Chinese Urban Air Quality Data for Spring 2001

PIs:  Oliver Wild (FRSGC), oliver@jamstec.go.jp
        Michael Prather (UCI), mprather@uci.edu

Products:  Measures of urban air quality from China

As of July 2000, each city in China has been required to publish an Air Pollution Index (API) measured for the urban region each day. Typically, observations are made of NOx, SO2 and TSP (Total suspended particulate), and in some cases CO and O3. An air pollution index is derived for each of these, based on a scale from 0-500 defined by the State Environmental Protection Agency, and the highest API figure is published, and the corresponding species identified. If all API are below 50, then the air is considered clean and no species is identified. Beijing and Shanghai currently release an API for each species measured. The API are typically released in late afternoon for the current day.

The figures for 42 cities are presented each day by plotting circles at the appropriate location, with radii proportional to API and coloured by the respective constituent. On the web site, this is supplemented by meteorological data and the concurrent midday GMS picture of the region.  A summary time-series is presented for Northern, Eastern and Southern coastal cities which are closest to the Trace-P measurement region.  Data for Beijing and Shanghai are plotted separately after conversion of the API to volume mixing ratio units.

Data format:  ascii data, gif images (for maps), PostScript (summary page)

Data volume:  < 1 Mb/day

Mode of transfer to field:  Web site

Requirements:  Colour printer

Field time when data available:  7:00 pm JST  (time to process data: none)

Name of person in field handling data:   Oliver Wild (at Yokota)

URL:  http://www.ess.uci.edu/~oliver/tracep/