Penetration of biomass-burning emissions from South Asia through the Himalayas: new insights from atmospheric organic acids

Cong, Zhiyuan; Kawamura, Kimitaka; Kang, Shichang; Fu, Pingqing

doi:10.1038/srep09580

Cited by 207 publications

(173 citation statements)

References 50 publications

(57 reference statements)

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“…The amount of BC deposition is larger in the southern TP (MYL) than in the northern TP (NETP) due to the nearby BC sources in south Asia, known to be a regional hotspot of BC-induced atmospheric solar heating (Ramanathan and Carmichael, 2008), while more BC deposition in the central TP (NMC) is evident than in the NETP. This is plausible as pollutants from the southern side of the Himalayas can traverse the high mountain range not only through the major north-south river valleys but also by being lifted and advected over the Himalayas to reach to the inland TP (Cong et al, 2015b;Lüthi et al, 2015).…”

Section: Distributions Of Lapsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Black carbon and mineral dust in snow cover on the Tibetan Plateau

et al. 2018

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Abstract. Snow cover plays a key role for sustaining ecology and society in mountainous regions. Light-absorbing particulates (including black carbon, organic carbon, and mineral dust) deposited on snow can reduce surface albedo and contribute to the near-worldwide melting of snow and ice. This study focused on understanding the role of black carbon and other water-insoluble light-absorbing particulates in the snow cover of the Tibetan Plateau (TP). The results found that the black carbon, organic carbon, and dust concentrations in snow cover generally ranged from 202 to 17 468 ng g −1 , 491 to 13 880 ng g −1 , and 22 to 846 µg g −1 , respectively, with higher concentrations in the central to northern areas of the TP. Back trajectory analysis suggested that the northern TP was influenced mainly by air masses from Central Asia with some Eurasian influence, and air masses in the central and Himalayan region originated mainly from Central and South Asia. The relative biomassburning-sourced black carbon contributions decreased from ∼ 50 % in the southern TP to ∼ 30 % in the northern TP. The relative contribution of black carbon and dust to snow albedo reduction reached approximately 37 and 15 %, respectively. The effect of black carbon and dust reduced the snow cover duration by 3.1 ± 0.1 to 4.4 ± 0.2 days. Meanwhile, the black carbon and dust had important implications for snowmelt water loss over the TP. The findings indicate that the impacts of black carbon and mineral dust need to be properly accounted for in future regional climate projections, particularly in the high-altitude cryosphere.

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Section: Distributions Of Lapsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Black carbon and mineral dust in snow cover on the Tibetan Plateau

et al. 2018

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“…The GHZ site location is close to a parking lot for private vehicles and touring buses and a visitor service center that involves food cooking. These tourism activities can contribute to local emissions of carbonaceous aerosols and precursor gases for OC (Borrego et al, 2000;Cong et al, 2015a;Shi et al, 2017). However, we don't have direct observational evidence to support this.…”

Section: Characteristics Of the Carbonaceous Aerosolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…and remote regions (such as the TP and Himalayas region) (Lau et al, 2010;Ramanathan and Carmichael, 2008). It was reported that the pre-monsoon season is the major vegetationfire period in the foothill areas of the southern Himalayas (Vadrevu et al, 2012;Putero et al, 2014), and the winds surrounding the Himalayas and TP could facilitate the transport of carbonaceous matter from South Asia to the Himalayas (Cong et al, 2015a;Dong et al, 2017b;Lau et al, 2010). We analyzed the CAM5 model results to quantify the source attributions of BC in the Mt.…”

