Urban-rural patterns and driving factors of particulate matter pollution decrease in eastern China

Song, Zhihao; Chen, Bin

doi:10.5194/acp-25-15487-2025

Articles | Volume 25, issue 21

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-15487-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-15487-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 25, issue 21

Research article

|

13 Nov 2025

Research article |

| 13 Nov 2025

Urban-rural patterns and driving factors of particulate matter pollution decrease in eastern China

Zhihao Song and Bin Chen

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-15487-2025-supplement

Data sets

MODIS/Terra+Aqua Land Cover Type Yearly L3 Global 0.05Deg CMG V061 M. Friedl and D. Sulla-Menashe https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MCD12C1.061

Gridded Population of the World, Version 4 (GPWv4): Population Count Adjusted to Match 2015 Revision of UN WPP Country Totals, Revision 11 Center For International Earth Science Information Network-CIESIN-Columbia University https://doi.org/10.7927/H4PN93PB

NASA Shuttle Radar Topography Mission Global 3 arc second NASA JPL https://doi.org/10.5067/MEASURES/SRTM/SRTMGL3.003

Particulate matter data used in egusphere-2025-2194 Z. Song https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17090707

Download

Article (10831 KB)
Full-text XML

Short summary

This study reveals that 2015–2023 particulate matter (PM) pollution in eastern China declined faster in urban than rural areas. Temperature and interannual variability were key drivers, with urban reductions concentrated in urban core zones and suburbs. The effect of interannual variability on PM decreased significantly, while other factors showed periodic fluctuations.