Abstract. Long-term measurements of aerosol optical depths (AODs) at 440 nm and Ångström exponents (AE) between 440 and 870 nm made for CARSNET were compiled into a climatology of aerosol optical properties for China. Quality-assured monthly mean AODs are presented for 50 sites representing remote, rural, and urban areas. AODs were 0.14, 0.34, 0.42, 0.54, and 0.74 at remote stations, rural/desert regions, the Loess Plateau, central and eastern China, and urban sites, respectively, and the corresponding AE values were 0.97, 0.55, 0.82, 1.19, and 1.05. AODs increased from north to south, with low values (< 0.20) over the Tibetan Plateau and northwestern China and high AODs (> 0.60) in central and eastern China where industrial emissions and anthropogenic activities were likely sources. AODs were 0.20–0.40 in semi-arid and arid regions and some background areas in northern and northeastern China. AEs were > 1.20 over the southern reaches of the Yangtze River and at clean sites in northeastern China. In the northwestern deserts and industrial parts of northeast China, AEs were lower (< 0.80) compared with central and eastern regions. Dust events in spring, hygroscopic particle growth during summer, and biomass burning contribute the high AODs, especially in northern and eastern China. The AODs show decreasing trends from 2006 to 2009 but increased ~ 0.03 per year from 2009 to 2013.

Abstract. In January 2013, North China Plain experienced several serious haze events. Cimel sunphotometer measurements at seven sites over rural, suburban and urban regions of North China Plain from 1 to 30 January 2013 were used to further our understanding of spatial-temporal variation of aerosol optical parameters and aerosol radiative forcing (ARF). It was found that Aerosol Optical Depth at 500 nm (AOD 500 nm ) during non-pollution periods at all stations was lower than 0.30 and increased significantly to greater than 1.00 as pollution events developed. The Angstrom exponent (Alpha) was larger than 0.80 for all stations most of the time. AOD 500 nm averages increased from north to south during both polluted and non-polluted periods on the three urban sites in Beijing. The fine mode AOD during pollution periods is about a factor of 2.5 times larger than that during the non-pollution period at urban sites but a factor of 5.0 at suburban and rural sites. The fine mode fraction of AOD 675 nm was higher than 80% for all sites during January 2013. The absorption AOD 675 nm at rural sites was only about 0.01 during pollution periods, while ∼ 0.03-0.07 and 0.01-0.03 during pollution and non-pollution periods at other sites, respectively. Single scattering albedo varied between 0.87 and 0.95 during January 2013 over North China Plain. The size distribution showed an obvious tri-peak pattern during the most serious period. The fine mode effective radius in the pollution period was about 0.01-0.08 µm larger than during nonpollution periods, while the coarse mode radius in pollution periods was about 0.06-0.38 µm less than that during nonpollution periods. The total, fine and coarse mode particle volumes varied by about 0.06-0.34 µm 3 , 0.03-0.23 µm 3 , and 0.03-0.10 µm 3 , respectively, throughout January 2013. During the most intense period (1-16 January), ARF at the surface exceeded −50 W m −2 , −180 W m −2 , and −200 W m −2 at rural, suburban, and urban sites, respectively. The ARF readings at the top of the atmosphere were approximately −30 W m −2 in rural and −40-60 W m −2 in urban areas.Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. H. Che et al.: Column aerosol optical properties and aerosol radiative forcingPositive ARF at the top of the atmosphere at the Huimin suburban site was found to be different from others as a result of the high surface albedo due to snow cover.

[1] The IMAGE Wideband Imaging Camera (WIC) instrument observed the duskside development of an oval-aligned transpolar auroral arc (TPA) in the Northern Hemisphere (NH) on 16 December 2001 during strong IMF jBj $ 18 nT and a generally steady $56°c lock angle (positive IMF B y and B z ). Observational evidence suggests that the dayside part of the duskside TPA formed due to quasi-continuous merging between the IMF and the lobe magnetic field tailward of the cusp while the nightside part is associated with the Harang discontinuity. The low-altitude CHAMP satellite confirms an upward northward IMF B z (NBZ) field-aligned current (FAC) over the dayside TPA while associating a downward NBZ current with the region of diminished WIC emissions in between the auroral oval and the TPA. DMSP F14 suggests that the dayside region of the downward NBZ current coincides with precipitating magnetosheath-like ions of reversed energy-latitude dispersion consistent with high-latitude reconnection. SuperDARN observes enhanced ionospheric sunward flows generally centered between the oppositely directed NBZ currents. We associate these flows with a clockwise lobe convection vortex and the dayside part of the TPA. The nightside TPA, however, is related to stagnant or antisunward flow and the upward FAC region of the Harang discontinuity. Cluster observations confirm the simultaneous presence of rotational discontinuities across the duskside magnetopause with changes in the magnetosheath plasma velocity that indicate an active merging region poleward of Cluster. A global MHD simulation generates sunward flow between a pair of opposite FACs on either side of a lobe reconnection site near (X, Y, Z) GSM = (À4.7, 5.4, 10.2) R E thus conforming with Cluster and SuperDARN expectations. The sense of these FACs agrees with the low-altitude NBZ observations. Citation: Eriksson, S., et al. (2005), On the generation of enhanced sunward convection and transpolar aurora in the high-latitude ionosphere by magnetic merging,