Dust direct radiative effects on the earth-atmosphere system over east Asia: Early spring cooling and late spring warming

Focusing on three dust storms occurring in spring 2001,we developed a detailed aerosol parameterization scheme and integrated it in a radiative transfer model to characterize possible impacts of solar altitude angle on dust direct radiative effects over China desert regions and the North Pacific,using actual daily solar altitude angles.Increasing solar altitude angle from early spring (or winter) to late spring (or summer) leads to increase of positive clear sky radiative forcing,and decrease of negative radiative forcing due to dust aerosols at the top of the atmosphere.Because solar altitude angle increases from early to late spring,dust-clear sky radiative forcing may change from negative to positive at the top of atmosphere,showing a change from cooling to heating of the earth-atmosphere system over high-albedo deserts and nearby regions.Over low-albedo ocean negative clear sky radiative forcing by dust may decrease,suggesting a change from strong to weak cooling on the earth-atmosphere system.The impacts of solar altitude angle on cloudy sky radiative forcing due to dust are similar to those of clear sky.Impacts of low cloud on dust radiative forcing are the same as increasing surface albedo.This causes the transition of dust cooling effects into heating effects over deserts to occur earlier,and causes decrease of negative radiative forcing over the ocean and even cause a change from weak negative radiative forcing to weak positive forcing over local areas.Even in the same East Asian desert regions and nearby areas,the strength and sign of the radiative forcings depend on storm dates and thus solar altitude angle.The nearer to early spring (or winter) a dust storm occurs,the easier it leads to negative radiative forcing at the top of atmosphere,which indicates cooling effects on the earth-atmosphere system.In contrast,the nearer to late spring (or summer) a dust storm occurs,the easier it leads to positive radiative forcing at the top of atmosphere,showing heating effects.Over East Asian deserts and nearby regions,dust layers may be regarded as cooling sources in early spring (winter) and warming sources in late spring (summer).     

Seasonal variations of dust record in the Muztagata ice cores

Based on the oxygen isotope ratio and microparticle record in ice cores recovered at Mt. Muztagata, Eastern Pamirs, the seasonal variations of atmospheric dust have been reconstructed for the past four decades. High dust concentrations and coarser particle grains have the similar trend with oxygen isotope value. Our statistical results indicate that 50%--60% high dust concentration samples occur during the season with high oxygen isotope values （summer）, while low dust storm frequency during spring and winter. Back-trajectory analysis shows that the air mass hitting Muztagata predominately came from West Asia （such as Iran-Afghanistan Plateau） and Central Asia, which are the main dust source area for Muztagata. Dust storms in those source areas most frequently occur during summer （from May to August）, while frequent dust storm events in northern China mainly occur during spring （March to May）. Regions in the path of Asian dust transport, such as in Japan, the North Pacific, and Greenland, also show high dust concentrations during spring （from March to May）. Our results indicate that dust storms have different seasonality in different regions within Asia.     

Variations of geochemical compositions and the paleoclimatic significance of a loess-soil sequence from Garzê County of western Sichuan Province, China

The West Sichuan Plateau is located in the southeast margin of the Tibetan Plateau, where the climate is mainly influenced by the Indian southwest summer monsoon and the Tibetan Plateau monsoon. In this study, detailed geochemical analysis has been carried out on Ganzisi loess-paleosol sequence in Ganzê County of western Sichuan Province. The results indicate that Ganzê loess and paleosol have experienced the incipient stage of chemical weathering in dust source regions, characterized by the decomposition of plagioclase which caused the depletion of mobile elements Na and Ca. The post-depositional chemical weathering is characterized by carbonate dissolution and oxidation of Fe2＋. The variations of some geochemical indexes （such as CIA values, Na/K and Fe2＋/ Fe3＋ ratios） in Ganzisi loess-paleosol sequence indicate a gradually decreased chemical weathering intensity in the dust source regions and deposition areas since 1.15 Ma BP consistent with the general increase of global ice volume, reflecting that the arid trend since 1.15 Ma BP in the southeast Tibetan Plateau is a regional response to the global climate change. The geochemical indexes in this section also reveal an obvious drying step occurred at about 250 ka BP in this region. We interpret this drying step as a result of decreased influence of the Indian southwest summer monsoon. This decrease in monsoon moisture is probably attributable to the uplift of the southeast margin of the Tibetan Plateau at about 250 ka BP.     

