Study on the Response of PM2.5 Pollution to Different Geographical Factors

Abstract

PM2.5 refers to a kind of particulate matter whose diameter is equal to or less than 2.5 micrometers in the atmosphere. Due to its characteristics of small particle size, easy-adsorption for toxic substances, long-time suspension in atmosphere and far-distance transportation, PM2.5 can enter the human lung and blood through breath, then cause respiratory diseases and central nervous system diseases. Therefore, people are paying more and more attention to PM2.5. This research is dedicated to identifying the main factors and the significant geographical elements of PM2.5 pollution based on the tools of ArcGIS, SPSS and Canoco, where ArcGIS is used to perform spatial interpolation and extract information while SPSS and Canoco have been implemented to conduct correlation analysis. The results are as follows: (a) The generally distribution of Xian's PM2.5 is the eastern part is higher than the western part; (b) PM2.5 is positively correlated with DEM, RDLS (relief degree of land surface), Aspect. In the process of increasing the buffer radius from 1 kilometer to 5 kilometers, it maintains a strong and significant positive correlation between PM2.5 and each geographical element; and (c) RDLS is the primary geographic factor and has significant influence on the diffusion and distribution of PM2.5 under different buffer radius from 1 kilometer to 5 kilometers.