A parameterized method is developed to diagnose the air quality in Beijing and other cities with an index termed (parameters linking air-quality to meteorological elements PLAM) derived from a correlation between PM10 and relevant weather elements based on the data between 2000 and 2007. Key weather factors for diagnosing the air pollution intensity are identified and included in PLAM that include atmospheric condensation of water vapour, wet potential equivalent temperature, and wind velocity. It is found that the poor air quality days with elevated PM10 are usually associated with higher PLAM values, featuring higher temperature, humidity, lower wind velocity, and higher stability compared to the averaged values in the same period. Both 24？h and 72？h forecasts provided useful services for the day of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games and subsequent sport events. A correlation coefficient of 0.82 was achieved between the forecasts and (air pollution index API) and 0.59 between the forecasts and observed PM10, all reaching the significant level of 0.001, for the summer period. A correction factor was also introduced to enable the PLAM to diagnose the observed PM10 concentrations all year round. 1. Introduction Meteorological elements, including water vapor content, surface wind speed, visibility, and the diurnal temperature range are important parameters to effect air pollutant concentrations [1]. Studies using data from seven air quality stations during the period of 2000 to 2008 in Taiwan area showed that PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations were significantly controlled by the weather elements, resulting in high concentrations in spring and winter and low concentrations in fall and summer [2]. Even in summer when relatively low pollutant concentrations were found, the weather elements still had a large impact on air quality as the high temperature and humidity tended to increase PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations, due to the formation of secondary pollution [3, 4]. Recently, substantial advances have been made in the studies of the impact of human activities on air quality caused by the increasing pollutant concentrations, especially ozone and particulate matters (PM) [5–9]. The concentration variations of different aerosols in various regions of China, as well as the impacts of aerosol concentration on sand/dust storms (SDS) and hazy weather in the Asia and North American were investigated [1, 10–14]. It is found that the variation of aerosol and gaseous concentrations is closely related to the changing weather elements [3, 8, 15–19]. The key
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