The compositions, sources, and size distribution of the dust storm from China in spring of 2000 and its impact on the global environment

The average mass concentration of the aerosols in Beijing during the dust storm in the spring of 2000 was ~6000 mg·m^-3, ~30 times as high as that in the non-dust storm days. The enrichment factors of the pollution elements As, Sb and Se were higher than those in the non-dust storm days. This indicated that As, Sb and Se resulted from the pollution sources of those areas, through which the dust storm passed during their long-range transport, in addition to the local pollution sources in Beijing. The enrichment factors of the Pb, Zn, Cd and Cu were much less than those in the non-dust storm days, suggesting that the local pollution sources in Beijing area contributed to them mostly. The enrichment factors of elements Al, Fe, Sc, Mn, Na, Ni, Cr, V and Co were close to 1, showing that these elements originated from crust. The concentration of S in the dust storm was ~10 mg·m^-3, 4 times as high as that in non-dust storm. S in the aerosols resulted from the adsorption of gaseous SO₂ and the consequent transformation on it. The aerosols of the dust storm contained 16.1% and 76.9% of fine particles with the sizes less than 2.1 and 9.0 mm, respectively, while it had a large number of coarse particles. It was noted that a considerable portion of Fe(Ⅱ) was detected from the dust storm. Fe(Ⅱ) could easily dissolve in seawater to be nutrient for phytoplankton and would lead to the increase of the emission of dimethylsulfide (DMS) from the ocean. The feedbacks of Fe coupled with S in atmosphere might be the important mechanism that would affect the primary productivity in Pacific and/or the global climate change.     

Oxidative stress on plasmid DNA induced by inhalable particles in the urban atmosphere

Plasmid DNA assay is a newly-developed in vitro method to investigate bioreactivity of particles. In this paper, this method was used to study the bioreactivity of PM10 (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter of less than 10 μm) and PM2.5 (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter of less than 2.5 μm). Samples and dust storm particles were collected in 2001 in an urban area, a satellite city and a clean air area in Beijing. A big difference was found for oxidative DNA stress induced by different particulate matter (PM) samples, with the TM50 (particle mass causing 50% damage to DNA) values varying by a factor over 10. This was closely dependent on the sizes of particles as well as the variation in relative proportion of mineral matter. PM2.5 samples generally impose larger oxidative stress on plasmid DNA than PM10 samples. Airborne particles collected during dust storm episodes, usually with a higher proportion of mineral matter, have a much lower oxidative capacity than those collected during non-dust storm episodes. PM samples and their water-soluble fractions usually have similar bioreactivities, demonstrating that oxidative capacity of Beijing airborne particles is mainly sourced from their water-soluble fractions.     

Great progress in study on aerosol and its impact on the global environment

The transport from atmosphere is a more important pathway than that from rivers for certain elements and compounds in the remote ocean. The desert and those arid/semi-arid areas in the northwest of China and the Loess Plateau are the sources of those aerosols over the Pacific. Atmospheric iron is the limiting factor of the productivity in certain ocean regions. The dust storms must now be seen as repeated sources of pollution elements as well as soil elements to the East China Sea and, farther out, to the North Pacific Ocean and even to the USA. The long-range transport of aerosols, especially the dust storm, from China and the positive feedbacks of iron coupled with sulfur in atmosphere might be one of the important mechanisms that would affect the primary productivity in the Pacific and/or the global climate change and deserve to be further studied. It can be seen clearly that the dust storms would affect not only the health of human beings and the local or regional climate, but also the global climate change that has been the focus of environmental study internationally.     

Analysis of carbon isotopes in airborne carbonate and implications for aeolian sources

Methods were developed to determine the mass ratios of carbon isotopes in trace amounts of aerosol carbonate. A Finnigan MAT 252 mass spectrometer fitted with an on-line Kiel device was to determine the ^13C/^12C ratio in CO2 produced from the carbonate. A study using these methods was conducted to characterize the carbonate carbon isotopes in aerosol samples collected in Xi‘an on dusty and normal days during March and April 2002. Results of the study demonstrate that insights into the origin of the dust can be deduced from its isotopic composition. That is, the δ^13C ofcarbonate for dust storm samples ranged from -1.4‰ to -4.2‰, and this is consistent with sandy materials in dust source regions upwind. In contrast, for non-dusty days δ^13C ranged from -7.5% to -9.3‰, which is more similar to fine particles emitted from local surface soils. Comparisons of dust storm aerosols with surface soils from source regions and with aerosol samples collected downwind indicate that the δ^13C values did not change appreciably during longrange transport. Therefore, carbon isotopes have the potential for distinguishing among source materials, and this approach provides a powerful new tool for identifying dust provenance.     

