Vertical profiles of O3, NO2 and PM in a major fine chemical industry park in the Yangtze River Delta of China detected by a sensor package on an unmanned aerial vehicle

The vertical profiles and diurnal variations of air pollutants at different heights in the fine chemical industry park (FCIP) were systematically studied in this study. Air pollutants in a major FCIP in the Yangtze River Delta of China within 500 m above ground level (AGL) detected by a sensor package on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The air pollutants including ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), particulate matter (PM), total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs) and carbon monoxide (CO), respectively, had been measured through more than one hundred times of vertical flights from Aug. 2020 to Jul. 2021. The concentrations of NO2 and CO generally decreased with the height while the concentrations of O3 increased with the height within 500 m AGL. The photochemical reaction resulted in a strong inverse relationship between the vertical profiles of O3 and that of NO2. The concentrations of PM2.5 and TVOCs generally decreased with the height below 100 m AGL and were fully mixed above 100 m AGL. The vertical profiles of different particle sizes were well consistent with the R2 value of 0.97 between PM1 and PM2.5 and 0.93 between PM2.5 and PM10. The NO2 and PM2.5 concentrations sometimes increased with height maybe due to the influence of temperature inversion layer or long-distance transportation from northern China. The diurnal variations of NO2, O3, TVOCs and CO concentrations at different heights within 500 m AGL were basically consistent. The diurnal variations range of PM2.5 concentrations below 100 m AGL was large and different from other heights, which should be greatly influenced by the local emissions. The unstable atmospheric stability was accompanied by strong photochemical reactions and convective activities, resulting in low concentrations of NO2 and PM2.5, while high concentrations of O3. [Display omitted] •Vertical and diurnal variations of air pollutants in a FCIP were fully explored.•An UAV mounted by a sensor package had been employed in 107 vertical flights.•Effects of atmospheric conditions on air pollutants were full investigated.