Wang Yuesi

Quick measurement of CH4, CO2 and N2O emissions from a short-plant ecosystem

Combining improved injector, gas line and valve-driving models, a gas chromatograph (GC) equipped with Hydrogen Flame Ionization Detector (FID) and Electron Capture Detector (ECD), can measure CH4, CO2, and N2O simultaneously in an air sample in four minutes. Test results show that the system has high sensitivity, resolution, and precision; the linear response range of the system meets the requirement of flux measurements in situ. The system is suitable for monitoring fluxes of the main greenhouse gases in a short-plant field since it is easy to use, efficacious, and constant and reliable in collecting data.

Mechanism for the formation of the January 2013 heavy haze pollution episode over central and eastern China

In January 2013, a long-lasting episode of severe haze occurred in central and eastern China, and it attracted attention from all sectors of society. The process and evolution of haze pollution episodes were observed by the “Forming Mechanism and Control Strategies of Haze in China” group using an intensive aerosol and trace gases campaign that simultaneously obtained data at 11 ground-based observing sites in the CARE-China network. The characteristics and formation mechanism of haze pollution episodes were discussed. Five haze pollution episodes were identified in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (Jing-Jin-Ji) area; the two most severe episodes occurred during 9–15 January and 25–31 January. During these two haze pollution episodes, the maximum hourly PM2.5 mass concentrations in Beijing were 680 and 530 μg m−3, respectively. The process and evolution of haze pollution episodes in other major cities in the Jing-Jin-Ji area, such as Shijiazhuang and Tianjin were almost the same as those observed in Beijing. The external cause of the severe haze episodes was the unusual atmospheric circulation, the depression of strong cold air activities and the very unfavorable dispersion due to geographical and meteorological conditions. However, the internal cause was the quick secondary transformation of primary gaseous pollutants to secondary aerosols, which contributed to the “explosive growth” and “sustained growth” of PM2.5. Particularly, the abnormally high amount of nitric oxide (NOx) in the haze episodes, produced by fossil fuel combustion and vehicle emissions, played a direct or indirect role in the quick secondary transformation of coal-burning sulphur dioxide (SO2) to sulphate aerosols. Furthermore, gaseous pollutants were transformed into secondary aerosols through heterogeneous reactions on the surface of fine particles, which can change the particle’s size and chemical composition. Consequently, the proportion of secondary inorganic ions, such as sulphate and nitrate, gradually increased, which enhances particle hygroscopicity and thereby accelerating formation of the haze pollution.

Carbon Dioxide, Methane, and Nitrous Oxide Emissions from a Rice-Wheat Rotation as Affected by Crop Residue Incorporation and Temperature

Field measurements were made from June 2001 to May 2002 to evaluate the effect of crop residue application and temperature on CO2, CH4, and N2O emissions within an entire rice-wheat rotation season. Rapeseed cake and wheat straw were incorporated into the soil at a rate of 2.25 t hm−2 when the rice crop was transplanted in June 2001. Compared with the control, the incorporation of rapeseed cake enhanced the emissions of CO2, CH4, and N2O in the rice-growing season by 12.3%, 252.3%, and 17.5%, respectively, while no further effect was held on the emissions of CO2 and N2O in the following wheatgrowing season. The incorporation of wheat straw enhanced the emissions of CO2 and CH4 by 7.1% and 249.6%, respectively, but reduced the N2O emission by 18.8% in the rice-growing season. Significant reductions of 17.8% for the CO2 and of 12.9% for the N2O emission were observed in the following wheatgrowing season. A positive correlation existed between the emissions of N2O and CO2 (R2 = 0.445,n = 73,p < 0.001) from the rice-growing season when N2O was emitted. A trade-off relationship between the emissions of CH4 and N2O was found in the rice-growing season. The CH4 emission was significantly correlated with the CO2 emission for the period from rice transplantation to field drainage, but not for the entire rice-growing season. In addition, air temperature was found to regulate the CO2 emissions from the non-waterlogged period over the entire rice-wheat rotation season and the N2O emissions from the nonwaterlogged period of the rice-growing season, which can be quantitatively described by an exponential function. The temperature coefficient (Q10) was then evaluated to be 2.3±0.2 for the CO2 emission and 3.9±0.4 for the N2O emission, respectively.

