Seasonal and monthly variations of columnar aerosol optical properties over east Asia determined from multi-year MODIS,LIDAR, and AERONET Sun/sky radiometer measurements

Multi-year records of MODIS, micro-pulse lidar (MPL), and aerosol robotic network (AERONET) Sun/sky radiometer measurements were analyzed to investigate the seasonal, monthly and geographical variations of columnar aerosol optical properties over east Asia. Similar features of monthly and seasonal variations were found among the measurements, though the observational methodology and periods are not coincident. Seasonal and monthly cycles of MODIS-derived aerosol optical depth (AOD) over east Asia showed a maximum in spring and a minimum in autumn and winter. Aerosol vertical extinction profiles measured by MPL also showed elevated aerosol loads in the middle troposphere during the spring season. Seasonal and spatial distributions were related to the dust and anthropogenic emissions in spring, but modified by precipitation in July–August and regional atmospheric dispersion in September–February. All of the AERONET Sun/sky radiometers utilized in this study showed the same seasonal and monthly variations of MODIS-derived AOD. Interestingly, we found a peak of monthly mean AOD over industrialized coastal regions of China and the Yellow Sea, the Korean Peninsula, and Japan, in June from both MODIS and AERONET Sun/sky radiometer measurements. Especially, the maximum monthly mean AOD in June is more evident at the AERONET urban sites (Beijing and Gwangju). This AOD June maximum is attributable to the relative contribution of various processes such as stagnant synoptic meteorological patterns, secondary aerosol formation, hygroscopic growth of hydrophilic aerosols due to enhanced relative humidity, and smoke aerosols by regional biomass burning.     

Evaluating inter-continental transport of fine aerosols: (1) Methodology,global aerosol distribution and optical depth

Our objectives are to evaluate inter-continental source-receptor relationships for fine aerosols and to identify the regions whose emissions have dominant influence on receptor continents. We simulate sulfate, black carbon (BC), organic carbon (OC), and mineral dust aerosols using a global coupled chemistry-aerosol model (MOZART-2) driven with NCEP/NCAR reanalysis meteorology for 1997–2003 and emissions approximately representing year 2000. The concentrations of simulated aerosol species in general agree within a factor of 2 with observations, except that the model tends to overestimate sulfate over Europe in summer, underestimate BC and OC over the western and southeastern (SE) U.S. and Europe, and underestimate dust over the SE U.S. By tagging emissions from ten continental regions, we quantify the contribution of each region's emissions on surface aerosol concentrations (relevant for air quality) and aerosol optical depth (AOD, relevant for visibility and climate) globally. We find that domestic emissions contribute substantially to surface aerosol concentrations (57–95%) over all regions, but are responsible for a smaller fraction of AOD (26–76%). We define “background” aerosols as those aerosols over a region that result from inter-continental transport, DMS oxidation, and emissions from ships or volcanoes. Transport from other continental source regions accounts for a substantial portion of background aerosol concentrations: 36–97% for surface concentrations and 38–89% for AOD. We identify the Region of Primary Influence (RPI) as the source region with the largest contribution to the receptor's background aerosol concentrations (or AOD). We find that for dust Africa is the RPI for both aerosol concentrations and AOD over all other receptor regions. For non-dust aerosols (particularly for sulfate and BC), the RPIs for aerosol concentrations and AOD are identical for most receptor regions. These findings indicate that the reduction of the emission of non-dust aerosols and their precursors from an RPI will simultaneously improve both air quality and visibility over a receptor region.     

Aerosol mass-size distributions at a tropical coastal environment: response to mesoscale and synoptic processes

