Visibility trends in six megacities in China 1973–2007

The particulate matter pollution has been serious in Chinese megacities due to the rapidly expanding economic and industrial developments, which has significant influences in atmospheric visibility. Visibility is a highly relevant factor indicating the level of atmospheric quality, and is inversely related to the optical extinction coefficient caused by gas and particle phases. In our study, visibility trends for six major megacities (Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenyang, and Xi'an) in China were evaluated during 1973–2007 on the basis of the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) database using four measurement methods: the days per year of daily visibility < 10 km, the days per year of daily visibility > 19 km, the annual mean visibility, and the dry extinction coefficient. The annual and seasonal change trends of visibility for each city were analyzed by using a linear regression model. The annual mean visibilities for the six cities (Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenyang, and Xi'an) were 10.67, 8.60, 10.76, 8.59, 8.16, and 9.74 km respectively. Shenyang has experienced a significant increasing trend during the entire time series while visibilities for other five sites showed decreasing trends especially since the middle of 1990s. In the southern and midwestern regions (Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Xi'an), visibility was best in summer, whereas in the northern regions (Beijing and Shenyang), visibility was best in spring. Mean visibility in spring was worst at Guangzhou, while for the other five cities visibility in winter was worst, probably because of coal burning during the heating period. The general degradation of visibility in these megacities was probably due to the excess aerosol loading. Consequently, an urgent targeted reduction of aerosol pollution may be needed for the sake of better air quality in Chinese megacities.