Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-773
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-773
31 Aug 2022
 | 31 Aug 2022

Enhanced Natural Releases of Mercury in Response to Reduction of Anthropogenic Emissions during the COVID-19 Lockdown by Explainable Machine Learning

Xiaofei Qin, Shengqian Zhou, Hao Li, Guochen Wang, Cheng Chen, Chengfeng Liu, Xiaohao Wang, Juntao Huo, Yanfen Lin, Jia Chen, Qingyan Fu, Yusen Duan, Kan Huang, and Congrui Deng

Abstract. The widespread of coronavirus (COVID-19) has significantly impacted the global human activities. Compared to numerous studies on conventional air pollutants, atmospheric mercury that has matched sources from both anthropogenic and natural emissions is rarely investigated. At a regional site in Eastern China, an intensive measurement was performed, showing obvious decreases of gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) during the COVID-19 lockdown, while not as significant as the other air pollutants. Before the lockdown when anthropogenic emissions dominated, GEM showed no correlation with temperature and negative correlations with wind speed and the height of boundary layer. In contrast, GEM showed significant correlation with temperature while the relationship between GEM and wind speed/boundary layer disappeared during the lockdown, suggesting the enhanced natural emissions of mercury. By applying a machine learning model and the Shapley Additive ExPlanation Approach, it was found that the mercury pollution episodes before the lockdown were driven by anthropogenic sources, while they were mainly driven by natural sources during and after the lockdown. Source apportionment results showed that the absolute contribution of natural surface emissions to GEM unexpectedly increased (44%) during the lockdown. Throughout the whole study period, a significant negative correlation was observed between the absolute contribution of natural and anthropogenic sources to GEM. We conclude that natural release of mercury could be stimulated to compensate the significantly reduced anthropogenic GEM via the surface - air exchange balance of mercury.

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Journal article(s) based on this preprint

16 Dec 2022
Enhanced natural releases of mercury in response to the reduction in anthropogenic emissions during the COVID-19 lockdown by explainable machine learning
Xiaofei Qin, Shengqian Zhou, Hao Li, Guochen Wang, Cheng Chen, Chengfeng Liu, Xiaohao Wang, Juntao Huo, Yanfen Lin, Jia Chen, Qingyan Fu, Yusen Duan, Kan Huang, and Congrui Deng
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 15851–15865, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15851-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15851-2022, 2022
Short summary
Xiaofei Qin, Shengqian Zhou, Hao Li, Guochen Wang, Cheng Chen, Chengfeng Liu, Xiaohao Wang, Juntao Huo, Yanfen Lin, Jia Chen, Qingyan Fu, Yusen Duan, Kan Huang, and Congrui Deng

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2022-773', Anonymous Referee #1, 24 Sep 2022
  • RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2022-773', Paula Harder, 05 Oct 2022
  • AC1: 'Response to Reviewers' Comments (egusphere-2022-773)', Kan Huang, 10 Nov 2022

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2022-773', Anonymous Referee #1, 24 Sep 2022
  • RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2022-773', Paula Harder, 05 Oct 2022
  • AC1: 'Response to Reviewers' Comments (egusphere-2022-773)', Kan Huang, 10 Nov 2022

Peer review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision | EF: Editorial file upload
AR by Kan Huang on behalf of the Authors (10 Nov 2022)  Author's response   Author's tracked changes   Manuscript 
ED: Referee Nomination & Report Request started (14 Nov 2022) by Duncan Watson-Parris
RR by Anonymous Referee #1 (23 Nov 2022)
RR by Anonymous Referee #2 (29 Nov 2022)
ED: Publish as is (30 Nov 2022) by Duncan Watson-Parris
AR by Kan Huang on behalf of the Authors (30 Nov 2022)

Journal article(s) based on this preprint

16 Dec 2022
Enhanced natural releases of mercury in response to the reduction in anthropogenic emissions during the COVID-19 lockdown by explainable machine learning
Xiaofei Qin, Shengqian Zhou, Hao Li, Guochen Wang, Cheng Chen, Chengfeng Liu, Xiaohao Wang, Juntao Huo, Yanfen Lin, Jia Chen, Qingyan Fu, Yusen Duan, Kan Huang, and Congrui Deng
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 15851–15865, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15851-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15851-2022, 2022
Short summary
Xiaofei Qin, Shengqian Zhou, Hao Li, Guochen Wang, Cheng Chen, Chengfeng Liu, Xiaohao Wang, Juntao Huo, Yanfen Lin, Jia Chen, Qingyan Fu, Yusen Duan, Kan Huang, and Congrui Deng
Xiaofei Qin, Shengqian Zhou, Hao Li, Guochen Wang, Cheng Chen, Chengfeng Liu, Xiaohao Wang, Juntao Huo, Yanfen Lin, Jia Chen, Qingyan Fu, Yusen Duan, Kan Huang, and Congrui Deng

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Short summary
By using artificial neural network modeling and an explainable analysis approach, natural surface emission was identified as the main driver of GEM variations during the COVID-19 lockdown. A sharp drop in GEM concentrations due to a significant reduction in anthropogenic emissions may disrupt the surface - air exchange balance of mercury, leading to increase in natural surface emissions. This study implies natural surface release may pose challenge to the future control on mercury pollution.