Regular measurements of total mass concentration and mass-size distribution of near-surface aerosols, made using a ten-channel Quartz Crystal Microbalance (qcm) Impactor for the period October 1998–December 1999 at the tropical coastal station Trivandrum (8.5°N, 77°E), are used to study the response of aerosol characteristics to regional mesoscale and synoptic processes. Results reveal that aerosol mass concentrations are generally higher under land breeze conditions. The sea breeze generally has a cleansing effect, depleting the aerosol loading. The continental air (LB regime) is richer in accumulation mode (submicron) aerosols than the marine air. On a synoptic scale, aerosol mass concentration in the submicron mode decreased from an average high value of ∼86 μg m⁻³ during the dry months (January–March) to ∼11 μg m⁻³ during the monsoon season (June–September). On the contrary mass concentration in the supermicron mode increased from a low value of ∼15 μg m⁻³ during the dry months to reach a comparatively high value of ∼35 μg m⁻³ during April, May. Correspondingly, the effective radius (R_eff) increased from a low value of 0.15–0.17 μm to ∼0.3 μm indicating a seasonal change in the size distribution. The mass-size distribution shows mainly three modes, a fine mode (∼0.1 μm); a large mode (∼0.5 μm) and a coarse mode (∼3 μm). The fine mode dominates in winter. In summer the large mode becomes more conspicuous and the coarse mode builds up. The fine mode is highly reduced in monsoon and the large and coarse modes continue to remain high (replenished) so that their relative dominance increases. The size distribution tends to revert to the winter pattern in the post-monsoon season. Accumulation (submicron) aerosols account for ∼98% of the total surface area and ∼70% of the total volume of aerosols during winter. During monsoon, even though they still account for ∼90% of the area, their contribution to the volume is reduced to ∼50%; the coarse aerosols account for the rest.     

Comparison of summer and winter California central valley aerosol distributions from lidar and MODIS measurements

Aerosol distributions from two aircraft lidar campaigns conducted in the California Central Valley are compared in order to identify seasonal variations. Aircraft lidar flights were conducted in June 2003 and February 2007. While the ground PM_2.5 (particulate matter with diameter ≤ 2.5 μm) concentration was highest in the winter, the aerosol optical depth (AOD) measured from the MODIS and lidar instruments was highest in the summer. A multiyear seasonal comparison shows that PM_2.5 in the winter can exceed summer PM_2.5 by 68%, while summer AOD from MODIS exceeds winter AOD by 29%. Warmer temperatures and wildfires in the summer produce elevated aerosol layers that are detected by satellite measurements, but not necessarily by surface particulate matter monitors. Temperature inversions, especially during the winter, contribute to higher PM_2.5 measurements at the surface. Measurements of the mixing layer height from lidar instruments provide valuable information needed to understand the correlation between satellite measurements of AOD and in situ measurements of PM_2.5. Lidar measurements also reflect the ammonium nitrate chemistry observed in the San Joaquin Valley, which may explain the discrepancy between the MODIS AOD and PM_2.5 measurements.     

Evaluation of the MODIS aerosol optical depth retrieval over different ecosystems in China during EAST-AIRE

The accuracy of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer's (MODIS) aerosol products is still uncertain in China, due to a lack of validation by long-term and large-scale ground-based observations. In this paper, the MODIS aerosol optical depth (AOD) product is evaluated using Chinese Sun Hazemeter Network (CSHNET) data as ground truths over different ecological regions in China during the East Asian Study of Tropospheric Aerosols—an International Regional Experiment (EAST-AIRE). The evaluation results show very large differences in the MODIS AOD retrieval between different ecosystems and geographic locations. The most agreement between the MODIS data and that of the CSHNET was in farmland sites in central-southern China, where high correlation (R>0.82) and large percentages (R2>72%) within the expected error lines issued by NASA were found. In temperate forest, coastal regions, and northeast and central farmlands, there appeared moderate agreement, with R∼0.64–0.80 and 45–73% of retrieval data falling within the expected errors. The poorest agreement existed in northern arid and semiarid regions, in remote northeast farmlands, in the Tibetan and Loess Plateau, and in southern forests, with 13–54% of retrieval data falling within the expected errors. In addition, the MODIS AOD retrievals were significantly overestimated in the northern arid and semiarid regions and underestimated in remote northeast farmlands and southern forests.     

