Spatial distributions of airborne di-carbonyls in urban and rural areas in China

Gaseous glyoxal and methylglyoxal concentrations were characterized in nine cities of China during 2010–2011. The average summer (winter) glyoxal and methylglyoxal concentrations were 36.4–178.4 (12.3–241.4) and 67.8–359.4 (28.4–530.0) ng/m3, respectively. In summer, the highest average glyoxal concentration was in Guangzhou (GZ), while the lowest was in Shanghai (SH). In winter, Xiamen (XM) showed the highest average methylglyoxal concentration and Yantai (YT) reported the lowest. Both di-carbonyls showed distinct seasonal variations. The maximum average methylglyoxal concentration was approximately twice as much as glyoxal, which is consistent with the results of other studies. Glyoxal-to-methylglyoxal ratios showed that there was a consistent direct source of emissions in remote areas such as Qinghai Lake and Lhasa in both seasons (r ≥ 0.9). Pearson's correlation analysis suggested possible similar sources formation (R ≥ 0.7) for the two di-carbonyls in winter. Multiple linear regression analyses demonstrated that every 1 °C temperature increase could lead to a > 2% increase in the concentration of the di-carbonyls in both seasons. There was a greater percentage gain for glyoxal in winter than in summer for the same temperature increase. The northeast monsoon occurs in winter, and for every 1 ms− 1increase in wind speed, > 20% of the di-carbonyls can be transferred out of China. This study is useful to understand about the secondary organic aerosol formation in the areas, the statistical analysis can provide information about the relationships between these carbonyls in atmosphere.