Mixing of Asian dust with pollution aerosol and the transformation of aerosol components during the dust storm over China in spring 2007

摘要

An intensive spring aerosol sampling campaign over northwestern and northern China and a megacity in eastern China was conducted in the spring of 2007 to investigate the mixing of Asian dust with pollution aerosol during its long-range transport. On the basis of the results of the three sites near dust source regions (Tazhong, Yulin, and Duolun) and a metropolitan city (Shanghai), three dust sources, i.e., the western high-Ca dust in the Taklimakan Desert, the northwestern high-Ca dust and the northeastern low-Ca dust in Mongolia Gobi, were identified on the basis of the air mass trajectories and the elemental tracer analysis (e.g., Ca/Al, SO_4~(2-)/S, Ca~(2+)/Ca, and Na~+/Na). The western dust was least polluted in comparison to the other two dust sources. The results evidently indicated that the dust could have already mixed with pollution aerosol even in near dust source regions. The concentrations of As, Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn, and S were elevated several times at all sites during dust days, showing the entrainment of pollution elements by dust. The secondary SO_4~(2-) was observed to show much higher concentration due to the heterogeneous reaction on the alkaline dust during dust storm, while the concentrations of NO_3~- and NH_4~+ decreased owing to the dilution of the local pollution by the invaded dust. The western dust contained relatively low anthropogenic aerosols, and it mainly derived from the Taklimakan Desert, a paleomarine source. The northwestern dust had a considerable chemical reactivity and mixing with sulfur precursors emitted from the coal mines on the pathway of the long-range transport of dust. The northeastern dust reached Shanghai with high acidity, and it became the mixed aerosol with the interaction among dust, local pollutants, and sea salts. Comparison of the speciation of the water-soluble ions on both nondust and dust days at all sites illustrated the evolution of major ion species from different dust sources during the long-range transport of dust. The mixing mechanisms of the dust with the pollution aerosol on the local, medium-range, and long-range scale revealed from this study would improve the understanding of the impacts of Asian dust on the regional/global climate change.