Teleconnection between the Asian Polar Vortex and surface PM_2.5 in China

Atmospheric fine particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution is of particular concern due to its direct and indirect harm to humans and organisms. China has suffered from severe air pollution in the past decade, related to heavy pollution emissions and compounded by atmospheric circulation. This study applied statistical methods, ground pollutant observations, and meteorological data to analyze the impact of large-scale atmospheric circulations on PM2.5 pollution over China. Empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis was used to evaluate the main PM2.5 patterns and the total contributions of the leading four EOFs. The leading four EOFs accounted for 50.5% of the total variance, reflecting four main PM2.5 pollution types: overall pollution phase (28.4%), north–south phase (9.7%), east–west phase (6.5%), and north–center–south phase (5.9%). Indices of the Asian Polar Vortex (APV) were used to assess the impact of large-scale atmospheric circulations on PM2.5. The most pronounced APV control occurred in Beijing and its surroundings, particularly along the Bohai Sea and the Northeast Plain.

Lihua Zhou, Jing Zhang, Xiaohui Zheng, Siguang Zhu, Yueming Hu