Temporal variations of black carbon during haze and non-haze days in Beijing

Black carbon (BC) aerosol has been identified as one of key factors responsible for air quality in Beijing. BC emissions abatement could help slow regional climate change while providing benefits for public health. In order to quantify its variations and contribution to air pollution, we systematically studied real-time measurements of equivalent black carbon (eBC) in PM(2.5) aerosols at an urban site in Beijing from 2010 to 2014. Equivalent black carbon (eBC) is used instead of black carbon (BC) for data derived from Aethalometer-31 measurement. Equivalent BC concentrations showed significant temporal variations with seasonal mean concentration varying between 2.13 and 5.97 μg m(−3). The highest concentrations of eBC were found during autumn and winter, and the lowest concentrations occurred in spring. We assessed the temporal variations of eBC concentration during haze days versus non-haze days and found significantly lower eBC fractions in PM(2.5) on haze days compared to those on non-haze days. Finally, we observed a clear inverse relationship between eBC and wind speed. Our results show that wind disperses PM(2.5) more efficiently than eBC; so, secondary aerosols are not formed to the same degree as primary aerosols over the same transport distance during windy conditions.