Study on spatiotemporal distribution of the tropospheric NO2 column concentration in China and its relationship to energy consumption based on the time-series data from 2005 to 2013

ABSTRACT

The spatial and temporal distribution of the tropospheric NO2 column concentration in China and its relationship with energy consumption were analyzed based on spatial analysis and Grey Relation using the remote sensed data from 2005 to 2013. The results show that the spatial distribution of NO₂ in China shows close relationships with population distribution and terrain properties. NO₂ distribution is divided into the eastern and the western part by HU Line, a geographical division line of the population of China. The NO₂ concentration is on the rise in most provincial-level regions, but has remained stable in a few provincial-level regions over a long period. In general, China’s NO₂ concentration reached its peak approximately in 2011. During the years from 2005 to 2010, China’s NO₂ concentration grew rapidly and reached its peak in 2011, following with a steady growth or a slight decline during the years 2011 to 2013. There shows a U-shaped variation in monthly NO₂ concentration, with the highest NO₂ concentration in winter and spring, lower one in the summer, and a distinct increase in autumn, which demonstrates a seasonal variation of NO₂ concentration. At a national-scale, the NO₂ concentration distribution shows a strong positive correlation with the total coal and oil consumption per unit area, implying that the total coal and oil consumption contributes significantly to the NO₂ concentration and should be controlled to reduce the NO₂ concentration. In regions with a high NO₂ concentration, the provincial-scale NO₂ concentration is affected by the types of energy consumed, or to be more specific, is affected by the total coal consumption in northern China versus the total oil consumption in southern China, and by the total oil consumption in eastern China versus the total coal consumption in western China.

KEYWORDS:

• The tropospheric NO2 column concentration
• spatial and temporal distribution
• energy consumption
• grey relation
• China

Acknowledgments

We thank the NASA Earth System for the OMI data for NO2 retrieval and Guangdong Statistical Bureau for data sharing.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by China National 863 Program [2006AA06A306], Guangdong NSF [2017A030310D05, 2017A050501060]. This is also contribution No. SKLOG2016A03 from SKLOG and No. IS-2685 from GIGCAS.

Notes on contributors

Chao Xu

Chao Xu was born in Anhui, China, in 1985. She received the B.S. Degree from Wuhan University, China in 2006,  M.S.  degress from Beijing Normal University, China in 2009, and Ph.D. degree from the Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (GIGCAS)  in 2016, respectively. She is working in Guandong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China now. Her research interest is  remote sensing of environment.

Yunpeng Wang

Yunpeng Wang was born in Shanxi, China, in 1968. He received the B.S. degree in geology from Lanzhou University, China, in 1990 and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees  from GIGCAS, in 1992 and 1996, respectively. He has been with GISCAS since 1996, where he has been a Research Professor since 2002. His research interest is remote sensing applications.

Lili Li

Lili Li was born in Hunan, China, in 1989. She received the B.S. Degree from Zhongnan University, China in 2010, and Ph.D. degree from GIGCAS in 2016, respectively. She is working in GIGCAS now as an associated Proffessor. Her research interest is  remote sensing of environment.