Terahertz-dependent PM2.5 monitoring and grading in the atmosphere

Rapid industrialization and economic development have led to serious pollution in the form of fine particulate matter(PM2.5,particulate matter with a diameter of less than 2.5 μm). In China, PM2.5 has been one of the most debated topics in councils of government and issues of public concern. Terahertz(THz) radiation was employed to measure the PM2.5 in the atmosphere from September 2014 to April 2015 in Beijing. Comparison of the PM2.5 level from the website with THz absorbance revealed a significant phenomenon: THz radiation can be used to monitor PM2.5 in the atmosphere. During Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation(APEC) 2014, "APEC Blue" was also recorded in a THz system. The relationship between absorbance and PM2.5 demonstrates that THz radiation is an effective selection for air pollution grading. Based on the absorbance spectra, the elemental compositions were studied by two-dimensional correlation spectroscopy(2 DCOS) in conjunction with X-ray fluorescence.Several single absorption peaks were revealed and caused by sulphate from coal combustion, vehicle exhaust emissions and secondary reactions. Furthermore, mathematical algorithms, such as the BPANN and SVM, can process the THz absorbance data and greatly improve the precision of the estimation of PM2.5 mass. Our results suggest that THz spectroscopy can not only reveal the component information for pollution source determination, but quantitatively monitor the PM2.5 content for pollution level evaluation. Therefore, the use of THz radiation is a new method for future air pollution monitoring and grading systems.