Long‐range transport of the April 2001 dust clouds over the subtropical East Asia and the North Pacific and its impacts on ground‐level air pollution: A Lagrangian simulation

Abstract

One of the most remarkable Asian dust storms occurred in April 2001, during the periods of the Aerosol Characterization Experiment (ACE)‐Asia and the Transport and Chemical Evolution Over the Pacific (TRACE‐P) field experiments. Our high‐resolution Lagrangian simulations and the detailed comparisons with the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS)‐Aerosol Index (AI) data, the Geostationary Meteorological Satellite (GMS)‐5 derived dust distribution, and the ground‐level ambient air particulate matter measurements over Taiwan in the subtropical East Asia reveal several features which were not reported before. We found that (1) the trans‐Pacific long‐range transport was dominated by the dust emissions from the natural source over the Gobi desert and the anthropogenic source over east China before 6–7 April, while the southward long‐range transport to the subtropical East Asia were mainly contributed by the dust emissions from natural source over the Taklamakan and the Gobi, and the anthropogenic source over east China after 6–7 April; (2) the southward long‐range transport implies that the anthropogenic pollution is ahead of the cold front (where the precipitation washes out the particulate matter), while the dust is behind the cold front. (3) The dust emissions from the Gobi during 7–9 April, anthropogenic emissions from east China during 9–10 April, and dust emissions from the Taklamakan during 1–4 April appear to have the most significant impacts on the ground‐level particulate matter concentrations over Taiwan. The simulated particle emitted from desert regions before 6–7 April mainly confined to the Gobi and the Taklamakan regions until 6 April when they became highly mobile for the long‐range transport by the large‐scale cyclonic activity and its associated cold air outbreak. The southward transport characteristics simulated here are consistent with the aerosol characterization observed at Taiwan during this period. Our simulations reveal that the rapid trans‐Pacific transport processes occurred on 12 April contribute to the extensive areas of elevated AI values prevail over the North Pacific during this day.

Single-Particle Characterization of Atmospheric Aerosols Collected at Gosan, Korea, during the Asian Pacific Regional Aerosol Characterization Experiment Field Campaign Using Low-Z (Atomic Number) Particle Electron Probe X-ray Microanalysis

“…In early April of 2001, a severe dust storm occurred. 13 The dust clouds originated from the arid deserts of Mongolia (the Gobi Desert) and passed over China and the Yellow Sea. On 11 April, the dust storm front reached Gosan with high wind speed (Figure 2h).…”

Modelling atmospheric chemistry and long-range transport of emerging Asian pollutants

“…If we are able to reproduce large-scale winds reasonably close to the observed winds, we should be able predict the movement of emerging Asian pollutants when they appear on the satellite remote sensing measurements. This figure is taken from Wang [2007].…”

Anthropogenic Emission Inventory of Criteria Air Pollutants of an Urban Agglomeration - National Capital Region (NCR), Delhi

“…Therefore, knowledge of various types of air pollutants and their emission rates is of fundamental importance (Elbir and Muezzinoglu, 2004) because these rates, together with the prevailing meteorological conditions and topographical factors, determine the air quality of a region. Moreover, it is also observed that long-range transport of air pollutants from polluted areas can affect regional and global regions with high pollutant concentration (Gurjar et al, 2004;Wang et al, 2006). Kerschbaumer and Lutz (2008) also showed about 40% of urban PM 10 concentrations in Berlin city were related to local emissions while 60% was due to transport processes from outside the city.…”

“…There is a distinctive possibility of enhancement of ozone concentration in downwind rural areas due to rising NO x emissions in Delhi, particularly significant during dry winter season when transport of air mass is mostly confined to the lower troposphere (Lelieveld et al, 2001). Wang (2006) further stated that long range transport of air pollutants from highly polluted areas bring in high pollutant concentration in regional areas and impact the ground level concentration. Thus, ten days forward trajectories estimated during November 2010 reveal that air mass remain confined to the lower troposphere and travel towards the Indian Ocean (Fig.…”