Exploring dust heterogeneous chemistry over China: Insights from field observation and GEOS-Chem simulation

Atmospheric environment characteristic of severe dust storms and its impact on sulfate formation in downstream city

This study comprehensively investigated the impact of dust storms (DSs) on downstream cities, by selecting representative DS events. In this paper, we discussed the characteristics of meteorological conditions, air pollutants, PM2.5 components, and their influence on sulfate formation mechanisms. During DSs, strong winds, reaching speeds of up to 10 m/s, led to significant increases in PM10 and PM2.5, with maximum concentrations of 2684.5 and 429 μg/m3, respectively. Primary gaseous pollutants experienced substantial reductions, with decline rates of 48.1, 34.9, 36.8, and 9.0 % for SO2, NO2, NH3, and CO, respectively. Despite a notable increase in PM2.5 concentrations, only 7.6 % of the total mass of PM2.5 was attributed to ionic and carbonaceous components, a much lower value than observed before the DSs (77.3 %). Concentrations of Fe, Ti, and Mn exhibited increases by factors of 6.5-14.1, 10.4-17.0, and 1.6-4.7, respectively. In contrast to the significant decrease of >76.2 % in nitrogen oxidation ratio (NOR), sulfur oxidation ratio (SOR) remained at a relatively high level, displaying a strong positive correlation with high concentrations of Fe, Mn, and Ti. Quantitative analysis revealed an average increase of 0.187 and 0.045 μg/m3 in sulfate from natural sources and heterogeneous generation, respectively. The heterogeneous reaction on mineral dust was closely linked to atmospheric humidity, radiation intensity, the form of metal existence, and concentrations of it. High concentrations of titanium dioxide and iron‑manganese oxides in mineral dust promoted heterogeneous oxidation of SO2 through photocatalysis during the daytime and metal ion catalysis during the nighttime. This study establishes that the metal components in mineral dust promote heterogeneous sulfate formation, quantifies the yield of sulfate generated as a result, and provides possible mechanisms for heterogeneous sulfate formation.

Emission, transport, deposition, chemical and radiative impacts of mineral dust during severe dust storm periods in March 2021 over East Asia

A Regional Air Quality Model System (named RAQMS) coupled with a developed dust model driven by WRF was applied to synthetically investigate the emission, transport, deposition, budget, and chemical and radiative effects of mineral dust during the severe dust storm periods of 10-31 March 2021. Model results were validated against a variety of ground, vertical and satellite observations, which demonstrated a generally good model ability in reproducing meteorological variables, particulate matter and compositions, and aerosol optical properties. The first dust storm (DS1), which was the severest one since 2010 was originated from the Gobi Desert in southern Mongolia on 14 March, with the dust emission flux reaching 2785 μg m^-2 s^-1 and the maximum dust concentration exceeding 18,000 μg m^-3 in the dust deflation region. This dust storm resulted in remarkably high hourly PM₁₀ observations up to 7506 μg m^-3, 1887 μg m^-3, and 2704 μg m^-3 in Beijing, Tianjin, and Shijiazhuang on 15 March, respectively, and led to a maximum decrease in surface shortwave radiation up to 313.4 W m^-2 (72 %) in Beijing. The second dust storm (DS2) broke out in the deserts of eastern Mongolia, with lower dust emission than the first one. The extinction of shortwave radiation by dust aerosols led to a reduction in photolysis rate and consequently decreases in O₃ and secondary aerosol concentrations over the North China Plain (NCP), whereas total sulfate and nitrate concentrations consistently increased due to heterogeneous reactions on dust surfaces over the middle reaches of the Yellow River and the NCP region during DS1. Sulfate and nitrate formation through heterogeneous reactions were enhanced in the dust backflow on 16-17 March by approximately 18 % and 24 % on average in the NCP. Heterogeneous reactions and photolysis rate reduction by mineral dust jointly led to average changes in sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) concentrations by 13.0 %, 13.5 %, -12.3 %, and -4.4 %, respectively, in the NCP region during DS1, larger than the changes in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD). The maximum dry deposition settled in the 7-11 μm size range in downwind land and ocean areas, while wet deposition peaked in the 4.7-7 μm size range in the entire domain. Wet deposition was approximately twice the dry deposition over mainland China except for dust source regions. During 10-31 March, the total dust emission, dry and wet depositions were estimated to be 31.4 Tg, 13.78 Tg and 4.75 Tg, respectively, with remaining 12.87 Tg of dust aerosols (41 % of the dust emission) suspending in the atmosphere or transporting to other continents and oceans.

Role of Dust and Iron Solubility in Sulfate Formation during the Long-Range Transport in East Asia Evidenced by 17O-Excess Signatures

Numerical models have been developed to elucidate air pollution caused by sulfate aerosols (SO₄^2-). However, typical models generally underestimate SO₄^2-, and oxidation processes have not been validated. This study improves the modeling of SO₄^2- formation processes using the mass-independent oxygen isotopic composition [¹⁷O-excess; Δ¹⁷O(SO₄^2-)], which reflects pathways from sulfur dioxide (SO₂) to SO₄^2-, at the background site in Japan throughout 2015. The standard setting in the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model captured SO₄^2- concentration, whereas Δ¹⁷O(SO₄^2-) was underestimated, suggesting that oxidation processes were not correctly represented. The dust inline calculation improved Δ¹⁷O(SO₄^2-) because dust-derived increases in cloud-water pH promoted acidity-driven SO₄^2- production, but Δ¹⁷O(SO₄^2-) was still overestimated during winter as a result. Increasing solubilities of the transition-metal ions, such as iron, which are a highly uncertain modeling parameter, decreased the overestimated Δ¹⁷O(SO₄^2-) in winter. Thus, dust and high metal solubility are essential factors for SO₄^2- formation in the region downstream of China. It was estimated that the remaining mismatch of Δ¹⁷O(SO₄^2-) between the observation and model can be explained by the proposed SO₄^2- formation mechanisms in Chinese pollution. These accurately modeled SO₄^2- formation mechanisms validated by Δ¹⁷O(SO₄^2-) will contribute to emission regulation strategies required for better air quality and precise climate change predictions over East Asia.

Investigation of the influence of mineral dust on airborne particulate matter during the COVID-19 epidemic in spring 2020 over China

A regional air quality model system (RAQMS) driven by the Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF) is applied to investigate the distribution and evolution of mineral dust and anthropogenic aerosols over China in April 2020, when air quality was improved due to reduced human activity during the COVID-19 epidemic, whereas dust storms began to attack China and deteriorated air quality. A dust deflation model was developed and improved mineral dust prediction. Model validation demonstrated that RAQMS was able to reproduce PM₁₀, PM_2.5 and aerosol components reasonably well. China suffered from three dust events in April 2020, with the maximum hourly PM₁₀ concentrations exceeding 700 μg m^-3 in downwind cities over the North China Plain (NCP). Mineral dust dominated PM₁₀ mass (>80%) over the Gobi deserts in north and west China, while it comprised approximately 30-50% of PM₁₀ over wide areas of east China. The domain and monthly mean dust mass fractions in PM₁₀ were estimated to be 47% and 43% over the North China Plain and east China, respectively. On average, mineral dust contributed up to 22% and 21% of PM_2.5 mass over the North China Plain and east China in April 2020, respectively. Sulfate and nitrate produced by heterogeneous chemical reactions on dust surface accounted for approximately 9% and 13% of secondary inorganic aerosols (SIA) concentration over the North China Plain and east China, respectively. The results from this study demonstrated that mineral dust made an important contribution to particulate matter mass during the COVID-19 epidemic in spring 2020 over China.