Methane and nitrous oxide emissions from three paddy rice based cultivation systems in Southwest China

To understand methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from permanently flooded rice paddy fields and to develop mitigation options, a field experiment was conducted in situ for two years (from late 2002 to early 2005) in three rice-based cultivation systems, which are a permanently flooded rice field cultivated with a single time and followed by a non-rice season (PF), a rice-wheat rotation system (RW) and a rice-rapeseed rotation system (RR) in a hilly area in Southwest China. The results showed that the total CH4 emissions from PF were 646.3±52.1 and 215.0±45.4 kg CH4 hm−2 during the rice-growing period and non-rice period, respectively. Both values were much lower than many previous reports from similar regions in Southwest China. The CH4 emissions in the rice-growing season were more intensive in PF, as compared to RW and RR. Only 33% of the total annual CH4 emission in PF occurred in the non-rice season, though the duration of this season is two times longer than the rice season. The annual mean N2O flux in PF was 4.5±0.6 kg N2O hm−2 yr−1. The N2O emission in the rice-growing season was also more intensive than in the non-rice season, with only 16% of the total annual emission occurring in the non-rice season. The amounts of N2O emission in PF were ignorable compared to the CH4 emission in terms of the global warming potential (GWP). Changing PF to RW or RR not only eliminated CH4 emissions in the non-rice season, but also substantially reduced the CH4 emission during the following rice-growing period (ca. 58%, P<0.05). However, this change in cultivation system substantially increased N2O emissions, especially in the non-rice season, by a factor of 3.7 to 4.5. On the 100-year horizon, the integrated GWP of total annual CH4 and N2O emissions satisfies PF≫RR≈RW. The GWP of PF is higher than that of RW and RR by a factor of 2.6 and 2.7, respectively. Of the total GWP of CH4 and N2O emissions, CH4 emission contributed to 93%, 65% and 59% in PF, RW and RR, respectively. These results suggest that changing PF to RW and RR can substantially reduce not only CH4 emission but also the total GWP of the CH4 and N2O emissions.

Seasonal dynamics of soil CO2 effluxes with responses to environmental factors in lower subtropical forests of China

Seasonal metrics and environmental responses to forestry soil surface CO2 emission effluxes among three types of lower subtropical forests were consistently monitored over two years with static chamber-gas chromatograph techniques among three types of lower subtropical forests. Results showed that annual CO2 effluxes (S+L) reached 3942.20, 3422.36 and 2163.02 CO2 g·m−2·a−1, respectively in the monsoon evergreen broadleaf forest, mixed broadleaf-coniferous forest and coniferous forest. All the three types of forests revealed the same characteristics of seasonal changes with the CO2 effluxes peaking throughout June to August. During this peaking period, the effluxes were 35.9%, 38.1% and 40.2% of the total annual effluxes, respectively. The CO2 emission process responding to the environmental factors displayed significantly different patterns in forestry soils of the three types of forests. The coniferous forest (CF) was more sensitive to temperature than the other two types. The Q10 values were higher, along with greater seasonal variations of the CO2 efflux, indicating that the structurally unique forestry ecosystem has disadvantage against interferences. All the three types of forestry CO2 effluxes showed significant correlation with the soil temperature (Ts), soil water content (Ms) and air pressure (Pa). However, stepwise regression analysis indicated no significant correlation between air pressure and the soil CO2 efflux. With an empirical model to measure soil temperature and water content in 5 cm beneath the soil surface, the CO2 effluxes accounting for 75.7%, 77.8% and 86.5% of the efflux variability respectively in soils of BF, MF and PF were calculated. This model can be better used to evaluate the CO2 emission of soils under water stress and arid or semi-arid conditions.

Carbon dynamics of wetland in the Sanjiang plain

Methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emission was measured from mires in the Sanjiang Plain, Northeast China, by using a static chamber technique during free snow-covered periods. The seasonal mean emission of CH4 was 12.4mg/(m2·h) and the emission range of CO2 was 8.7–16.6g/(m2·d) (gross CO2 flux) during plant growth period. CO2 emission rate in the day was stronger than that at night, and the daily peak appears at 19:00. The mire plants in the Sanjiang Plain begin to sprout at the end of April. The aboveground biomass of the mire plants increased from zero to the peak from July to September and showed single peak form. The aboveground biomass of Carex lasiocarpa (464.8g/m2) was lower than that of Deyeuxia platyphylla (530.8g/m2), but the underground biomass was higher than that of Deyeuxia platyphylla. Gross CO2 flux showed the significance positive correlation relationship with plant biomass. Gross CO2 flux and CH4 emission were also correlated with soil temperature (0–5cm) and water temperature. However, the highest CH4 emission rate lagged behind the highest soil temperature in the root area during plant growth period. The data also indicated that wet and warm conditions during the early spring led to greater value of CH4 emission flux. Inundation is the necessary condition for the existence of methane bacteria, but there is no significant positive correlation between the inundation depth and CH4 emission rate in this region. Within the same growing season and under the same inundation condition, the variations of CH4 emission rate could be markedly different.

