Column-integrated aerosol optical properties and direct radiative forcing based on sun photometer measurements at a semi-arid rural site in Northeast China

Abstract Ground and satellite remote sensing measurements have revealed heavy aerosol loading in China; however, aerosol optical properties and direct radiative forcing in Northeast China – important in climate modeling and remote sensing – have not been widely studied. We studied four years of continuous sun photometer measurements at Tongyu, a typical semi-arid rural site in Northeast China, to better understand column-integrated aerosol optical properties and direct radiative forcing. The annual average aerosol optical depth (AOD) at 500 nm was 0.20 ± 0.26; the Angstrom exponent (AE) between 440 and 870 nm was 1.37 ± 0.64; and the single scattering albedo (SSA) at 440 nm was 0.91 ± 0.05. The AOD at this rural site was a quarter of that observed in the polluted North China Plain and Yangtze River Delta regions. Anthropogenic fine-mode particles were the dominant contributor to AOD. The AOD and AE showed generally opposite seasonal variation patterns. Relatively higher AOD values in summer (0.26 ± 0.27) and spring (0.24 ± 0.30) were likely related to long-range transportation of anthropogenic aerosols from southern industrial regions in summer, and the increased contribution of dust events in spring. The minimum AOD (0.16 ± 0.22) was concurrent with the maximum AE (1.75 ± 0.76), observed in winter. On average, the absorption AOD (AAOD) at 440 nm and its absorption Angstrom exponent (AAE) between 440 and 870 nm were 0.06 ± 0.03 and 1.04 ± 0.43, respectively. The mean AAE was considerably higher than 1 in autumn and winter, indicating that brown carbon from biomass burning contributed greatly to aerosol absorption. The AAE was lower than 1 in summer and spring, related to the coating of black carbon particles. Large negative aerosol direct radiative forcing was estimated at the bottom of the atmosphere, with relatively lower values estimated at the top of the atmosphere; the means were − 26.28 and − 9.42 W m − 2 , respectively. This resulted in a strong cooling effect on the surface, but warming in the atmosphere, potentially impacting the regional climate.

[1]  Jianping Guo,et al.  Development of an integrating sphere calibration method for Cimel sunphotometers in China aerosol remote sensing network , 2014 .

[2]  R. Halthore,et al.  Comparison of aerosol optical depth inferred from surface measurements with that determined by Sun photometry for cloud-free conditions at a continental U.S. site , 2000 .

[3]  T. Eck,et al.  Variability of Absorption and Optical Properties of Key Aerosol Types Observed in Worldwide Locations , 2002 .

[4]  Patrick Minnis,et al.  Satellite‐based assessment of possible dust aerosols semi‐direct effect on cloud water path over East Asia , 2006 .

[5]  Renjian Zhang,et al.  Characterization of Atmospheric Organic and Elemental Carbon of PM2.5 in a Typical Semi-Arid Area of Northeastern China , 2012 .

[6]  Tami C. Bond,et al.  Spectral absorption properties of atmospheric aerosols , 2007 .

[7]  R. Draxler.  HYSPLIT (HYbrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory) Model access via NOAA ARL READY Website , 2010 .

[8]  T. Eck,et al.  Accuracy assessments of aerosol optical properties retrieved from Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) Sun and sky radiance measurements , 2000 .

[9]  Z. Han,et al.  Black carbon in a continental semi‐arid area of Northeast China and its possible sources of fire emission , 2010 .

[10]  Shantikumar S. Ningombam,et al.  Characterization of aerosol optical properties over the high-altitude station Hanle, in the trans-Himalayan region , 2014 .

[11]  Soon-Chang Yoon,et al.  Seasonal and monthly variations of columnar aerosol optical properties over East Asia determined from multi-year MODIS, LIDAR, and AERONET Sun/sky radiometer measurements , 2007 .