Secondary organic aerosol formation from the oxidation of aromatic hydrocarbons in the presence of dry submicron ammonium sulfate aerosol

A laboratory study was conducted to examine formation of secondary organic aerosols. A smog chamber system was developed for studying gas–aerosol interactions in a dynamic flow reactor. These experiments were conducted to investigate the fate of gas and aerosol phase compounds generated from hydrocarbon–nitrogen oxide (HC/NO_x) mixtures irradiated in the presence of fine (<2.5 μm) particulate matter. The goal was to determine to what extent photochemical oxidation products of aromatic hydrocarbons contribute to secondary organic aerosol formation through uptake on pre-existing inorganic aerosols in the absence of liquid water films. Irradiations were conducted with toluene, p-xylene, and 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene in the presence of NO_x and ammonium sulfate aerosol, with propylene added to enhance the production of radicals in the system. The secondary organic aerosol yields were determined by dividing the mass concentration of organic fraction of the aerosol collected on quartz filters by the mass concentration of the aromatic hydrocarbon removed by reaction. The mass concentration of the organic fraction was obtained by multiplying the measured organic carbon concentration by 2.0, a correction factor that takes into account the presence of hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen atoms in the organic species. The mass concentrations of ammonium, nitrate, and sulfate concentrations as well as the total mass of the aerosols were measured. A reasonable mass balance was found for each of the aerosols. The largest secondary organic aerosol yield of 1.59±0.40% was found for toluene at an organic aerosol concentration of 8.2 μm⁻³, followed by 1.09±0.27% for p-xylene at 6.4 μg m⁻³, and 0.41±0.10% for 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene at 2.0 μg m⁻³. In general, these results agree with those reported by Odum et al. and appear to be consistent with the gas–aerosol partitioning theory developed by Pankow. The presence of organic in the aerosol did not affect significantly the hygroscopic properties of the aerosol.     

Optical properties and size distribution of dust aerosols over the Tengger Desert in Northern China

A field experiment was performed during 1 April–30 September 2001 in the southeast Tengger Desert in Northern China to measure the solar radiant flux by a solar direct radiometer and a multi-wavelength sun-photometer. The observation and research results are as follows. On fine days, dust aerosols attenuate the direct solar radiant flux by 2.6–47.0%, with an average of 16.9%. On dusty days, dust aerosols attenuate the direct solar radiant flux by 10–90%, with an average of 38%. The mean atmospheric turbidity for broadband (300–4000 nm) flux is 0.26 for fine days and 0.74 for dusty days. Under the typical background, floating dust, and dust storm weather conditions, the aerosol optical depths (AODs; at 550 nm) are about 0.1, 0.9, and 2.0, and the Ångström exponents are about 2.0, 0.38, and −0.24, respectively. The mean AOD of the examples is 0.66, and 0.87 for the Ångström exponents. On dusty days, the aerosol number concentration is 2–10 times higher than that on fine days. The aerosol size distribution is a multi-normal distribution during dusty conditions, while the aerosol size distribution is a logarithmic normal distribution during fine weather.     

Seasonal variability of aerosol optical properties over Beijing

The knowledge of aerosol properties at local and regional scale is important in understanding of the global climate change. In this study, the aerosol optical properties over Beijing have been presented from the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) measurements during 2002–2007. The aerosol optical depth (AOD) showed a distinct seasonal variation with high values in spring (March–May) and summer (June–August). The magnitude of Ångström exponent (α) was found to be relatively high throughout the year and the highest values (1.27) occurred in summer and the lowest (1.0) in spring. The water vapor retrieved from AERONET was found to be highest (2.60 cm) in summer. The fine modes of aerosol volume size distributions showed the highest peak around radius 0.15 μm in spring, autumn (September–November) and winter (December–February), and radius 0.19 μm in summer. The coarse modes showed the maxima peak at radius 3.0 μm in all seasons. The asymmetry factor (g) has considered as 0.65 at 440, 675, 870 and 1020 nm over Beijing in climate and radiation models. The average values of the single scattering albedo (SSA) at the four wavelengths were taken as 0.89, 0.91, 0.87 and 0.86 in spring, summer, autumn and winter, respectively. Both real and imaginary parts of the refractive index showed low wavelength dependence. The highest averages of real (1.52) and imaginary parts (0.0165) were found in spring and winter respectively in the wavelength range of 440–1020 nm. The aerosol properties over Beijing were found to highly dependent on season, and changes in aerosol properties were mainly attributed to the presence of dust as the main component during the spring season and the dominance of anthropogenic pollutants during the winter season.     

