Subseasonal reversal of haze pollution over the North China Plain

China has been frequently suffering from haze pollution in the past several decades. As one of the most emission-intensive regions, the North China Plain (NCP) features severe haze pollution with multiscale variations. Using more than 30 years of visibility measurements and PM2.5 observations, a subseasonal seesaw phenomenon of haze in autumn and early winter over the NCP is revealed in this study. It is found that when September and October are less (more) polluted than the climatology, haze tends to be enhanced (reduced) in November and December. The abrupt turn of anomalous haze is found to be associated with the circulation reversal of regional and large-scale atmospheric circulations. Months with poor air quality exhibit higher relative humidity, lower boundary layer height, lower near-surface wind speed, and southerly anomalies of low-level winds, which are all unfavorable for the vertical and horizontal dispersion and transport of air pollutants, thus leading to enhanced haze pollution over the NCP region on the subseasonal scale. Further exploration indicates that the reversal of circulation patterns is closely connected to the propagation of midlatitude wave trains active on the subseasonal time scale, which is plausibly associated with the East Atlantic/West Russia teleconnection synchronizing with the transition of the North Atlantic SST. The seesaw relation discussed in this paper provides greater insight into the prediction of the multiscale variability of haze, as well as the possibility of efficient short-term mitigation of haze to meet annual air quality targets in North China.摘要中国近几十年来频受雾霾污染问题困扰, 其中华北平原作为排放最密集的区域之一, 常遭遇不同尺度的严重雾霾污染. 本文利用30余年的能见度和颗粒物 (PM2.5) 观测数据, 发现了华北平原地区在秋季和早冬时雾霾污染在次季节尺度上“跷跷板式”反向变化的关系. 研究发现, 当9–10月污染较轻 (重) 时, 11–12月的污染倾向于加重 (减轻) . 这种突然的变化与局地和大尺度环流的反向变化有关. 污染较重的月份常伴随有更高的相对湿度, 更低的边界层高度和近地面风速以及低层的南风异常, 均不利于污染的垂直和水平扩散和传输, 从而导致了次季节尺度上霾污染的加重. 进一步的研究发现环流场的突然转向与在次季节尺度上活跃的中纬度波列的传播密切相关, 而此波列可能主要与大西洋海温转变及引起的EA/WR遥相关型有关. 这一次季节反向变化为霾污染多尺度变率预测提供了新的理解, 同时为华北地区年度空气质量达标的短期目标提供了具有可行性的参考方法.