Optical Properties and Source Analysis of Aerosols over a Desert Area in Dunhuang,Northwest China

Aerosol observational data for 2012 obtained from Dunhuang Station of CARE-China（Campaign on Atmospheric Aerosol Research Network of China） were analyzed to achieve in-depth knowledge of aerosol optical properties over Dunhuang region. The results showed that the annual average aerosol optical depth（AOD） at 500 nm was 0.32 ± 0.06, and the ？ngstr？m exponent（α） was 0.73 ± 0.27. Aerosol optical properties revealed significant seasonal characteristics. Frequent sandstorms in MAM（March–April–May） resulted in the seasonal maximum AOD, 0.41 ± 0.04, and a relatively smaller αvalue, 0.44 ± 0.04. The tourism seasons, JJA（June–July–August） and SON（September–October–November） coincide with serious emissions of small anthropogenic aerosols. While in DJF（December–January–February）, the composition of the atmosphere was a mixture of dust particles and polluted aerosols released by domestic heating; the average AOD and αwere 0.29 ± 0.02 and 0.66 ± 0.17, respectively. Different air masses exhibited different degrees of influence on the aerosol concentration over Dunhuang in different seasons. During MAM, ranges of AOD（0.11–1.18） and α（0.06–0.82） were the largest under the dust influence of northwest-short-distance air mass in the four trajectories. Urban aerosols transported by northwest-short-distance air mass accounted for a very large proportion in JJA and the mixed aerosols observed in SON were mainly conveyed by air masses from the west. In DJF, the similar ranges of AOD and α under the three air mass demonstrated the analogous diffusion effects on regional pollutants over Dunhuang.

Evaluating the Ozone Valley over the Tibetan Plateau in CMIP6 Models

Total column ozone(TCO)over the Tibetan Plateau(TP)is lower than that over other regions at the same latitude,particularly in summer.This feature is known as the“TP ozone valley”.This study evaluates long-term changes in TCO and the ozone valley over the TP from 1984 to 2100 using Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6(CMIP6).The TP ozone valley consists of two low centers,one is located in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere(UTLS),and the other is in the middle and upper stratosphere.Overall,the CMIP6 models simulate the low ozone center in the UTLS well and capture the spatial characteristics and seasonal cycle of the TP ozone valley,with spatial correlation coefficients between the modeled TCO and the Multi Sensor Reanalysis version 2(MSR2)TCO observations greater than 0.8 for all CMIP6 models.Further analysis reveals that models which use fully coupled and online stratospheric chemistry schemes simulate the anticorrelation between the 150 hPa geopotential height and zonal anomaly of TCO over the TP better than models without interactive chemistry schemes.This suggests that coupled chemical-radiative-dynamical processes play a key role in the simulation of the TP ozone valley.Most CMIP6 models underestimate the low center in the middle and upper stratosphere when compared with the Microwave Limb Sounder(MLS)observations.However,the bias in the middle and upper stratospheric ozone simulations has a marginal effect on the simulation of the TP ozone valley.Most CMIP6 models predict the TP ozone valley in summer will deepen in the future.