Aerosol radiative forcing over the Indo-Gangetic plains during major dust storms

Indo-Gangetic (IG) alluvial plains, one of the largest river basins in the world, suffers from the long range transport of mineral dust from the western arid and desert regions of Africa, Arabia and Rajasthan during the summer (pre-monsoon season, April–June). These dust storms influence the aerosol optical depth (AOD) across the IG plains. The Kanpur AERONET (Aerosol Robotic Network) station and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectro-radiometer (MODIS) data show pronounced effect on the aerosol optical properties and aerosol size distribution during major dust storm events over the IG plains that have significant effect on the aerosol radiative forcing (ARF). The multi-band AOD, from AERONET and MODIS, show contrasting changes in wavelength dependency over dust affected regions. A time collocated (±30 min) validation of AERONET AOD with MODIS Terra (level 2 swath product) over Kanpur, at a common wavelength of 550 nm for the period 2001–2005 show moderate correlation (R²∼0.6) during the summer season. The average surface forcing is found to change by −23 W m⁻² during dust events and the top of the atmosphere (TOA) forcing change by −11 W m⁻² as compared to the non-dusty clear-sky days. A strong correlation is found between AOD at 500 nm and the ARF. At surface, the correlation coefficient between AOD and ARF is found to be high (R²=0.925) and is found to be moderate (R²=0.628) at the TOA. The slope of the regression line gives the aerosol forcing efficiency at 500 nm of about −46±2.6 W m⁻² and −17±2.5 W m⁻² at the surface and the TOA, respectively. The ARF is found to increase with the advance of the dry season in conjunction with the gradual rise in AOD (at 500 nm) from April (0.4–0.5) to June (0.6–0.7) over the IG plains.     

Estimating national-scale ground-level PM25 concentration in China using geographically weighted regression based on MODIS and MISR AOD

Taking advantage of the continuous spatial coverage, satellite-derived aerosol optical depth (AOD) products have been widely used to assess the spatial and temporal characteristics of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) on the ground and their effects on human health. However, the national-scale ground-level PM2.5 estimation is still very limited because the lack of ground PM2.5 measurements to calibrate the model in China. In this study, a national-scale geographically weighted regression (GWR) model was developed to estimate ground-level PM2.5 concentration based on satellite AODs, newly released national-wide hourly PM2.5 concentrations, and meteorological parameters. The results showed good agreements between satellite-retrieved and ground-observed PM2.5 concentration at 943 stations in China. The overall cross-validation (CV) R ² is 0.76 and root mean squared prediction error (RMSE) is 22.26 μg/m³ for MODIS-derived AOD. The MISR-derived AOD also exhibits comparable performance with a CV R ² and RMSE are 0.81 and 27.46 μg/m³, respectively. Annual PM2.5 concentrations retrieved either by MODIS or MISR AOD indicated that most of the residential community areas exceeded the new annual Chinese PM2.5 National Standard level 2. These results suggest that this approach is useful for estimating large-scale ground-level PM2.5 distributions especially for the regions without PMs monitoring sites.     

Altitude distribution of aerosols over Southeast Arabian Sea coast during pre-monsoon season: Elevated layers,long-range transport and atmospheric radiative heating

Every year, during the pre-monsoon period (March–May), a pronounced increase in aerosol optical depth (AOD) is observed over the eastern Arabian Sea, which is attributed to the transport of continental aerosols. This paper presents the altitude distribution of tropospheric aerosols, characteristics of elevated aerosol layers and aerosol radiative heating of the atmosphere during the pre-monsoon season over Trivandrum (8.5°N, 77°E), a station located at the southwest coast of Indian peninsula which is covered by the eastern Arabian Sea plume. Altitude profiles of aerosol backscatter coefficient (β_a) and linear depolarization ratio (LDR) reveal two distinct aerosol layers persisting between 0–2 km and 2–4 km. The layer at 2–4 km, which contributes about 25% of the AOD during polluted conditions, contains significant amount of non-spherical aerosols. This layer is prominent only when the advection of dry airmass occurs from the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent and northern Arabian Sea. Role of long-range transport in the development of this aerosol layer is further confirmed using latitude–altitude cross-section of β_a observed by CALIPSO. Aerosol content in the layer below 2 km is large when advection of air occurs from the north and east Arabian Sea and is significantly small when it occurs from the southwest Arabian Sea or Indian Ocean. During the highly polluted conditions, aerosols tend to increase the diurnal mean atmospheric radiative heating rate by ～0.8 K day^?1 at 500 m and 0.3 K day^?1 at 3 km, which are about 80% and 30% of the respective radiative heating in the aerosol-free atmosphere.     

