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Atmosphere
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Characteristics and Trends of Air Pollutants and Their Relationship to...
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Characteristics and Trends of Air Pollutants and Their Relationship to Atmospheric Circulations

A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Air Quality".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2025) | Viewed by 1194

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Jianjun Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Marine Science and Engineering, Hainan University, Haikou, China
Interests: arctic and antarctic climates and environmental research
Prof. Dr. Xufeng Zheng

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Marine Science and Engineering, Hainan University, Haikou, China
Interests: the coupling relationship between the atmosphere, ocean, and ice sheets in geologic history

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue, "Characteristics and Trends of Air Pollutants and Their Relationship to Atmospheric Circulations", explores the physical and chemical processes of air pollution and its interaction with atmospheric circulation patterns. Air pollutants, such as particulate matter (PM), ozone (O₃), nitrogen oxides (NOₓ), sulphur dioxide (SO₂), carbon monoxide (CO), and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), are major contributors to environmental degradation and public health issues. Characteristics, including their chemical composition, sources, and distribution patterns, are influenced by both natural and anthropogenic factors. Human activities like fossil fuel combustion, industrial emissions, and agricultural practices dominate the generation of pollutants, while natural events such as wildfires and volcanic eruptions also contribute significantly.

Atmospheric circulations play a pivotal role in shaping the distribution, transport, and transformation of air pollutants. Large-scale systems, such as the jet stream, monsoons, and trade winds, influence pollutant dispersion across continents, while localized phenomena like sea breezes and mountain–valley circulations affect regional air quality. Stagnant weather patterns can exacerbate episodes of pollution, leading to phenomena like smog and haze, whereas dynamic systems can transport pollutants over long distances, impacting areas far from the source.

Understanding the relationship between air pollutants and atmospheric circulations is critical for improving air quality forecasting, public health strategies, and environmental policies. By integrating air quality monitoring with meteorological analysis, policymakers and researchers can better predict episodes of pollution, assess long-term trends, and develop adaptive measures to protect environmental and public health. As global climate patterns shift, continued research on this interplay is essential to address emerging challenges in air quality management.

This Special Issue intends to collect articles on the characteristics and trends of air pollutants and their relationship to atmospheric circulations. We invite contributions that deal with the variability and predictability of atmospheric pollutants, particularly in the polar regions, and the relationship between the characteristics and trends of these pollutants and atmospheric circulation. We welcome submissions, including original articles and reviews on this topic that aim to provide a valuable resource for scientists, policymakers, and environmental managers to help address the growing challenge of air pollution in the context of climate change and changing atmospheric dynamics.

Prof. Dr. Jianjun Wang
Prof. Dr. Xufeng Zheng
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Atmosphere is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • air pollution
  • atmospheric circulation
  • particulate matter (PM)
  • nitrogen oxides (NOx)
  • sulphur dioxide (SO2)
  • ozone
  • meteorological factors
  • climate variability
  • pollution trends
  • air quality

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 12174 KiB  
Article
Spatiotemporal Trends and Exceedance Drivers of Ozone Concentration in the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration, China
by Junli Xu and Jian Wang
Atmosphere 2025, 16(8), 907; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos16080907 (registering DOI) - 26 Jul 2025
Abstract
The Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration, characterized by high population density, an advanced transportation system, and a concentration of industrial activity, is one of the regions severely affected by O3 pollution in central and eastern China. Using data collected from 251 monitoring [...] Read more.
The Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration, characterized by high population density, an advanced transportation system, and a concentration of industrial activity, is one of the regions severely affected by O3 pollution in central and eastern China. Using data collected from 251 monitoring stations between 2015 and 2025, this paper analyzed the spatio-temporal variation of 8 h O3 concentrations and instances of exceedance. On the basis of exploring the influence of meteorological factors on regional 8 h O3 concentration, the potential source contribution areas of pollutants under the exceedance condition were investigated using the HYSPLIT model. The results indicate a rapid increase in the 8 h O3 concentration at a rate of 0.91 ± 0.98 μg·m−3·a−1, with the average number of days exceeding concentration standards reaching 41.05 in the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration. Spatially, the 8 h O3 concentrations were higher in coastal areas and lower in inland regions, as well as elevated in plains compared to hilly terrains. This distribution was significantly distinct from the concentration growth trend characterized by higher levels in the northwest and lower levels in the southeast. Furthermore, it diverged from the spatial characteristics where exceedances primarily occurred in the heavily industrialized northeastern region and the lightly industrialized central region, indicating that the growth and exceedance of 8 h O3 concentrations were influenced by disparate factors. Local human activities have intensified the emissions of ozone precursor substances, which could be the key driving factor for the significant increase in regional 8 h O3 concentrations. In the context of high temperatures and low humidity, this has contributed to elevated levels of 8 h O3 concentrations. When wind speeds were below 2.5 m·s−1, the proportion of 8 h O3 concentrations exceeding the standards was nearly 0 under almost calm wind conditions, and it showed an increasing trend with rising wind speeds, indicating that the potential precursor sources that caused high O3 concentrations originated occasionally from inland regions, with very limited presence within the study area. This observation implies that the main cause of exceedances was the transport effect of pollution from outside the region. Therefore, it is recommended that the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration adopt economic and technological compensation mechanisms within and between regions to reduce the emission intensity of precursor substances in potential source areas, thereby effectively controlling O3 concentrations and improving public living conditions and quality of life. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Characteristics and Trends of Air Pollutants and Their Relationship to Atmospheric Circulations)
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17 pages, 3678 KiB  
Article
Modeling Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Agriculture
by Alina Bărbulescu
Atmosphere 2025, 16(3), 295; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos16030295 - 28 Feb 2025
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 957
Abstract
This study analyzes the series of annual emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from agriculture in the European Union countries for 32 years. The outliers, autocorrelation, and change points were detected for each series and the Total one using the boxplot, autocorrelation function (ACF), [...] Read more.
This study analyzes the series of annual emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from agriculture in the European Union countries for 32 years. The outliers, autocorrelation, and change points were detected for each series and the Total one using the boxplot, autocorrelation function (ACF), and Pettit, Hubert, and CUSUM tests. The existence of a monotonic trend in the data series was checked against the randomness by the Mann–Kendall test; further, the slope of the linear trend was determined by Sen’s nonparametric approach and classical regression. The best distribution was fitted for each data series. The results indicate that most series present aberrant values (indicating periods with high emissions), are autocorrelated, and have a decreasing tendency over time (showing the diminishing of GHG emissions from agriculture during the study period). The distributions that best fit the individual series were of Wakeby, Johnson SB, Burr, and Log-logistic type. The Total series has a decreasing trend, presents a second-order autocorrelation, and is right-skewed. An ARIMA(1,1,2) model was built and validated for it and was used for the forecast. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Characteristics and Trends of Air Pollutants and Their Relationship to Atmospheric Circulations)
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