1 Department of Geography, School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
2 State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
3 State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei province, 430079, China
4 Collaborative Innovation Center for Geospatial Technology, Wuhan 430079, China
5 School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Schmid College of Science and Technology, Chapman University, Orange CA 92866, USA
6 Laboratory for Middle Atmosphere and Global Environment Observation, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China
7 Collaborative Innovation Center on Forecast and Evaluation of Meteorological Disasters, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing, 210044, China
8 Key Laboratory for Atmospheric Chemistry, Institute of Atmospheric Composition, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, CMA, Beijing 100081, China
9 School of Physics and Electronic-Information Engineering, Hubei Engineering University, Xiaogan 432000, Hubei, China
Cite this article: Wang, L., Gong, W., Singh, R.P., Xia, X., Che, H., Zhang, M. and Lin, H. (2015). Aerosol Optical Properties over Mount Song, a Rural Site in Central China.
Aerosol Air Qual. Res.
15: 2051-2064. https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.2014.12.0335
HIGHLIGHTS
Aerosol optical property at Mount Song, China is first reported.
Fine-mode particles are dominant in summer.
Scattering capacity of the fine-mode particles in winter is higher.
ABSTRACT
Seasonal variations of aerosol optical depth (AOD), Ångström exponent (α), single scattering albedo (SSA), water vapor content (WVC), aerosol size distribution and refractive index at Mount Song, a rural site in Central China are analyzed using ground-based sunphotometer data for the period April 2012 to May 2014 for the first time. The results show that the area is highly polluted even the major anthropogenic emission sources are far away. Seasonal mean AOD is high (0.72 ± 0.52) during summer (June–August) season and low (0.51 ± 0.38) during autumn (September–November) season. The monthly mean α is very low (0.81 ± 0.30) in the month of April and very high (1.32 ± 0.23) in the month of September with annual average value 1.1. Analysis of the frequency distributions of AOD and α in each season indicates presence of fine-mode particles. Strong seasonal variations in SSA is likely due to local biomass burning and regional transport of anthropogenic aerosol particles, Seasonal mean SSA at 440 nm wavelength are 0.89 ± 0.04, 0.91 ± 0.06, 0.89 ± 0.07 and 0.92 ± 0.05, respectively during spring, summer, autumn and winter seasons. It is also shown that the scattering capacity of the fine-mode particles is relatively higher during summer compared to other seasons. The aerosol volume size distributions show pronounced seasonal variations in volume concentration, peak radius and the fine-mode particles are evidently dominant during summer season due to the hygroscopic growth. A distinct seasonal variations in aerosol parameters confirm the transport of polluted air mass at Mount Song.
Keywords: Aerosol optical properties; Ground-based measurements; Mount Song; Central China
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