Abstract:
As a photochemical produced oxidant, gaseous hydrogen peroxide (H
2O
2) plays an important role in aerosols and acid rain production. However, not many measurements of gaseous H
2O
2 have been made in China in the past few years and further studies especially the level and trend of H
2O
2 in smog are needed. To make up for the lack of H
2O
2 data and provide support for air quality improvement in China, an observation experiment on gaseous H
2O
2 is carried out from 27 Dec 2016 to 28 Apr 2017 at an urban site in the northwest of mega-city Beijing, using a two-channel H
2O
2 monitor AL2021. The concentration level, variation and influence factors under different conditions are analyzed with several simultaneously observed pollutants (O
3, PAN, NO
X, PM
2.5, etc.) and meteorological parameters. The mean mixing ratio of H
2O
2 for the entire period is (0.65±0.59)×10
-9, with a higher mean of (0.83±0.67)×10
-9 in spring and a lower mean of (0.51±0.47)×10
-9 in winter. Day peaks with the value higher than 2×10
-9 is also detected in winter indicating that high concentration of H
2O
2 can also happen under certain conditions. The concentration of H
2O
2 shows pronounced diurnal cycles with peaks in the period of 1800-2100 BT, occurring later than those reported for other sites in China or foreign countries and shows a delay of about 4 to 7 hours compared with the peaking time of O
3. H
2O
2 level is found to be negatively correlated with relative humidity (RH), especially when only considering the maximum H
2O
2 level under RH over 55%. This is consistent with the uptake of gaseous H
2O
2 by water-containing aerosol particles under higher RH conditions. The H
2O
2 peaking time and peak level are closely related with RH as well as other factors, such as NO
X. Under conditions of daily RH lower than 55%, H
2O
2 level can reach a mean peak value of 1.52×10
-9 with peaking times during 1800-2400 BT, while it peaks lower (1×10
-9) and earlier (before 1700 BT) with the daily mean RH higher than 65%. H
2O
2, O
3 and PAN show different diurnal patterns and levels under different pollution conditions. H
2O
2 shows smaller average level differences for clean and hazy days, with a higher peak but a lower level during 1100-1500 BT under the clean condition. O
3 shows a higher mixing ratio under clean condition than under hazy condition, while PAN reveals an opposite trend. Results also indicate that dynamical transport could be an important influencing factor of variations and levels of H
2O
2 and O
3. The impact of photochemistry on haze formation in colder months in the urban environment of Beijing and its feedback warrant further studies, particularly the role of H
2O
2 in the formation of sulfate aerosol.