Black carbon relationships with emissions and meteorology in Xiʹan, China

Aerosol black carbon (BC) was measured every 5 min at Xiʹan, China from September 2003 to August 2005. Daily BC concentrations ranged from 2 to 65 μg m− 3, averaging 14.7 ± 9.5 μg m− 3 and displayed clear summer minima and winter maxima. BC typically peaked between 0800 and 1000 LST and again between 2000 and 2200 LST, corresponding with morning and evening traffic combined with nighttime residential cooking and heating. The nocturnal peak was especially evident in winter, when more domestic heating is used and pollutant-trapping surface-inversions form earlier than in summer. BC frequency distributions the most commonly occurring concentrations occurred between 5 and 10 μg m− 3 in all four seasons. BC ranged from 1.6% and 15.6%, and averaged 8.3% of PM2.5. A clear inverse relationship between BC and wind speed (WS) was found when WS was below 2.5 to 3.0 m s− 1, implying a local origin for BC. Mixed layer depths (MLDs) were shallower during BC episodes compared to cleaner conditions.