MODIS derived fire characteristics and aerosol optical depth variations during the agricultural residue burning season, north India

Agricultural residue burning is one of the major causes of greenhouse gas emissions and aerosols in the Indo-Ganges region. In this study, we characterize the fire intensity, seasonality, variability, fire radiative energy (FRE) and aerosol optical depth (AOD) variations during the agricultural residue burning season using MODIS data. Fire counts exhibited significant bi-modal activity, with peak occurrences during April-May and October-November corresponding to wheat and rice residue burning episodes. The FRE variations coincided with the amount of residues burnt. The mean AOD (2003-2008) was 0.60 with 0.87 (+1σ) and 0.32 (−1σ). The increased AOD during the winter coincided well with the fire counts during rice residue burning season. In contrast, the AOD-fire signal was weak during the summer wheat residue burning and attributed to dust and fossil fuel combustion. Our results highlight the need for ‘full accounting of GHG’s and aerosols’, for addressing the air quality in the study area.     

Aerosol indirect effect over Indo-Gangetic plain

Moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) data are analyzed over the Indo-Gangetic plain (IGP) to study the effect of aerosol optical depth (AOD) on the water (R_eff,w) and ice (R_eff,i) cloud effective radius for the period 2001–2005. The temporal variation of R_eff,w and R_eff,i shows reverse trend as that of AOD for most of the time. The intensity of positive indirect effect (i.e. increase of R_eff,w/i with decrease of AOD and vice versa) is the highest in winter (ΔR_eff,w/ΔAOD∼−9.67 μm and ΔR_eff,i/ΔAOD∼−12.15 μm), when the role of meteorology is the least. The positive indirect effect is significant in 43%, 37%, 68% and 54% of area for water clouds in winter, pre-monsoon, monsoon and post-monsoon seasons, respectively, whereas the corresponding values for ice clouds are 42%, 35%, 53% and 53% for the four seasons, respectively. On the contrast, R_eff,i in some locations shows increment with the increase in AOD (negative indirect effect). The negative indirect effect is significant at 95% confidence level in 7%, 18%, 9% and 6% grids for winter, pre-monsoon, monsoon and post-monsoon seasons, respectively. The restricted spatial distribution of negative indirect effect in IGP shows that the cloud microphysical processes are very complex. Our analyses clearly identify the contrasting indirect effect, which requires further in situ investigations for better understanding of the aerosol–cloud interaction in the region.     

Chemical characteristics of free tropospheric aerosols over the Japan Sea coast: aircraft-borne measurements

Atmospheric aerosol particulate matter was directly collected in the free troposphere over the Japan Sea coast between 1992 and 1994 using an aircraft-borne nine-stage cascade impactor (particle size range: 0.1–8 μm). The water-soluble components in the aerosol particulate matter were analyzed by ion chromatography. Particulate sulfate and ammonium were detected in most of the samples and their size distributions showed noticeable peaks below the 1 μm particle size range. Water-soluble calcium (Ca²⁺) was detected in half of the samples; the size distribution showed that the maximum particle size was larger than 1 μm. Highly concentrated Ca²⁺ in larger particles was possibly due to transport of Kosa aerosols from the Asian continent in the free troposphere. The concentration of fine particulate sulfate and ammonium tended to increase whenever Ca²⁺ was detected, which suggests possible mixing of Kosa aerosols and non-Kosa aerosols during long-range transport of air masses containing Kosa particles.     

