An overview of Sun–Sky Radiometer Observation Network (SONET) measurements in China is presented. Based on observations at 16 distributed SONET sites in China, atmospheric aerosol parameters are acquired via standardization processes of operational measurement, maintenance, calibration, inversion, and quality control implemented since 2010. A climatology study is performed focusing on total columnar atmospheric aerosol characteristics, including optical (aerosol optical depth, ÅngstrÖm exponent, fine-mode fraction, single-scattering albedo), physical (volume particle size distribution), chemical composition (black carbon; brown carbon; fine-mode scattering component, coarse-mode component; and aerosol water), and radiative properties (aerosol radiative forcing and efficiency). Data analyses show that aerosol optical depth is low in the west but high in the east of China. Aerosol composition also shows significant spatial and temporal variations, leading to noticeable diversities in optical and physical property patterns. In west and north China, aerosols are generally affected by dust particles, while monsoon climate and human activities impose remarkable influences on aerosols in east and south China. Aerosols in China exhibit strong light-scattering capability and result in significant radiative cooling effects.

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Little is currently known about the trophic transfer behavior of short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs) in terrestrial ecosystems. The trophodynamics of SCCPs were investigated in a typical terrestrial food chain (plant−plateau pika−eagle) from the interior of the Tibetan Plateau with an altitude of 4730 m. Pervasive contamination by SCCPs was found in the Tibetan Plateau samples, and the average concentrations of SCCPs in soil, plant, plateau pika, eagle, and gut content of eagle samples were 81.6 ± 31.1, 173 ± 70.3, 258 ± 126, 108 ± 59.6, and 268 ± 93.9 ng/g (average ± standard deviation, dry weight, dw), respectively. The trophic magnification factor (TMF) of SCCPs was 0.37, implying the trophic dilution of SCCPs in this terrestrial food chain. The TMF values of individual congener groups were positively correlated with the values of log K ow , log K oa and biotransformation half-life. As a result of long-range transport, SCCPs congeners with low molecular weight dominated in Tibetan Plateau species (C 10+11 congeners = 76.9%, Cl 5+6+7 congeners = 71.5%), which could partly explain the low biomagnification factors (BMFs) of SCCPs in the Tibetan Plateau.

Deposition of atmospheric mercury (Hg) is the most important Hg source on the high-altitude Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau. Herein, total gaseous Hg (TGM) at an urban and a forest site on the Tibetan Plateau was collected respectively from May 2017 to October 2018, and isotopic compositions were measured to clarify the influences of landforms and monsoons on the transboundary transport of atmospheric Hg to the Tibetan Plateau. The transboundary transported anthropogenic emissions mainly originated over Indo-Gangetic Plain and carried over the Himalayas by convective storms and mid-tropospheric circulation, contributing over 50% to the TGM at the Lhasa urban site, based on the binary mixing model of isotopes. In contrast, during the transport of TGM from South Asia with low altitude, the uptake by evergreen forest in Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon largely decreased the TGM level and shifted isotopic compositions in TGM at the Nyingchi forest site, which are located at the highaltitude end of the canyon. Our results provided direct evidence from Hg isotopes to reveal the distinct patterns of transboundary transport to the Tibetan Plateau shaped by landforms and climates, which is critical to fully understand the biogeochemical cycling of Hg in the high-altitude regions.

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While there is a lack of information about the trophic transfer of short-chain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in the terrestrial ecosystem, this study focused on the occurrence and trophic transfer of both legacy and short-chain PFASs in a terrestrial food chain composed of the plants, plateau pikas, and eagles of the Tibetan Plateau. Total PFAS concentrations were in the range of 0.130–1.507, 0.406–1.085, 0.601–8.293, and 5.021–76.482 ng/g dw in soils, plants, pika muscles, and eagle muscles, respectively, among which perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorobutanoic acid (PFBA) were predominant in all sample types. Levels of PFASs in eagle feathers were significantly correlated with those in eagle muscles (r = 0.73), implying feathers could be used as an indicator of exposure of raptors to PFASs. Trophic magnification factors of PFOS (5.75), perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (2.43), C10–C12 perfluorocarboxylic acids (1.84–4.65), PFBA (5.11), and perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (5.96) along the plant–pika–eagle food chain were all significantly greater than 1. The short-chain PFASs may be biomagnified in air-breathing animals because of the nonvolatility of their charged forms and recalcitrance (not biotransformed). The results suggest that the ecological risks of these short-chain substitutions warrant further investigation.

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