Air-quality measurements in megacities: Focus on gaseous organic and particulate pollutants and comparison between two contrasted cities, Paris and Beijing

The rapid and important development of large urban areas (‘megacities’), especially in developing countries, causes and will cause serious air-quality problems. Pollutant measurements in these cities help to characterize the chemical nature and the quantity of these pollutants and to constrain air-quality models. This paper focuses on measurements of volatile organic compounds and aerosols that have an important impact on air quality. We present a brief review on existing measurements and experimental strategies in megacities and then we show results from recent measurement campaigns that took place in two contrasted megacities: Paris and Beijing.