Aerosol Direct Radiative Forcing over Shandong Peninsula in East Asia from 2004 to 2011

Abstract Recent vigorous industrialization and urbanization in Shandong Peninsula, China, have resulted in the emission of heavy anthropogenic aerosols over the region. The annual means of aerosol optical depth (AOD), Ångström exponent (∝), single-scattering albedo (SSA), aerosol direct radiative forcing (ARF), surface radiative forcing (SRF), and top-of-the atmospheric radiative forcing (TOA) recorded during 2004–2011 were respectively 0.67±0.19, 1.25±0.24, 0.93±0.03, 47±9 W m-2, 61±9 W m-2, and −14±8 W m -2, The aerosol optical properties and ARF characteristics showed remarkable seasonal variations due to cycle changes in the aerosol components and dominance type. The atmosphere-surface system was cooled by ARF in all years of the study due to anthropogenic sulfate and nitrate emission and sea salt aerosols. The magnitude of TOA cooling was larger in summer (−15±17 W m-2) and autumn (−12±7 W m-2) than that in spring (−8±4 W m-2) and winter (−9±10 W m-2).

Fluxes of soil carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and firedamp in broadleaved/Korean pine forest

To understand influence of litters on the emission/absorption of CO2, N2O and CH4 in broadleaved/Korean pine forest in Changbai Mountain, fluxes of soil CO2, N2O and CH4 were measured by closed static chamber technique, from Sept 3, 2002 to Oct 30, 2003 in two types of soil ecosystems, of which one was covered with litters on the surface soil, and the other had no litters. The results showed that litters had significant influences on CO2, N2O and CH4 fluxes (p<0.05). Their diurnal change patterns of plot with litters and litter-free plot were similar, and they all showed emission/absorption peak at 18:00. The diurnal change fluxes of CO2 and N2O of plot with litters were significantly higher than those of the litter-free plot, while the diurnal flux of CH4 of plot with litters was lower than that of litter-free plot. The fluxes of CO2, N2O, and CH4 showed the similar seasonal patternsfor both plots. The fluxes of CO2, CH4 showed their peak fluxes in June, but the fluxes of N2O showed its peak emissions in August. The annual fluxes of CO2 and N2O of plot with litters were significantly higher than those of the litter-free plot, while the annual flux of CH4 of plot with litters was lower than that of litter-free plot.

A Primary Study of the Variations of Vertical Radiation with the Beijing 325-m Meteorological Tower

The Beijing 325-m Meteorological Tower (325MT) is used to observe the vertical variation of solar radiation. Results of the experiments indicate that the automatic radiation monitoring system, including a sun tracker and data collection system, works well and all the specifications meet WMO observation standards. The measurement data show that there is a significant radiation decrease from 320 m to the surface, where the difference is only about 30 W m−2 on light air-pollution days, while the maximum reaches about 110 W m−2 when heavy pollution appears near the ground. The global UV radiation decreases on heavy air-pollution days and under poor visibility conditions, and the difference between 300 m and 8 m is larger than on clear days.

Variability in UVB Radiation in Beijing, China

The variation characteristics of Ultraviolet‐B (UVB; 280–315 nm) radiation over Beijing were explored using measured data that were collected in Beijing from November 2010 to October 2011. Seasonal variations in UVB radiation and influence of ozone and clearness index on the ratio of UVB to broadband solar radiation (G) were investigated. The annual value of UVB radiation in Beijing is 6.37 MJ m−2, and monthly average value ranges from 4.96 to 28.37 kJ m−2 d−1. The maximum daily total UVB radiation ranges from 6.55 kJ m−2 d−1 in November to 54.22 kJ m−2 d−1 in July. The monthly minimum of daily total UVB radiation varies from 0.5 kJ m−2 d−1 in February to 11.52 kJ m−2 d−1 in July. The monthly average of the ratio of UVB radiation to G ranges from 0.007 to 0.017%, with an annual average value of 0.012%. The variation in slant ozone column causes annual cycle of the ratio UVB radiation to G, with maximum value in summer. In addition, clouds have a greater effect on G than UVB radiation. Thus, the ratio increases by more than 17% when the atmospheric conditions change from clear to cloudy.