Ground-level PM2.5 estimation over urban agglomerations in China with high spatiotemporal resolution based on Himawari-8

Abstract High concentrations of particulate matter with diameter of 2 ) between the measurements and estimates of PM2.5 calculated with the tenfold cross-validation method are 0.82, 0.84, 0.80 and 0.74 in CCH, BTH, YRD and PRD, respectively. The spatial distributions of PM2.5 present large regional variation, which is highly correlated with land-use type. Heavily polluted zones are mainly located in urban or rural areas, which have dense population and high anthropogenic emissions. Comparisons among different seasons show that particle pollution during the cold seasons (autumn and winter) is relatively severe with an average PM2.5 of >60 μg/m 3 in CCH, BTH and YRD, whereas the level does not greatly change throughout the year in the PRD region. During the daytime, particulate pollution levels are generally high in the morning.