Characteristics and Factors Influencing Atmospheric Pollutants Variation in Yichun City in 2009-2013

Objectives To understand the current air quality including main pollutants and their spatial and temporal variations in Yichun city, to predict the future trends of air quality, and to explore its influencing factors.

Methods Using a comprehensive pollution index and combined pollution load coefficient to process and analyze the daily atmospheric data of Yichun city in 2009-2013.

Results The air quality of Yichun city in recent five years for most days was in Grade Ⅱ or better. Within the three pollution indexes(PM₁₀, NO₂ and SO₂) examined, PM₁₀ was considered as the main pollutant and gave the largest contribution to the comprehensive pollution index. The rank of combined pollution load coefficient was:PM₁₀ > SO₂ > NO₂; there was a trend of seasonal and annual change in air pollution indexes, such as high in winter, low in summer and gentle in annual variation, but an insignificantly increasing trend year by year.

Conclusions The air quality in Yichun city became worse in recent five years, the main reasons were the emissions of exhausted gas from motor vehicles and the rapid development of building industries, etc. Setting observational sites for PM_2.5 might be needed in order to grasp the dynamic change of air quality on fine particles in Yichun.