Sciences in Cold and Arid Regions ›› 2018, Vol. 10 ›› Issue (3): 207-218.doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1226.2018.00207

• Articles • Previous Articles    

Characteristics of total suspended particulates in the atmosphere of Yulong Snow Mountain, southwestern China

HeWen Niu1, XiaoFei Shi1,3, Gang Li2, JunHua Yang1, ShiJin Wang1   

  1. 1. Yulong Snow Mountain Glacier and Environmental Observation Research Station, State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China;
    2. Key Open Laboratory of Arid Climatic Change and Disaster Reduction of China, Lanzhou, Gansu 730020, China;
    3. College of Earth Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China
  • Received:2017-12-25 Revised:2018-01-27 Published:2018-11-22
  • Contact: HeWen Niu,niuhw@lzb.ac.cn E-mail:niuhw@lzb.ac.cn
  • Supported by:
    This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41601071, 41721091), the Key Research Program for Frontier Science of Chinese Academy of Sciences (QYZDJ-SSWDQC039); the independent program of SKLCS (SKLCS-ZZ-2018), the CAS "Light of West China" Program (Y62992) and Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2015M582725, 2016T90963). The authors gratefully acknowledge the NOAA Air Resources Laboratory (ARL) for provision of the HYSPLIT transport and dispersion model and/or READY website (http://www.ready.noaa.gov) used in this publication.

Abstract: The measurement of black carbon (BC) and organic carbon (OC), dust in total suspended particulates (TSP) was carried out at Yulong Snow Mountain (Mt. Yulong) and Ganhaizi Basin, in the Mt. Yulong region, southwestern China. TSP samples were analyzed using a thermal/optical reflectance carbon analyzer. Results show that average BC and OC concentrations in TSP in the Mt. Yulong region were 1.61±1.15 μg/m3 and 2.96±1.59 μg/m3, respectively. Statistical results demonstrated that there were significant differences in mean BC and OC contents between Ganhaizi Basin and Mt. Yulong at the 0.05 level. Strong correlations between BC and OC indicate their common dominant emission sources and transport processes. Temporal variations of BC, OC, and optical attenuation (ATN) values were consistent with each other in carbonaceous aerosols. The ratios of OC/BC in monsoon season were significantly higher than in non-monsoon in aerosols from Ganhaizi, which is closely related to the formation of secondary organic carbon (SOC) and extensive motor vehicle emissions from tourism activities. The temporal variations of BC, OC and ATN in carbonaceous aerosols in Ganhaizi and Mt. Yulong were totally different, probably due to elevation difference and diverse tourism activity intensity between the two sites. Time-averaged aerosol optical depth (AOD) at the wavelength of 550 nm in Mt. Yulong was higher than that of the inland of the Tibetan Plateau (TP). Source apportionment indicated that intensive exhaust emissions from tourism vehicles were the main local sources of atmospheric pollutant in the Mt. Yulong region. Biomass-burning emissions released from South Asia could penetrate into the inland of the TP under the transport of summer monsoon. Further study is needed to assess light absorption and radiative forcing of carbonaceous aerosols, and modeling research in combination with long-term in-situ observations of light-absorbing particulates (LAPs) in the TP is also urgently needed in future work.

Key words: black carbon, total suspended particulates, LAPs, Tibetan Plateau

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