emissions of SO 2 and NO x in two inventories during January over YRD, and found the mean differences of SO 2 (NO x) are 20% (7%), with the ranges of 0%–47% (−100%–100%). The largest differences are both found in Shanghai, with 47% for SO 2 (MEIC in 2010, GlobEmission in 2014), and 45% for NO x (MEIC in 2010, GlobEmission in 2015), respectively, partly because the reduction of emissions was large during the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011–2015) in this area. By comparing the simulated air pollutants mass concentrations using two inventories with in-situ observations during January 2015, we found that the simulated SO 2 using MEIC and GlobEmission are both higher than observations, with mean normalized biases of 207% and 121% over YRD, respectively, and much larger in the city cluster of Nanjing-Shanghai, where are nearly four (MEIC) and three times (GlobEmission) higher than observations. In contrast, NO 2 simulations using GlobEmission are lower than observations (22%) and MEIC simulations (45%) over YRD. The largest biases of GlobEmission simulation are found in Zhejiang province (over 70%). The biases of simulated monthly mean PM 2.5 are 38% (MEIC) and 30% (GlobEmission) over YRD, respectively. A case study during heavy haze event shows that the biases increase to 61% (MEIC) and 39% (GlobEmission), and spatial correlation coefficient in the simulation using GlobEmission increase to 0.69 over YRD. Temporal correlation coefficients in the city cluster of Nanjing-Shanghai increase from 0.5 (MEIC) to 0.7 (GlobEmission). Highlights • Emissions of SO 2 (NO x) in MEIC inventory are 20% (7%) higher than GlobE. • Simulated SO 2 (NO 2) are 207% (49%) in MEIC and 121% (−22%) in GlobE. than observed. • Simulated PM 2.5 are 38% (MEIC) and 30% (GlobE.) higher than observations. • Larger discrepancies (22%) of simulated PM 2.5 by two inventories are found in haze. • Temporal R of PM 2.5 is better from simulation with GlobE. (0.7) than with MEIC (0.5). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]