Effect of Aerosols on Visibility and Radiation in Spring 2009 in Tianjin, China

Abstract

Meteorological and aerosol data were measured at the atmospheric boundary layer observation station in Tianjin, China, and were analyzed to study the effects of aerosol mass, composition, and size distributions on visibility and short-wave radiation flux. The results show that fine particles played important roles in controlling visibility in Tianjin. The major contributors to light extinction coefficients included sulfate (28.7%), particulate organic matter (27.6%), elemental carbon (19.2%), and nitrate (6.1%). In addition to the measurement of aerosol composition, the size distribution of aerosol number concentrations were also measured and classified between haze days and non-haze days during spring. The extinction characteristics of ambient aerosol in haze days and non-haze days were calculated using Mie theory model. The average extinction coefficient and scattering coefficient of atmospheric aerosols were 0.253 1/km and 0.213 1/km in non-haze days, while 0.767 1/km and 0.665 1/km in haze days. A radiation transmission model LOWTRAN7 is also applied in this study. The model calculated radiant flux densities in haze days and non-haze days, which showed a fairly agreement with the observation results, showing that the heavy aerosol loadings in Tianjin had significantly impact on atmospheric visibility and radiation fluxes.

Impacts of aerosol-radiation feedback on local air quality during a severe haze episode in Nanjing megacity, eastern China

“…Aerosol-induced decreases in downward solar radiation have been observed in field experiments (e.g. Leiterer et al (1997) in Germany and Russia, Kanaya et al (2003) at Rishiri Island and Michalsky et al (2006) in Oklahoma) or through analysis of long-term ground and satellite observational data (Lee et al, 2005;Hatzianastassiou et al, 2007;Han et al, 2012). During strong air pollution episodes such as wild fire Grell et al, 2011;Jiang et al, 2012) or dust events , it is calculated that aerosols reduced the shortwave radiation and temperature at the surface, and heated the atmosphere at the top of planetary boundary layer (PBL).…”

Variability of Aerosol Parameters Derived from Ground and Satellite Measurements over Varanasi Located in the Indo-Gangetic Basin

“…Anthropogenic aerosols dominate on regional scale (Kaskaoutis et al, 2009). Aerosol play an imporatnt role in the Earth's atmospheric processes due to their direct and indirect effect Sateesh and Ramanathan, 2000;Ranjan et al, 2007;Badrinath et al, 2008;Pawar et al, 2012) and also affect on visibility and radiation (Han et al, 2012). However scientific understanding of these processes are at minimal level (IPCC, 2007, Siingh et al, 2011.…”

Size Distribution and Water Soluble Ions of Ambient Particulate Matter on Episode and Non-episode Days in Southern Taiwan

“…Size distributions and chemical compositions of atmospheric aerosols play important roles in their toxicity, health effects, and visibility in urban areas (Ny and Lee, 2011;Han et al, 2012). Many epidemiological studies have been published on the health risks associated with PM that is 10 μm or less in diameter (Health Effects Institute, 2003).…”