[12]  Renjian Zhang,et al.  Characteristics of elemental composition of PM2.5 in the spring period at Tongyu in the semi-arid region of Northeast China , 2008 .

[13]  Lukas H. Meyer,et al.  Summary for Policymakers , 2022, The Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate.

[14]  Renjian Zhang,et al.  Variability of Blowing Dust Weather Frequency over Semi-Arid Areas of China (Baicheng, Jilin Province) and Relationships with Climatic Factors During 1951 - 2006 , 2011 .

[15]  M. Freitas,et al.  The Aethalometer calibration and determination of iron concentration in dust aerosols , 2006 .

[16]  Xiangao Xia,et al.  Aerosol optical properties and radiative effects in the Yangtze Delta region of China , 2007, Journal of Geophysical Research.

[17]  J. P. Díaz,et al.  Aerosol Radiative Forcing: AERONET-Based Estimates , 2012 .

[18]  Renjian Zhang,et al.  Chemical Composition of Water-soluble Ions and Carbonate Estimation in Spring Aerosol at a Semi-arid Site of Tongyu, China , 2011 .

[19]  Alexander Smirnov,et al.  Cloud-Screening and Quality Control Algorithms for the AERONET Database , 2000 .

[20]  Patrick Minnis,et al.  Dust aerosol effect on semi-arid climate over Northwest China detected from A-Train satellite measurements , 2010 .

[21]  Renjian Zhang,et al.  Investigation of direct radiative effects of aerosols in dust storm season over East Asia with an online coupled regional climate-chemistry-aerosol model , 2012 .

[22]  V. Ramanathan,et al.  Aerosols, Climate, and the Hydrological Cycle , 2001, Science.

[23]  Xiangao Xia,et al.  Variation of column‐integrated aerosol properties in a Chinese urban region , 2006 .

[24]  Corinne Le Quéré,et al.  Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis , 2013 .

[25]  Ramesh P. Singh,et al.  Optical Properties of Fine/Coarse Mode Aerosol Mixtures , 2010 .

[26]  W. Arnott,et al.  In situ aerosol optics in Reno, NV, USA during and after the summer 2008 California wildfires and the influence of absorbing and non-absorbing organic coatings on spectral light absorption , 2009 .

[27]  Xiangao Xia,et al.  Aerosol optical properties based on ground measurements over the Chinese Yangtze Delta Region , 2010 .

[28]  王宝民,et al.  Relationships Between Surface Albedo, Soil Thermal Parameters and Soil Moisture in the Semi-arid Area of Tongyu, Northeastern China , 2008 .

[29]  Alexander Smirnov,et al.  Columnar aerosol optical properties at AERONET sites in central eastern Asia and aerosol transport to the tropical mid‐Pacific , 2005 .

[30]  Lei Zhang,et al.  An overview of the Semi-arid Climate and Environment Research Observatory over the Loess Plateau , 2008 .

[31]  Teruyuki Nakajima,et al.  Tropospheric aerosol optical thickness from the GOCART model and comparisons with satellite and sun photometer measurements , 2002 .

[32]  T. Eck,et al.  Wavelength dependence of the optical depth of biomass burning, urban, and desert dust aerosols , 1999 .

[33]  S. Regional.  Several Issues on Aridification in the Northern China , 2002 .

[34]  T. Eck,et al.  Classification of aerosol properties derived from AERONET direct sun data , 2006 .

[35]  Peng Wang,et al.  Study on the aerosol optical properties and their relationship with aerosol chemical compositions over three regional background stations in China , 2009 .

[36]  Jean-François Léon,et al.  Application of spheroid models to account for aerosol particle nonsphericity in remote sensing of desert dust , 2006 .

[37]  Volker Matthias,et al.  The aerosol distribution in Europe derived with the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model: comparison to near surface in situ and sunphotometer measurements , 2008 .

[38]  B. Holben,et al.  Validation of MODIS aerosol retrieval over ocean , 2002 .