Lightning activity on the central Tibetan Plateau and its response to convective available potential energy

Lightning flash activities on the central Tibetan Plateau have been studied by using the satellite-based Lightning Imaging Sensor(LIS)database from January 1998 to July 2002.The lightning activity shows a clear diurnal variation on the central Plateau.The peak lightning activity appears at about 17:00 which is 3 h earlier than that in Jingxhou,Hubei in the same latitude belt nearby,indicating that the lightning activity is a sensitive indicator of solar heating on the Plateau.The lightning discharge is weaker on the Plateau than Jingzhou.Hubei and other low-altitude continental regions because of the lower convective available potential energy(CAPE)on the Plateau.The CAPE on the Plateau is 12 times lower than that in Jingzhou,Hubei,and 20 times lower than that in the sea-level region,such as Guangzhou and Florida.However,the sensitivity of lightning activity to CAPE changes on the Plateau is up to 30 times more sensitive than other prominent low-altitude regions.     

Contributions of different land cover types in Otindag Sandy Land and Bashang area of Hebei Province to the material source of sand stormy weather in Beijing

Different land cover types in Otindag Sandy Land and Bashang area of Hebei Province are linked to a material source of sand stormy weather in Beijing based on results of field vegetation and soil survey and laboratory works. Results of grain size analysis show that dust release potential in per unit area of moving sandy land is small,while lowland meadow and meadow steppe in stony hills have high potential of releasing dusts in per unit area during sand stormy weather occurrence. Further considering the effects of vegetation, it is inferred that the moving sandy land served as a material source of past dust storm and the possibility of dust release in per unit area is low in current time.Typical steppe in stony hills is undergoing desertification and its dust release possibility in per unit area is high. Farmland has strong potential of release dusts when they are ploughed in spring, but a large amount of therophytes grow and thus prevent dusts from release when cultivation was terminated.Potentials of dust release in per unit area in fixed sand dunes,stony mountain meadow steppe and low land meadow are lowdue to high cover of perennials. Sand dune reactivation and desiccation of lakes and lowlands under estimated future climatic change will make them serve as a future material source of sand stormy weather.     

10Be/7Be implies the contribution of stratosphere-troposphere transport to the winter-spring surface O3 variation observed on the Tibetan Plateau

10Be/7Be is a stratospheric sensitive tracer.In this paper,measurements of 10Be/7Be and surface O3 from October 2005 to May 2006 at Mt.Waliguan (hereafter WLG,100.898°E,39.287°N,3810 m,a.s.l.),China global atmospheric watch (GAW) observatory,are introduced and used to investigate the stratosphere-troposphere transport (STT) and its impact on surface O3 on the Tibetan Plateau.The results show that the magnitude of STT is weak in winter,followed by strengthening from the end of winter to the middle of spring (from mid February to mid April) with large increases in 10Be,7Be,10Be/7Be and surface O3.At the end of spring (from the end of April to mid May in this paper),the STT weakened,and the continuous increase of surface O3 at WLG is produced by tropospheric photochemistry reactions.     

Decrease trend of dust event frequency over the past 200 years recorded in the Malan ice core from the northern Tibetan Plateau

By analyses of the dust layers in the Malan ice core from the northern Tibetan Plateau, it was found that dirty ratio in this core might be a good proxy for dust event frequency. The variations in the dirty ratio displayed a decrease trend over the past 200 years, which implies that dust events became less frequent during the study period. The decrease trend in the variations in dust event frequency might be caused mostly by the natural processes, including increasing precipitation and weakening westerly which might be related with global warming. Furthermore, significant negative correlation was found between the dirty ratio and δ^18O in the Malan ice core. This is highly important for studying the effect of atmospheric dust on climate change.     

东亚高空大气气溶胶的分布及沙尘输送特征研究

利用长达20 年的SAGEⅡ(stratospheric aerosol and gas experimentⅡ) 资料, 研究了东亚地区5.0 ～15.0 km 高空气溶胶多年时空分布特征和变化趋势, 并研究了东亚沙尘活动对高空及下游的气溶胶输送。发现东亚高空气溶胶水平分布呈现上中下3 层不同的分布特征, 下层 5. 0 ～8. 5 km 高值区对应气溶胶源区青藏高原和西北沙漠地区;中层 9. 0 ～10. 0 km 高值区对应温带气旋高发的中纬度地区;上层 10. 5 ～15. 0 km 表现为低纬气溶胶含量显著高于高纬地区。高空各层气溶胶的空间分布受天气系统的影响具有明显的季节变化。近10 年来东亚高空气溶胶呈减少趋势, 平均光学厚度约下降了0. 016。另外还发现沙尘活动与 5. 0 ～11. 5 km 范围内的气溶胶显著相关, 反映沙尘活动影响的高度范围可以达到整个对流层。定义沙尘暴高空影响指数, 用来分析东亚沙尘暴对下游地区的影响, 发现随着时间推移沙尘逐渐向东移动, 在约 12 天之后可以到达大西洋。     

