Formation process of the widespread extreme haze pollution over northern China in January 2013: Implications for regional air quality and climate

In this study, we present a regional insight into characteristics and formation process of the widespread extreme haze pollution in northern China during January of 2013 using integrated satellite observations and ground measurements. Different from common regional pollution, dense haze clouds during the most polluted period not only wandered over northern China for more than one week, but also exhibited large spatial variations with some abrupt peak values in Beijing. High UV Aerosol Index (UVAI) values >2.5 indicate prevalent absorbing aerosols in upper part of the haze clouds. CALIPSO vertical detection shows that the haze layers were more than 3 km thick, with strong extinction within 1 km near surface and elevated dust layers above. Top of the more than 2 km thick dust plumes can reach 5 km, having a substantial contribution to the haze clouds. Movement of high aerosol loading regions with aerosol optical depth (AOD) exceeding 2.0 shows a notable superposition of different pollution processes within boundary layer, which largely enhanced the haze pollution. Peak value of PM10 in industrial cities of Hebei was around 1000 μg/m3, almost twice of that in usual pollution. Subsequent peak values of PM10 from south to north confirm the intense regional transport, which could be the main cause of sudden record-breaking particle concentration in Beijing. Anomalous weather conditions facilitated the unusual heavy pollution became extremely severe. Our results indicate close connections between variation of atmospheric circulation and the regional heavy pollution over northern China.