Exploring the Dynamic Spatio-Temporal Correlations between PM(2.5) Emissions from Different Sources and Urban Expansion in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region

Due to rapid urbanization globally more people live in urban areas and, simultaneously, more people are exposed to the threat of environmental pollution. Taking PM(2.5) emission data as the intermediate link to explore the correlation between corresponding sectors behind various PM(2.5) emission sources and urban expansion in the process of urbanization, and formulating effective policies, have become major issues. In this paper, based on long temporal coverage and high-quality nighttime light data seen from the top of the atmosphere and recently compiled PM(2.5) emissions data from different sources (transportation, residential and commercial, industry, energy production, deforestation and wildfire, and agriculture), we built an advanced Bayesian spatio-temporal autoregressive model and a local regression model to quantitatively analyze the correlation between PM(2.5) emissions from different sources and urban expansion in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. Our results suggest that the overall urban expansion in the study area maintained gradual growth from 1995 to 2014, with the fastest growth rate during 2005 to 2010; the urban expansion maintained a significant positive correlation with PM(2.5) emissions from transportation, energy production, and industry; different anti-haze policies should be designated according to respective local conditions in Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei provinces; and during the period of rapid urban expansion (2005–2010), the spatial correlations between PM(2.5) emissions from different sources and urban expansion also changed, with the biggest change coming from the PM(2.5) emissions from the transport sector.