Lidar mapping of atmospheric atomic mercury in the Wanshan area, China

Ming Lian; Lihai Shang; Zheng Duan; Yiyun Li; Guangyu Zhao; Shiming Zhu; Guangle Qiu; Bo Meng; Jonas Sommar; Xinbin Feng; Sune Svanberg

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2018.04.104

Lidar mapping of atmospheric atomic mercury in the Wanshan area, China

Environ Pollut. 2018 Sep:240:353-358. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2018.04.104. Epub 2018 May 9.

Authors

Ming Lian¹, Lihai Shang², Zheng Duan¹, Yiyun Li¹, Guangyu Zhao¹, Shiming Zhu¹, Guangle Qiu², Bo Meng², Jonas Sommar², Xinbin Feng³, Sune Svanberg⁴

Affiliations

¹ Center for Optical and Electromagnetic Research, South China Academy of Advanced Optoelectronics, Science Building 5, South China Normal University, University City Campus, Guangzhou 510006, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550081, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550081, China. Electronic address: Fengxinbin@vip.skleg.cn.
⁴ Center for Optical and Electromagnetic Research, South China Academy of Advanced Optoelectronics, Science Building 5, South China Normal University, University City Campus, Guangzhou 510006, China; Department of Physics, Lund University, P.O. Box 118, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden. Electronic address: sune.svanberg@fysik.lth.se.

PMID: 29751331
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2018.04.104

Abstract

A novel mobile laser radar system was used for mapping gaseous atomic mercury (Hg⁰) atmospheric pollution in the Wanshan district, south of Tongren City, Guizhou Province, China. This area is heavily impacted by legacy mercury from now abandoned mining activities. Differential absorption lidar measurements were supplemented by localized point monitoring using a Lumex RA-915M Zeeman modulation mercury analyzer. Range-resolved concentration measurements in different directions were performed. Concentrations in the lower atmospheric layers often exceeded levels of 100 ng/m³ for March conditions with temperature ranging from 5 °C to 20 °C. A flux measurement of Hg⁰ over a vertical cross section of 0.12 km² resulted in about 29 g/h. Vertical lidar sounding at night revealed quickly falling Hg⁰ concentrations with height. This is the first lidar mapping demonstration in a heavily mercury-polluted area in China, illustrating the lidar potential in complementing point monitors.

Keywords: Concentration mapping; Differential absorption lidar; Gaseous atomic mercury; Wanshan.

MeSH terms

Air Pollutants / analysis*
Atmosphere / chemistry
China
Environmental Monitoring / methods*
Environmental Pollution
Mercury / analysis*
Mining
Remote Sensing Technology

Substances

Air Pollutants
Mercury