[39]  Alexander Smirnov,et al.  Comparisons of the TOMS aerosol index with Sun‐photometer aerosol optical thickness: Results and applications , 1999 .

[40]  Jorma Keskinen,et al.  Improving the Nanoparticle Resolution of the ELPI , 2010 .

[41]  Zhengqiang Li,et al.  Column aerosol optical properties and aerosol radiative forcing during a serious haze-fog month over North China Plain in 2013 based on ground-based sunphotometer measurements , 2013 .

[42]  Andrew Sturman,et al.  The global distribution of mineral dust and its impacts on the climate system: A review , 2014 .

[43]  Renjian Zhang,et al.  Characteristics of carbonate carbon in PM2.5 in a typical semi-arid area of Northeastern China , 2011 .

[44]  Junying Sun,et al.  Aerosol optical properties at Mt. Waliguan Observatory, China , 2011 .

[45]  Michael D. King,et al.  A flexible inversion algorithm for retrieval of aerosol optical properties from Sun and sky radiance measurements , 2000 .

[46]  Y. Q. Wang,et al.  Atmospheric aerosol compositions in China: Spatial/temporal variability, chemical signature, regional haze distribution and comparisons with global aerosols , 2011 .

[47]  Shantikumar S. Ningombam,et al.  Aerosol radiative forcing over a high-altitude station Merak, in the trans-Himalayan region during advection of anthropogenic events from the Indo-Gangetic Plain , 2014 .

[48]  P. Buseck,et al.  Haze types in Beijing and the influence of agricultural biomass burning , 2010 .

[49]  Xiaoxiong Xiong,et al.  Validation of MODIS aerosol optical depth product over China using CARSNET measurements , 2011 .

[50]  Fu Cong.  STUDY OF ARIDIFICATION IN NORTHERN CHINA--A GLOBAL CHANGE ISSUE FACING DIRECTLY THE DEMAND OF NATION , 2002 .

[51]  Renjian Zhang,et al.  Aerosol Optical Properties Observed at a Semi-Arid Rural Site in Northeastern China , 2012 .

[52]  Daniele Bortoli,et al.  Aerosol radiative effects during two desert dust events in August 2012 over the Southwestern Iberian Peninsula , 2015 .

[53]  Xiangao Xia,et al.  A compilation of aerosol optical properties and calculation of direct radiative forcing over an urban region in northern China , 2007 .

[54]  Xiangao Xia,et al.  Aerosol optical properties and their radiative effects in northern China , 2007 .

[55]  P. Goloub,et al.  Instrument calibration and aerosol optical depth validation of the China Aerosol Remote Sensing Network , 2009 .

[56]  A. Smirnov,et al.  AERONET-a federated instrument network and data archive for aerosol Characterization , 1998 .

[57]  Wang Pu-cai,et al.  Aerosol properties in a Chinese semiarid region , 2004 .

[58]  Xiangao Xia,et al.  Column-integrated aerosol optical and physical properties at a regional background atmosphere in North China Plain , 2014 .

[59]  F. Bréon,et al.  An evaluation of satellite aerosol products against sunphotometer measurements , 2011 .

[60]  H. Che,et al.  Aerosol optical properties over urban and industrial region of Northeast China by using ground-based sun-photometer measurement , 2013 .

[61]  L. Gomes,et al.  Aerosol optical properties and its radiative forcing over Yulin, China in 2001 and 2002 , 2009 .

[62]  Peng Wang,et al.  Aerosol optical properties of regional background atmosphere in Northeast China , 2010 .

[63]  M. Andreae,et al.  Black carbon or brown carbon? The nature of light-absorbing carbonaceous aerosols , 2006 .

[64]  B. Markham,et al.  Aerosol optical properties over the midcontinental United States , 1992 .

[65]  Zhanqing Li,et al.  Significant reduction of surface solar irradiance induced by aerosols in a suburban region in northeastern China , 2007 .