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Anthropogenic Air Pollution Observed Near Dust Source Regions in Northwestern China During Springtime 2008Trace gases and aerosols were measured in Zhangye (39.082degN, 100.276degE, 1460 m a.s. 1.), a rural site near the Gobi deserts in northwestern China during spring 2008. Primary trace gases (CO:265 ppb; SO2:3.4 ppb; NO(*y): 4.2 ppb; hereafter results given as means of hourly data) in the area were lower than in eastern China, but still indicative of marked anthropogenic emissions. Sizable aerosol mass concentration (153 micro-g/cu m) and light scattering (159/Mm at 500 nm) were largely attributable to dust emissions, and aerosol light absorption (10.3/Mm at 500 nm) was dominated by anthropogenic pollution. Distinct diurnal variations in meteorology and pollution were induced by the local valley terrain. Strong daytime northwest valley wind cleaned out pollution and was replaced by southeast mountain wind that allowed pollutants to build up overnight. In the afternoon, aerosols had single scattering albedo (SSA, 500 mn) of 0.95 and were mainly of supermicron particles, presumably dust, while at night smaller particles and SSA of 0.89-0.91 were related to Pollution. The diverse local emission sources were characterized: the CO/SO2, CO/NO(y), NO(y)/SO2 (by moles), and BC/CO (by mass) ratios for small point sources such as factories were 24.6-54.2, 25.8-35.9, 0.79-1.31, and 4.1-6.1 x 10(exp -3), respectively, compared to the corresponding inventory ratios of 43.7-71.9, 23.7-25.7, 1.84-2.79, and 3.4-4.0 x 10(exp -3) for the industrial sector in the area. The mixing between dust and pollution can be ubiquitous in this region. During a dust storm shown as an example, pollutants were observed to mix with dust, causing discernible changes in both SSA and aerosol size distribution. Further interaction between dust and pollutants during transport may modify the properties of dust particles that are critical for their large-scale impact on radiation, clouds, and global biogeochemical cycles.
Document ID
20110007810
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Li, Can
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Tsay, Si-Chee
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Fu, Joshua S.
(Tennessee Univ. Knoxville, TN, United States)
Dickerson, Russell R.
(Maryland Univ. College Park, MD, United States)
Ji, Qiang
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Bell, Shaun W.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Gao, Yang
(Tennessee Univ. Knoxville, TN, United States)
Zhang, Wu
(Lanzhou Univ. China)
Huang, Jianping
(Lanzhou Univ. China)
Li, Zhanqing
(Maryland Univ. College Park, MD, United States)
Chen, Hongbin
(Nanjing Univ. of Science and Technology Nanjing, China)
Date Acquired
August 25, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2010
Publication Information
Publication: Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres
Volume: 115
ISSN: 0148-0227
Subject Category
Geophysics
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX07AI84C
CONTRACT_GRANT: MOST 2006CB403706
CONTRACT_GRANT: DEFG0208ER64571
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX08AH71G
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNG04GE79G
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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