Carbonaceous aerosol emission reduction over Shandong province and the impact of air pollution control as observed from synthetic satellite data

Abstract Aerosol loading and trace gas emissions from agriculture crop residue burning has been one of the main factors leading to the deterioration of air quality especially during the harvest time in China. Here, we evaluate the contribution of atmospheric aerosol loading from biomass burning and its relationship to the air pollution control policy. We focused on Shandong province, China because it has the highest level of agriculture burning pollution in October. Satellite-based data related to biomass burning including aerosol optical depth (AOD) and fire pixel counts from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), carbon monoxide (CO) from Measurements Of Pollution In The Troposphere (MOPITT), aerosol index (AI) and tropospheric NO2 from Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), and aerosol layer depths from Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO). These metrics were synthetically utilized to evaluate spatial and temporal variation of atmospheric aerosols during the agriculture crop residue burning month from 2006 to 2017. Carbonaceous aerosol emission reduction and the impact of the air pollution control policy can be found in the CALIPSO aerosol types and MODIS fire pixel counts data. The AOD, NO2, CO, and AI over three different land covers (cropland, forest and impervious surfaces) were further obtained according to the land cover data set. The results indicated that there was an obvious decrease in all carbonaceous aerosol-related quantities after year 2012 when the local government began to enact and implement strict air pollution control policies, although a period (2–3 years) of transition after the policy implementation time was identified. We also found that CO is stable and low over the cropland versus forest and impervious surfaces; NO2 exhibits a continuously high value in the northern areas of the oil field. The impact of industry activity rather than straw burning should be also considered for NO2 and CO in certain areas.