Chemical speciation, transport and contribution of biomass burning smoke to ambient aerosol in Guangzhou, a mega city of China

Intensive measurements of aerosol (PM10) and associated water-soluble ionic and carbonaceous species were conducted in Guangzhou, a mega city of China, during summer 2006. Elevated levels of most chemical species were observed especially at nighttime during two episodes, characterized by dramatic build-up of the biomass burning tracers levoglucosan and non-sea-salt potassium, when the prevailing wind direction had changed due to two approaching tropical cyclones. High-resolution air mass back trajectories based on the MM5 model revealed that air masses with high concentrations of levoglucosan (43–473 ng m−3) and non-sea-salt potassium (0.83–3.2 μg m−3) had passed over rural regions of the Pearl River Delta and Guangdong Province, where agricultural activities and field burning of crop residues are common practices. The relative contributions of biomass burning smoke to organic carbon in PM10 were estimated from levoglucosan data to be on average 7.0 and 14% at daytime and nighttime, respectively, with maxima of 9.7 and 32% during the episodic transport events, indicating that biomass and biofuel burning activities in the rural parts of the Pearl River Delta and neighboring regions could have a significant impact on ambient urban aerosol levels.