CALIOP-Based Quantification of Central Asian Dust Transport

Abstract

Central Asia is one of the most important sources of mineral saline dust worldwide. A comprehensive understanding of Central Asian dust transport is essential for evaluating its impacts on human health, ecological safety, weather and climate. This study first puts forward an observation-based climatology of Central Asian dust transport flux by using the 3-D dust detection of Cloud-Aerosol LiDAR with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP). The seasonal difference of transport flux and downstream contribution are evaluated and compared with those of the Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, version 2 (MERRA-2). Central Asian dust can be transported not only southward in summer under the effect of the South Asian summer monsoon, but also eastward in other seasons under the control of the westerly jet. Additionally, the transport of Central Asian dust across the Pamir Plateau to the Tibetan Plateau is also non-negligible, especially during spring (with a transport flux rate of 150 kg m−1 day−1). The annual CALIOP-based downstream contribution of Central Asian dust to South Asian (164.01 Tg) is 2.1 times that to East Asia (78.36 Tg). This can be attributed to the blocking effect of the higher terrain between Central and East Asia. Additionally, the downstream contributions to South and East Asia from MERRA-2 are only 0.36 and 0.84 times that of CALIOP, respectively. This difference implies the overestimation of the wet and dry depositions of the model, especially in the low latitude zone. The quantification of the Central Asian dust transport allows a better understanding of the Central Asian dust cycle, and supports the calibration/validation of aerosol-related modules of regional and global climate models.

Insights into Variations and Potential Long-Range Transport of Atmospheric Aerosols from the Aral Sea Basin in Central Asia

“…Increasing attention has been paid to the impact of the Aral Sea's environmental change on local and regional climates, human health, and mountain ecosystems [47,55,63]. Evidence suggests that dust and salt-dust can be transported from the Aral Sea to the Tianshan Mountains region [64,65]. Therefore, this study suggests that more attention should be paid to the great impact of the salt and dust from the dry lakebed of the Aral Sea on the ecological environment of the Tianshan Mountains region, especially in terms of the melting of snow and ice under the effect of climate change and human activities.…”

COVID‐19 Pandemic Reveals Distinct Impact of Aerosols on Surface Solar Radiation in China

“…The R dir decrease is significant at the p = 0.05 level for all these stations expect Yuzhong. The transported dust may play a role in the R dir reduction because West China is susceptible of the frequently occurred dust storms (Han, Wang, Tan, et al., 2022; J. Liu et al., 2021; Meng et al., 2020; Z. Wang et al., 2021). Also, the transported biomass burning aerosols at certain height from southeast Asia, such as Burma and Northeast India, may decline the downwelling solar radiation with less influence of particle concentration at surface at Lhasa, Kunming and Sanya (Han, Wang, Tang, et al., 2022; Xing et al., 2021; Zhu et al., 2016).…”

“…The R dir decrease is significant at the p = 0.05 level for all these stations expect Yuzhong. The transported dust may play a role in the R dir reduction because West China is susceptible of the frequently occurred dust storms (Han, Wang, Tan, et al, 2022;Meng et al, 2020;Z. Wang et al, 2021).…”

Identifying Seasonal and Diurnal Variations and the Most Frequently Impacted Zone of Aerosols in the Aral Sea Region

“…There are seven aerosol subtypes for tropospheric aerosols (dust, polluted dust, clean continental, polluted continental/smoke, elevated smoke, marine, and dusty marine) and four aerosol subtypes for stratospheric aerosols (polar stratospheric aerosol (PSA), volcanic ash, sulfate/other, and smoke) when using a scene classification algorithm [ 73 ]. Following Han et al [ 75 ] and Wu et al [ 63 ], aerosol subtypes with an absolute CAD score (cloud–aerosol discrimination) ≥70 were selected to expound day-night variation in atmospheric aerosols in the Aral Sea region in spring (MAM, from March to May), summer (JJA, from June to August), autumn (SON, from September to November), and winter (DJF, from December to February).…”