Gaseous and size-segregated particulate PBDEs (specifically BDE-47, -99, -183, -207, and -209) in the air were measured in urban Guangzhou at 100 and 150 m above the ground in daytime and at night in August and December 2010, to assess dry deposition of these contaminants accurately with regards to influences of meteorological factors but without confounding surface effects. Particulate PBDEs were more abundant at night than in daytime, and slightly higher in winter than in summer, likely from varying meteorological conditions and atmospheric boundary layers. More than 60% of particulate-phase PBDEs was contained in particles with an aerodynamic diameter (D-P) below 1.8 mu m, indicating long-range transport potential. The average daily particle dry deposition fluxes of PBDEs in August ranged from 2.6 (BDE-47) to 88.6 (BDE-209) ng m(-2) d(-1), while those in winter ranged from 2.0 (BDE-47) to 122 (BDE-209) ng m(-2) d(-1). Deposition fluxes of all PBDE congeners were significantly higher in daytime than at night for both months, due to the effect of diurnal variability of meteorological factors. In addition, mean overall particle deposition velocities of individual BDE congeners ranged from 0.11 to 0.28 cm s(-1). These values were within a factor of 2 of assumed values previously used in southern China and the Laurentian Great Lakes, suggesting that such assumptions were reasonable for sites with similar particulate size distributions and PBDE sources. Dry deposition velocities of PBDEs were lower at night than those in the daytime, probably reflecting higher mechanical and thermal turbulence during daytime. Dry deposition of particulate-bound PBDEs is influenced by short-term temporal variability from meteorological factors, and also by particulate size fractions.
Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) in the southeastern US is investigated by analyzing the spatial-temporal distribution of water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) and other PM2.5 components from 900 archived 24-h Teflon filters collected at 15 urban or rural EPA Federal Reference Method (FRM) network sites throughout 2007. Online measurements of WSOC at an urban/rural-paired site in Georgia in the summer of 2008 are contrasted to the filter data. Based on FRM filters, excluding biomass-burning events (levoglucosan < 50 ng m 3), WSOC and sulfate were highly correlated with PM2.5 mass (r2~0.7). Both components comprised a large mass fraction of PM2.5 (13% and 31%, respectively, or ~25% and 50% for WSOM and ammonium sulfate). Sulfate and WSOC both tracked ambient temperature throughout the year, suggesting the temperature effects were mainly linked to faster photochemistry and/or synoptic meteorology and less due to enhanced biogenic hydrocarbon emissions. FRM WSOC, and to a lesser extent sulfate, were spatially homogeneous throughout the region, yet WSOC was moderately enhanced (27%) in locations of greater predicted isoprene emissions in summer. A Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) analysis identified two major source types for the summer WSOC; 22% of the WSOC were associated with ammonium sulfate, and 56% of the WSOC were associated with brown carbon and oxalate. A small urban excess of FRM WSOC (10%) was observed in the summer of 2007, however, comparisons of online WSOC measurements at one urban/rural pair (Atlanta/Yorkville) in August 2008 showed substantially greater difference in WSOC (31%) relative to the FRM data, suggesting a low bias for urban filters. The measured Atlanta urban excess, combined with the estimated boundary layer heights, gave an estimated Atlanta daily WSOC production rate in August of 0.55 mgC m 2 h 1 between mid-morning and mid-afternoon. This study characterizes the regional nature of fine particles in the southeastern US, confirming the importance of SOA and the roles of both biogenic and anthropogenic emissions.
Multi-year inventories of anthropogenic black carbon emissions, including both fuel consumption and biomass open burning, at a high spatial resolution of 0.25°×0.25° have been constructed in China using GIS methodology for the period 1980–2009, based on official statistical data and time-varying emission factors. Results show that black carbon emissions increased from 0.87 Tg in 1980 to 1.88 Tg in 2009 with a peak in about 1995, and had been continually increasing in the first decade of the 21 century. Residential contribution to the total BC emissions declined from 82.03% in 1980 to 42.33% in 2009 at a continuous diminishing trend, but had always been the dominant contributor in China. While contributions from industry and transportation sectors had increased notably. BC emissions were mainly concentrated in the central eastern districts, the three northeastern provinces and the Sichuan Basin, covering 22.30% of China's territory, but were responsible for 43.02%, 50.47%, 50.69% and 54.30% of the national black carbon emissions in 1985, 1995, 2005 and 2009, respectively. Besides, China made up 70%–85% of BC emissions in East Asia, half of the emissions in Asia, and accounted for averagely 18.97% of the global BC emissions during the estimation period.
In this paper, a multivariate spatial autoregressive model of local public education expenditure determination with autoregressive disturbance is developed and estimated. The existence of spatial interdependence is tested using Moran’s I statistic and Lagrange multiplier test statistics for both the spatial error and spatial lag models. The full model is estimated by spatial econometric models approach using county-level data from 1,520 Chinese counties. The results indicate the existence of significant spillover effects among local governments with respect to spending in local public education services. The economic level determines local education expenditure level significantly. There are non-linear relationships between education expenditure and predictors such as the proportion of non-agricultural population, the immigrant population from other provinces and children population. It reveals that countries in coastal area and in inland area respond asymmetrically to neighbors’ education expenditures, respectively.
How geographical neighboring competitors influence the strategic recruiting behavior of universities is still unclear because previous studies assume spatial independence among universities. Using data of Subordinate Universities of the Ministry of Education in China, this study found that the choice of admission score level by one university was spatially autocorrelated with its neighboring competitors and four strategies came into being within spatial enrollment competition. The intenseness of spatial competition decreased as the number of neighboring competitors increased while the difference of admission score increased as the distance between competitive universities increased.
To estimate the biogenic volatile organic compound (BVOC) emissions in China, this study collected data on vegetation volume, production and distribution, converted into leaf biomass and then used BVOC emission model. In 2003, the annual BVOC emission in China was 12.83 Tg, composed of 7.45 Tg isoprene, 2.23 Tg monoterpenes, and 3.14 Tg other VOCs (OVOCs). Emissions varied significantly among plant species, with contributions ordered as follows: forests > shrubs > crops > grasslands. Southern and northeastern China were the main sources of BVOC emissions. Significant seasonal variation was found with summer contributing the most.