A Comparison of the Different Stages of Dust Events over Beijing in March 2021: The Effects of the Vertical Structure on Near-Surface Particle Concentration

Futing Wang; Ting Yang; Zifa Wang; Jie Cao; Benli Liu; Jianbao Liu; Shengqian Chen; Shulin Liu; Binghao Jia

doi:10.3390/rs13183580

Remote Sensing (Sep 2021)

A Comparison of the Different Stages of Dust Events over Beijing in March 2021: The Effects of the Vertical Structure on Near-Surface Particle Concentration

Futing Wang,
Ting Yang,
Zifa Wang,
Jie Cao,
Benli Liu,
Jianbao Liu,
Shengqian Chen,
Shulin Liu,
Binghao Jia

Affiliations

Futing Wang: State Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Physics and Atmospheric Chemistry, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China
Ting Yang: State Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Physics and Atmospheric Chemistry, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China
Zifa Wang: State Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Physics and Atmospheric Chemistry, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China
Jie Cao: Key Laboratory of Meteorological Disaster, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing 210044, China
Benli Liu: Dunhuang Gobi Desert Research Station, Key Laboratory of Desert and Desertification, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China
Jianbao Liu: Group of Alpine Paleoecology and Human Adaptation, State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Shengqian Chen: Group of Alpine Paleoecology and Human Adaptation, State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Shulin Liu: Dunhuang Gobi Desert Research Station, Key Laboratory of Desert and Desertification, Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China
Binghao Jia: State Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics (LASG), Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13183580
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 13, no. 18
p. 3580

Abstract

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Mineral dust is of great importance to climate change, air quality, and human health. In this study, multisource data, including the reanalysis data and remote sensing data, were used to compare the three dust events that occurred in the March of 2021 over Beijing and reveal the effects of atmospheric vertical structure on near-surface dust concentration. The combined effect of the Mongolian cyclone and a wide persistent cold-front induced two events (E1: from March 15 to 16 and E3: from March 28 to 29). E1 was more intense, more extensive, and longer-lasting than E3 due to the combination of the stronger Mongolian cyclone, slower high/cold surface pressure, and the low-level jet. However, under the appropriate configurations of temperature and pressure fields between high and low altitudes, weak updrafts were still induced and could elevate dust up to 850 hPa, as occurred during E2 on March 22 and 23. The dust emission was inferior to E1 and E3, which contributes to the low dust concentration near the surface in E2. On the other hand, the downdraft strength directly affected both the vertical distribution of dust and the concentration of surface particles. There was a strong temporal consistency between the occurrence of the downdraft and the dust touchdown. In E1, the continuous strong downdraft caused the maximum dust concentration to be above 4000 μg/m3 at around 200 m. In contrast, the maximum height of the dust mass concentration in E3 occurred at about 800 m due to the transient downdraft, which weakened its effect on surface visibility. Besides, the weak vertical motion in E2 caused most of the dust to become suspended in the air. Overall, the large dust emission resulted from active updrafts in the source region, and the lengthy strong downdrafts led to the ultrahigh particle concentration near the surface.

Published in Remote Sensing

ISSN: 2072-4292 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Science
Website: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/remotesensing/

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