2000～2018年黄土高原沙尘天气遥感监测及尘源分析

利用19年（2000~2018）MODIS L1B数据对黄土高原102次沙尘天气过程进行遥感监测与分析,以探究黄土高原沙尘天气发生的时空规律。结果表明,黄土高原沙尘天气呈减少趋势,沙尘频发季节为春季。黄土高原沙尘源地主要分布在其西北部,位于沙地和沙漠区、农灌区与黄土丘陵沟壑区、黄土高原沟壑区等生态脆弱的原生沙尘暴带。黄土高原典型的沙尘源为活动沙丘及丘间沙地、干涸湖泊河道和农田等,表明沙尘天气频发是由自然因素和人为因素共同导致的。沙尘天气的遥感监测捕捉了黄土高原沙尘活动的时空变化特征,高效地识别了沙尘源地和尘源类型,对黄土高原气候变化、生态环境变化研究和环境修复与评价具有重要指导意义。     

青藏高原起沙量数值模拟分析

青藏高原可能是东亚上空沙尘气溶胶的重要源地。利用WRF/chem模式模拟了1961-2015年逐日青藏高原的起沙量,其结果表明:1)起沙源区主要分布在高原西部、藏北高原南部、雅鲁藏布江及其支流河谷和柴达木盆地;2)月起沙量具有双峰型结构,峰值分别出现在4-5月及11-12月;春季及秋冬季排放的沙尘气溶胶大致有以藏北高原为中心向东南方向分布的规律;3)高原年平均起沙量为10.13±1.89Tg,从1961-2015年呈现震荡向上的趋势;4)青藏高原对东亚(不包含青藏高原)月起沙量的平均贡献率为16%,其中冬季均能达到25%以上,1月最大可以达到48%。这一研究表明青藏高原是重要的沙尘源地。     

春季沙尘天气与气压的关系

利用西北地区10个站近30年（1971—2000年）春季月平均气压与沙尘暴、扬沙、浮尘月发生次数计算分析了沙尘暴多发年、正常年、少发年春季地面气压场（距平均）特征差异,研究了中国西北地区春季扬沙、浮尘月发生次数与春季地面气压场的相关性。     

初夏南亚高压中心经向位置年际变化的一个关键预测信号

基于欧洲中期天气预报中心的ERA-interim再分析资料,应用统计和动力诊断方法,分析了初夏南亚高压（SAH）中心位置年际变化规律及其与青藏高原东南部热源异常的联系.结果显示：初夏SAH中心位置具有显著的准6 a变化特征,但仅有其经向位置与初春青藏高原东南部（SETP）大气潜热活动存在显著的负相关关系;与偏强的初春SETP潜热活动相联系,异常的西风出现在青藏高原的南侧20°N附近,偏西风异常北侧的正涡度异常及其南侧的负涡度异常,加强了青藏高原附近的异常气旋以及印度次大陆半岛及印度洋上空的异常反气旋,这一异常环流形势可以从初春一直维持到初夏,不利于SAH向北移动,最终导致初夏SAH中心位置偏南;反之,初春SETP异常偏弱的潜热活动将以大致相反的物理过程,最终使得初夏SAH中心位置偏北.冬末春初的SETP潜热活动是预报初夏SAH中心经向位置年际变化的一个关键信号.     

MODIS／Terra遥感雪盖数据在青藏高原河源区的应用

基于2000-2009年MODIS/Terra积雪数据产品,分析我国青藏高原主要河源区雪盖的空间分布和季节变化.结果表明:五江源的积雪在空间上主要集中于雅鲁藏布江河谷、念青唐古拉山及横断山南部等地区,而北部积雪相对偏少;降雪主要集中于春冬季节,且雪盖变化呈现双峰形特点,峰值主要集中在2月和11月.不同季节雪盖表现出一定的趋势变化,春季雅鲁藏布江源区雪盖显著减少;秋季长江源区雪盖面积显著增加;冬季雪盖变化差异较大,黄河、澜沧江和怒江源区雪盖面积在减少,但趋势不显著,长江和雅鲁藏布江源区雪盖面积在增加,但仅长江源区增加趋势显著.总体而言,五江源地区雪盖面积表现出略微增加的趋势,但不显著.     

青藏高原地面加热场与春季川渝地区气温的关系

应用奇异值分解(SVD)技术,研究了青藏高原地面加热场与东亚地区上空500hPa高度场及其东侧川渝地区春季气温场的时空联系和冷暖异常成因.结果表明:前期冬季青藏高原地面加热场与后期春季高度场的第1模态代表了两场间的主要耦合特征,具有显著的时空相关;前期冬季青藏高原地面加热场通过影响后期春季500hPa高度场,导致未来春季大气环流变化,是造成川渝地区春季气温异常的重要原因.