A Multi-scale Periodic Study of PM2.5 Concentration in the Yangtze River Delta of China Based on Empirical Mode Decomposition-Wavelet Analysis

With the acceleration of industrialization and urbanization, the problem of air pollution in China has become increasingly serious. Particulate matter (PM) is a representative indicator of pollutants, and it is of great significance to carry out targeted treatment by studying its periodicity of concentration. In this paper, as a data mining information technology, the Empirical Mode Decomposition-Wavelet Analysis (EMD-WA) model is used to conduct a multi-scale periodic study of the PM2.5 concentration time sequence in the Yangtze River Delta region in China and it is found that: (1) through the decomposition and reconstruction of the EMD-WA model, the period characteristics of four scales from short to long can be obtained, which are seasonal, short, medium and long period terms respectively; (2) the PM2.5 concentration in the Yangtze River Delta region shows obvious multi-scale periodicity for the four scales, which includes a seasonal cycle of 46 days (about 1.5 months), a short cycle of 101 days (about 3.5 months), a medium cycle of 294 days (about 10 months), and a long cycle of 671 days (about 22.5 months), respectively. (3) The results are consistent in terms of season, short and middle cycle scales, in north (Jiangsu), east (Shanghai), south (Zhejiang) and west (Anhui) of the Yangtze River Delta region, but there are significant differences in the terms of long cycle scales. (4) The PM2.5 concentration still shows obvious periodicity within 240 h during severe haze in the Yangtze River Delta region. This paper provides a framework for the government to make policies on energy conservation, emission reduction and air pollution control, and also provides a strong basis for haze prediction.