Aerosol and Meteorological Parameters Associated with the Intense Dust Event of 15 April 2015 over Beijing, China

The northeastern parts of China, including Beijing city, the capital of China, were hit by an intense dust storm on 15 April 2015. The present paper discusses aerosol and meteorological parameters associated with this dust storm event. The back trajectory clearly shows that the dust originated from...

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Main Authors: Sheng Zheng, Ramesh P. Singh
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2018-06-01
Series:Remote Sensing
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/10/6/957
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spelling doaj-fb5a61079f894da3bbae33ace731fe4c2020-11-24T23:14:28ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922018-06-0110695710.3390/rs10060957rs10060957Aerosol and Meteorological Parameters Associated with the Intense Dust Event of 15 April 2015 over Beijing, ChinaSheng Zheng0Ramesh P. Singh1Department of Land Management, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, ChinaSchool of Life and Environmental Sciences, Schmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman University, One University Drive, Orange, CA 92866, USAThe northeastern parts of China, including Beijing city, the capital of China, were hit by an intense dust storm on 15 April 2015. The present paper discusses aerosol and meteorological parameters associated with this dust storm event. The back trajectory clearly shows that the dust originated from Inner Mongolia, the border of China, and Mongolia regions. Pronounced changes in aerosol and meteorological parameters along the dust track were observed. High aerosol optical depth (AOD) with low Ångström exponent (AE) are characteristics of coarse-mode dominated dust particles in the wavelength range 440–870 nm during the dusty day. During dust storm, dominance of coarse aerosol concentrations is observed in the aerosol size distribution (ASD). The single scattering albedo (SSA) retrieved from AERONET station shows increase with higher wavelength on the dusty day, and is found to be higher compared to the days prior to and after the dust event, supported with high values of the real part and decrease in the imaginary part of the refractive index (RI). With regard to meteorological parameters, during the dusty day, CO volume mixing ratio (COVMR) is observed to decrease, from the surface up to mid-altitude, compared with the non-dusty days due to strong winds. O3 volume mixing ratio (O3VMR) enhances at the increasing altitudes (at the low-pressure levels), and decreases near the surface at the pressure levels 500–925 hPa during the dust event, compared with the non-dusty periods. An increase in the H2O mass mixing ratio (H2OMMR) is observed during dusty periods at the higher altitudes equivalent to the pressure levels 500 and 700 hPa. The mid-altitude relative humidity (RH) is observed to decrease at the pressure levels 700 and 925 hPa during sand storm days. With the onset of the dust storm event, the RH reduces at the surface level.http://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/10/6/957dust stormaerosolsAERONETAIRSozone volume mixing ratioBeijing
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Sheng Zheng
Ramesh P. Singh
spellingShingle Sheng Zheng
Ramesh P. Singh
Aerosol and Meteorological Parameters Associated with the Intense Dust Event of 15 April 2015 over Beijing, China
Remote Sensing
dust storm
aerosols
AERONET
AIRS
ozone volume mixing ratio
Beijing
author_facet Sheng Zheng
Ramesh P. Singh
author_sort Sheng Zheng
title Aerosol and Meteorological Parameters Associated with the Intense Dust Event of 15 April 2015 over Beijing, China
title_short Aerosol and Meteorological Parameters Associated with the Intense Dust Event of 15 April 2015 over Beijing, China
title_full Aerosol and Meteorological Parameters Associated with the Intense Dust Event of 15 April 2015 over Beijing, China
title_fullStr Aerosol and Meteorological Parameters Associated with the Intense Dust Event of 15 April 2015 over Beijing, China
title_full_unstemmed Aerosol and Meteorological Parameters Associated with the Intense Dust Event of 15 April 2015 over Beijing, China
title_sort aerosol and meteorological parameters associated with the intense dust event of 15 april 2015 over beijing, china
publisher MDPI AG
series Remote Sensing
issn 2072-4292
publishDate 2018-06-01
description The northeastern parts of China, including Beijing city, the capital of China, were hit by an intense dust storm on 15 April 2015. The present paper discusses aerosol and meteorological parameters associated with this dust storm event. The back trajectory clearly shows that the dust originated from Inner Mongolia, the border of China, and Mongolia regions. Pronounced changes in aerosol and meteorological parameters along the dust track were observed. High aerosol optical depth (AOD) with low Ångström exponent (AE) are characteristics of coarse-mode dominated dust particles in the wavelength range 440–870 nm during the dusty day. During dust storm, dominance of coarse aerosol concentrations is observed in the aerosol size distribution (ASD). The single scattering albedo (SSA) retrieved from AERONET station shows increase with higher wavelength on the dusty day, and is found to be higher compared to the days prior to and after the dust event, supported with high values of the real part and decrease in the imaginary part of the refractive index (RI). With regard to meteorological parameters, during the dusty day, CO volume mixing ratio (COVMR) is observed to decrease, from the surface up to mid-altitude, compared with the non-dusty days due to strong winds. O3 volume mixing ratio (O3VMR) enhances at the increasing altitudes (at the low-pressure levels), and decreases near the surface at the pressure levels 500–925 hPa during the dust event, compared with the non-dusty periods. An increase in the H2O mass mixing ratio (H2OMMR) is observed during dusty periods at the higher altitudes equivalent to the pressure levels 500 and 700 hPa. The mid-altitude relative humidity (RH) is observed to decrease at the pressure levels 700 and 925 hPa during sand storm days. With the onset of the dust storm event, the RH reduces at the surface level.
topic dust storm
aerosols
AERONET
AIRS
ozone volume mixing ratio
Beijing
url http://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/10/6/957
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