Ground-based MAX-DOAS observations of tropospheric formaldehyde VCDs and 
comparisons with the CAMS model at a rural site near Beijing during APEC 2014

Tian, Xin; Xie, Pinhua; Xu, Jin; Wang, Yang; Li, Ang; Wu, Fengcheng; Hu, Zhaokun; Liu, Cheng; Zhang, Qiong

doi:10.5194/acp-19-3375-2019

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Ground-based MAX-DOAS observations of tropospheric formaldehyde VCDs and comparisons with the CAMS model at a rural site near Beijing during APEC 2014

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Wang, Yang
Satellite Remote Sensing, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Max Planck Society;

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Citation

Tian, X., Xie, P., Xu, J., Wang, Y., Li, A., Wu, F., et al. (2019). Ground-based MAX-DOAS observations of tropospheric formaldehyde VCDs and comparisons with the CAMS model at a rural site near Beijing during APEC 2014. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 19(5), 3375-3393. doi:10.5194/acp-19-3375-2019.

Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0003-302B-7

Abstract

Formaldehyde (HCHO), a key aerosol precursor,
plays a significant role in atmospheric photo-oxidation path-
ways. In this study, HCHO column densities were measured
using a Multi-AXis Differential Optical Absorption Spec-
troscopy (MAX-DOAS) instrument at the University of Chi-
nese Academy of Science (UCAS) in Huairou District, Bei-
jing, which is about 50 km away from the city center. Mea-
surements were taken during the period of 1 October 2014 to
31 December 2014, and the Asia-Pacific Economic Coopera-
tion (APEC) summit was organized on 5–11 November. Peak
values of HCHO vertical column densities (VCDs) around
noon and a good correlation coefficient
R
2
of 0.73 between
HCHO VCDs and surface O
3
concentration during noontime
indicated that the secondary sources of HCHO through pho-
tochemical reactions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
dominated the HCHO values in the area around UCAS. De-
pendences of HCHO VCDs on wind fields and backward tra-
jectories were identified and indicated that the HCHO val-
ues in the area around UCAS were considerably affected
by the transport of pollutants (VOCs) from polluted areas in
the south. The effects of control measures on HCHO VCDs
during the APEC period were evaluated. During the period
of the APEC conference, the average HCHO VCDs were
∼
38 %
±
20 % and
∼
30 %
±
24 % lower than that during
the pre-APEC and post-APEC periods calculated at the 95 %
confidence limit, respectively. This phenomenon could be at-
tributed to both the effects of prevailing northwest wind fields
during APEC and strict control measures. We also compared
the MAX-DOAS results with the Copernicus Atmosphere
Monitoring Service (CAMS) model. The HCHO VCDs of
the CAMS model and MAX-DOAS were generally consis-
tent with a correlation coefficient
R
2
greater than 0.68. The
peak values were consistently captured by both data datasets,
but the low values were systematically underestimated by
the CAMS model. This finding may indicate that the CAMS
model can adequately simulate the effects of the transport
and the secondary sources of HCHO but underestimates the
local primary sources.