A case study of dust aerosol radiative properties over Lanzhou, China

Abstract

Abstract. The vertical distribution of dust aerosol and its radiative properties are analysed using the data measured by the micropulse lidar, profiling microwave radiometer, sunphotometer, particulate monitor, and nephelometer at the Semi-Arid Climate and Environment Observatory of Lanzhou University (SACOL) during a dust storm from 27 March to 29 March 2007. The analysis shows that the dust aerosol mainly exists below 2 km in height, and the dust aerosol extinction coefficient decreases with height. The temporal evolution of aerosol optical depth (AOD) during the dust storm is characterized by a sub-maximum at 22:00 (Beijing Time) on 27 March and a maximum at 12:00 on 28 March. The AOD derived by lidar is compared with that obtained by sunphotometer, and shows a good consistency. The PM10 concentration and aerosol scattering coefficient share identical variation trends, and their maximums both appear at 22:00 on 27 March. The aerosol extinction coefficient and relative humidity have the same trends and their maximums appear at identical heights, showing a correlation between extinction coefficient and relative humidity known as aerosol hygroscopicity. Nevertheless, the correlation between aerosol extinction coefficient and temperature cannot be obviously seen. The aerosol extinction coefficient, scattering coefficient, and PM10 concentration present good linear correlations. The correlation coefficients of the aerosol scattering coefficient and PM10 concentration, of aerosol extinction coefficient and PM10 concentration, and of aerosol extinction and scattering coefficient are respectively 0.98, 0.94, and 0.96.

Seasonal variation of surface and vertical profile of aerosol properties over a tropical urban station Hyderabad, India

“…Anderson et al [] calculated LR values of 50 ± 5 sr for fine‐mode dominated samples and 46 ± 8 sr for coarse‐mode dominated samples at low RH during the ACE‐Asia. Literature survey of various LR values estimated at different environments over the globe is presented in He et al [] and Zhang et al [], which are close to our findings in the vast majority of the cases.…”

Study of the correlation between columnar aerosol burden, suspended matter at ground and chemical components in a background European environment

“…Other authors obtained lower correlations for a variety of dominant aerosols and different size of databases. Zhang et al [2010] obtained the highest correlation (0.94) for hourly averages, but it was limited to three days dominated by mineral dust. Despite the good correlation found in our case, the intercept of the regression was slightly negative for PM10.…”

“…Since year 2000, several articles have employed CIMEL to retrieve the AOD and correlate it with measurements at ground level of total particulate matter [ Smirnov et al , 2000], PM10 [ Corbin et al , 2002; Xia et al , 2006; Cheng et al , 2008; Schäfer et al , 2008; Schaap et al , 2009; Zhang et al , 2010], PM2.5 [ Corbin et al , 2002; Mukai et al , 2006, 2007; Schäfer et al , 2008; Schaap et al , 2009; Boyouk et al , 2010] and PM1 [ Schäfer et al , 2008]. In some other articles, LIDAR retrievals were also used to determine the height of the mixing layer [ Schäfer et al , 2008; Schaap et al , 2009; Boyouk et al , 2010; Zhang et al , 2010; Córdoba‐Jabonero et al , 2011]. Table 1 summarizes the foremost studies focusing on the correlation between ground PM measurements and AOD obtained using CIMEL Sun photometers.…”

Composite analysis of impacts of dust aerosols on surface atmospheric variables and energy budgets in a semiarid region of China

“…[] found that there is a decreasing trend of the intensity of dust storms in the past 20 years, which is correlated with the temperature anomalies during the same period in northwestern China. The annual and seasonal characteristics of spatial (including horizontal and vertical) and temporal distribution of dust aerosols, especially in semiarid region of China, have also been investigated by various studies [e.g., Huang et al ., ; Wang et al ., , ; Yu et al ., ; Zhang et al ., ]. By analyzing aerosol optical properties measured by CIMEL Sun/sky radiometer at Semiarid Climate Observatory and Laboratory (SACOL) station during the period from August 2006 to October 2008, Bi et al .…”