Sources of black carbon to the Himalayan–Tibetan Plateau glaciers

Li, Chaoliu; Bosch, Carme; Kang, Shichang; Andersson, August; Chen, Pengfei; Zhang, Qianggong; Cong, Zhiyuan; Chen, Bing; Qin, Dahe; Gustafsson, Örjan

doi:10.1038/ncomms12574

Cited by 328 publications

(333 citation statements)

References 78 publications

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“…In the central TP, BC from biomass burning accounts for approximately 30 % of the total, less than the evidence from aerosols , maybe indicating a lack of biofuel contributions from back trajectory analysis, whereas in the northern TP, anthropogenic BC emissions (more than 70 %) dominate the BC albedo reduction. Li et al (2016), using the 14 C/δ 13 C compositions of BC isolated from aerosols and snowpit samples in the TP, also found equal contributions from biomass and fossil fuel combustion in the Himalayan region (near the southern TP), whereas BC in the remote northern TP is predominantly derived from fossil fuel combustion (66 ± 16 %). These differences can also be seen from the BC emissions that arrived at the selected sites based on BC inventory data for the year of 2013 (PKU-BC-2013, Wang et al, 2014) in Fig.…”

Section: Distributions Of Lapsmentioning

confidence: 83%

“…The average ratios for Regions I, II, and III were 1.82, 1.31, and 1.14, respectively (Table 2), indicating a decreasing impact of biomasssourced aerosol deposition in snow over the TP. The slightly higher OC / BC in Region I may be due to its proximity to South Asian combustion sources dominated by biomass burning (Cong et al, 2015a, b;Li et al, 2016). For example, in the LHG region, lower LAP concentrations in fresh clean snow were observed at LHG3 and LHG6 (Fig.…”

Section: Distributions Of Lapsmentioning

confidence: 94%

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Black carbon and mineral dust in snow cover on the Tibetan Plateau

et al. 2018

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Abstract. Snow cover plays a key role for sustaining ecology and society in mountainous regions. Light-absorbing particulates (including black carbon, organic carbon, and mineral dust) deposited on snow can reduce surface albedo and contribute to the near-worldwide melting of snow and ice. This study focused on understanding the role of black carbon and other water-insoluble light-absorbing particulates in the snow cover of the Tibetan Plateau (TP). The results found that the black carbon, organic carbon, and dust concentrations in snow cover generally ranged from 202 to 17 468 ng g −1 , 491 to 13 880 ng g −1 , and 22 to 846 µg g −1 , respectively, with higher concentrations in the central to northern areas of the TP. Back trajectory analysis suggested that the northern TP was influenced mainly by air masses from Central Asia with some Eurasian influence, and air masses in the central and Himalayan region originated mainly from Central and South Asia. The relative biomassburning-sourced black carbon contributions decreased from ∼ 50 % in the southern TP to ∼ 30 % in the northern TP. The relative contribution of black carbon and dust to snow albedo reduction reached approximately 37 and 15 %, respectively. The effect of black carbon and dust reduced the snow cover duration by 3.1 ± 0.1 to 4.4 ± 0.2 days. Meanwhile, the black carbon and dust had important implications for snowmelt water loss over the TP. The findings indicate that the impacts of black carbon and mineral dust need to be properly accounted for in future regional climate projections, particularly in the high-altitude cryosphere.

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Section: Distributions Of Lapsmentioning

confidence: 83%

Section: Distributions Of Lapsmentioning

confidence: 94%

Black carbon and mineral dust in snow cover on the Tibetan Plateau

et al. 2018

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“…1). With the exception of aerosol optical depth measured as part of AERONET (AErosol RObotic NETwork) (Xu et al, 2015) and a 14 C study at several sites in the Himalaya and TP, including Jomsom (Li et al, 2016), no pollution data from Jomsom have previously been reported. Here we report diurnal and seasonal trends in two important short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) -BC and O 3 -to evaluate the role of trans-Himalayan valleys as pathways for the transport of polluted air from the IGP to the higher Himalaya.…”

Section: Measurement Sites and Instrumentationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transport of regional pollutants through a remote trans-Himalayan valley in Nepal

Dhungel

Kathayat²,

Mahata

et al. 2018

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

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Abstract. Anthropogenic emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels and biomass in Asia have increased in recent years. High concentrations of reactive trace gases and lightabsorbing and light-scattering particles from these sources form persistent haze layers, also known as atmospheric brown clouds, over the Indo-Gangetic plains (IGP) from December through early June. Models and satellite imagery suggest that strong wind systems within deep Himalayan valleys are major pathways by which pollutants from the IGP are transported to the higher Himalaya. However, observational evidence of the transport of polluted air masses through Himalayan valleys has been lacking to date. To evaluate this pathway, we measured black carbon (BC), ozone (O 3 ), and associated meteorological conditions within the Kali Gandaki Valley (KGV), Nepal, from January 2013 to July 2015. BC and O 3 varied over both diurnal and seasonal cycles. Relative to nighttime, mean BC and O 3 concentrations within the valley were higher during daytime when the up-valley flow (average velocity of 17 m s −1 ) dominated. BC and O 3 concentrations also varied seasonally with minima during the monsoon season (July to September). Concentrations of both species subsequently increased post-monsoon and peaked during March to May. Average concentrations for O 3 during the seasonally representative months of April, August, and November were 41.7, 24.5, and 29.4 ppbv, respectively, while the corresponding BC concentrations were 1.17, 0.24, and 1.01 µg m −3 , respectively. Up-valley fluxes of BC were significantly greater than down-valley fluxes during all seasons. In addition, frequent episodes of BC concentrations 2-3 times higher than average persisted from several days to a week during non-monsoon months. Our observations of increases in BC concentration and fluxes in the valley, particularly during pre-monsoon, provide evidence that trans-Himalayan valleys are important conduits for transport of pollutants from the IGP to the higher Himalaya.

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“…emails: shichang.kang@lzb.ac.cn; niuhw@lzb.ac.cn causes 13% of annual flux of WSOC in glaciers (Hood et al, 2015). Glaciers represent a unique ecosystem and biome that possess potential implications for the biogenic system close to glacial runoff (Hood et al, 2009(Hood et al, , 2015Anesio and Laybourn-Parry, 2012), the global carbon cycle (Hodson 2008;Li et al, 2016a), and sea level variations (Jacob et al, 2012). Glacier ecosystem accumulates OC from in-situ primary production as well as from the deposition of impurities derived from anthropogenic and natural sources (Singer et al, 2012;Stibal et al, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%