Changes in surface aerosol extinction trends over China during 1980–2013 inferred from quality‐controlled visibility data

Pollution in China has been attracting extensive attention both globally and regionally, especially due to the perceptually worsening “smog” condition in recent years. We use routine visibility measurements from 1980 to 2013 at 272 World Meteorological Organization stations in China to assess the temporal changes in the magnitude and the sign of pollution trends. A strict and comprehensive quality control procedure is enforced by considering several issues not typically addressed in previous studies. Two methods are used to independently estimate the trend and its significance level. Results show that, in general, a strong increase in aerosol extinction coefficient over the majority of China is observed in the 1980s, followed by a moderate decrease in the 1990s, another increase in the 2000s, and a shift to decrease since around 2006 for some regions. Seasonally, winter and fall trends appear to be the strongest, while summer has the lowest trend. Key Points A careful quality control must be enforced on visibility measurements before they can be used for trend analysis Surface pollution all over China increased strongly in the 1980s and decreased continuously for northeast and northwest China Yangtze River Deltas show a continuous increase in surface pollution, while North China Plain and Pearl River Delta have fluctuating trends