Section: Source Apportionments Of Carbonaceous Aerosolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal variation and light absorption property of carbonaceous aerosol in a typical glacier region of the southeastern Tibetan Plateau

et al. 2018

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Abstract. Deposition and accumulation of light-absorbing carbonaceous aerosol on glacier surfaces can alter the energy balance of glaciers. In this study, 2 years (December 2014 to December 2016) of continuous observations of carbonaceous aerosols in the glacierized region of the Mt. Yulong and Ganhaizi (GHZ) basin are analyzed. The average elemental carbon (EC) and organic carbon (OC) concentrations were 1.51 ± 0.93 and 2.57 ± 1.32 µg m −3 , respectively. Although the annual mean OC / EC ratio was 2.45 ± 1.96, monthly mean EC concentrations during the post-monsoon season were even higher than OC in the high altitudes (approximately 5000 m a.s.l.) of Mt. Yulong. Strong photochemical reactions and local tourism activities were likely the main factors inducing high OC / EC ratios in the Mt. Yulong region during the monsoon season. The mean mass absorption efficiency (MAE) of EC, measured for the first time in Mt. Yulong, at 632 nm with a thermal-optical carbon analyzer using the filter-based method, was 6.82 ± 0.73 m 2 g −1 , comparable with the results from other studies. Strong seasonal and spatial variations of EC MAE were largely related to the OC abundance. Source attribution analysis using a global aerosol-climate model, equipped with a black carbon (BC) source tagging technique, suggests that East Asia emissions, including local sources, have the dominant contribution (over 50 %) to annual mean near-surface BC in the Mt. Yulong area. There is also a strong seasonal variation in the regional source apportionment. South Asia has the largest contribution to near-surface BC during the premonsoon season, while East Asia dominates the monsoon season and post-monsoon season. Results in this study have great implications for accurately evaluating the influences of carbonaceous matter on glacial melting and water resource supply in glacierization areas.

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“…Since this vast land has a relatively low population density with minor anthropogenic influences, the Tibetan Plateau has been considered as a natural background to the Eurasian continent (Ming et al, 2010;Wan et al, 2015). In recent years, studies have presented convincing evidence for the transport route of air pollutants climbing over the Himalayas, especially during the pre-monsoon season, coinciding with the annual intensive fire season in South and Southeast Asia (Streets et al, 2003;Marinoni et al, 2010;Cong et al, 2015b). A westerly dry circulation helps to build up the smoke plume against the Himalayan ridges, elevating it to 3-5 km in altitude Xia et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of biomass burning from South Asia at a high-altitude mountain receptor site in China

Zheng

et al. 2017

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

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Abstract. Highly time-resolved in situ measurements of airborne particles were conducted at Mt. Yulong (3410 m above sea level) on the southeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau in China from 22 March to 14 April 2015. The detailed chemical composition was measured by a high-resolution time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer together with other online instruments. The average mass concentration of the submicron particles (PM 1 ) was 5.7 ± 5.4 µg m −3 during the field campaign, ranging from 0.1 up to 33.3 µg m −3 . Organic aerosol (OA) was the dominant component in PM 1 , with a fraction of 68 %. Three OA factors, i.e., biomass burning organic aerosol (BBOA), biomass-burning-influenced oxygenated organic aerosol (OOA-BB) and oxygenated organic aerosol (OOA), were resolved using positive matrix factorization analysis. The two oxygenated OA factors accounted for 87 % of the total OA mass. Three biomass burning events were identified by examining the enhancement of black carbon concentrations and the f 60 (the ratio of the signal at m/z 60 from the mass spectrum to the total signal of OA). Back trajectories of air masses and satellite fire map data were integrated to identify the biomass burning locations and pollutant transport. The western air masses from South Asia with active biomass burning activities transported large amounts of air pollutants, resulting in elevated organic concentrations up to 4-fold higher than those of the background conditions. This study at Mt. Yulong characterizes the tropospheric background aerosols of the Tibetan Plateau during pre-monsoon season and provides clear evidence that the southeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau was affected by the transport of anthropogenic aerosols from South Asia.

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Penetration of biomass-burning emissions from South Asia through the Himalayas: new insights from atmospheric organic acids

Cited by 207 publications

References 50 publications

Black carbon and mineral dust in snow cover on the Tibetan Plateau

Black carbon and mineral dust in snow cover on the Tibetan Plateau

Seasonal variation and light absorption property of carbonaceous aerosol in a typical glacier region of the southeastern Tibetan Plateau

Influence of biomass burning from South Asia at a high-altitude mountain receptor site in China

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