Estimating trace gas and aerosol emissions over South America: Relationship between fire radiative energy released and aerosol optical depth observations

Contemporary human activities such as tropical deforestation, land clearing for agriculture, pest control and grassland management lead to biomass burning, which in turn leads to land-cover changes. However, biomass burning emissions are not correctly measured and the methods to assess these emissions form a part of current research area. The traditional methods for estimating aerosols and trace gases released into the atmosphere generally use emission factors associated with fuel loading and moisture characteristics and other parameters that are hard to estimate in near real-time applications. In this paper, fire radiative power (FRP) products were extracted from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) fire products and new South America generic biomes FRE-based smoke aerosol emission coefficients were derived and applied in 2002 South America fire season. The inventory estimated by MODIS and GOES FRP measurements were included in Coupled Aerosol-Tracer Transport model coupled to the Brazilian developments on the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (CATT-BRAMS) and evaluated with ground truth collected in Large Scale Biosphere–Atmosphere Smoke, Aerosols, Clouds, rainfall, and Climate (SMOCC) and Radiation, Cloud, and Climate Interactions (RaCCI). Although the linear regression showed that GOES FRP overestimates MODIS FRP observations, the use of a common external parameter such as MODIS aerosol optical depth product could minimize the difference between sensors. The relationship between the PM_2.5μm (Particulate Matter with diameter less than 2.5 μm) and CO (Carbon Monoxide) model shows a good agreement with SMOCC/RaCCI data in the general pattern of temporal evolution. The results showed high correlations, with values between 0.80 and 0.95 (significant at 0.5 level by student t test), for the CATT-BRAMS simulations with PM_2.5μm and CO.     

Estimating PM2.5 over southern Sweden using space-borne optical measurements

In the present study Bremen aerosol retrieval (BAER) columnar aerosol optical thickness (AOT) data, according to moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) and medium resolution imaging sensor (MERIS) level 1 calibrated satellite data, have been compared with AOT data obtained with the MODIS and MERIS retrieval algorithms (NASA and ESA, respectively) and by AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET). Relatively good agreement is found between these different instruments and algorithms. The R² and relative RMSD were 0.86 and 31% for MODIS when comparing with AERONET and 0.92 and 21% for MERIS. The aerosols investigated were influenced by low relative humidity. During this period, a relatively large range of aerosol loadings were detected; from continental background aerosol to particles emitted from agricultural fires. In this study, empirical relationships between BAER columnar AOT and ground-measured PM_2.5 have been estimated. Linear relationships, with R² values of 0.58 and 0.59, were obtained according to MERIS and MODIS data, respectively. The slopes of the regression of AOT versus PM_2.5 are lower than previous studies, but this could easily be explained by considering the effect of hygroscopic growth. The present AOT–PM_2.5 relationship has been applied on MERIS full resolution data over the urban area of Stockholm and the results have been compared with particle mass concentrations from dispersion model calculations. It seems that the satellite data with the 300 m resolution can resolve the expected increased concentrations due to emissions along the main highways close to the city. Significant uncertainties in the spatial distribution of PM_2.5 across land/ocean boundaries were particularly evident when analyzing the high resolution satellite data.     

Correlation between PM concentrations and aerosol optical depth in eastern China

Using one year of Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) derived from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite and particular matter (PM) contents measured at eleven sites located mostly in the eastern China in 2007, the relationship between columnar AOD and hourly and daily average (DA) PM were established. The peak AOD observed from MODIS was generally consistent with the surface PM measurements in eastern China, where Zhengzhou had the maximum annual mean PM₁₀ of 182.1 μg m^?3, while Longfengshan had the minimum annual mean of 38.1 μg m^?3. Ground level observations indicated that PM concentration varies widely across different regions, which was mainly due to the difference in weather conditions and anthropogenic emissions. The coarse particles accounted for the main air pollution in Zhengzhou and Benxi whiles the fine particles, however, were the main constituents in other sites. Results showed that MODIS AOD (averaged over the box of 5 × 5 and 3 × 3 pixels) had a better positive correlation with the coincident hourly average (HA) PM concentration than with DA due to diurnal variation in PM mass measurements. After correcting AOD for relative humidity (RH), the correlation did not improve significantly, suggesting that the RH was not the main factor affecting the correlation of PM with AOD. The statistical regression analysis between MODIS AOD and PM mass suggested that the satellite-derived AOD is a useful tool for mapping PM distribution over large spatial domains.     

Estimating bulk optical properties of aerosols over the western North Pacific by using MODIS and CERES measurements

Over the western North Pacific, a large amount of land aerosols from Asian-Pacific countries is transported by the prevailing westerlies. This transport makes the radiative characteristics of these aerosols diverse, particularly when one compares those characteristics over the coastal sea with those over the open sea. In this paper we discuss a method that uses satellite data to obtain the single-scattering albedo (ω) and asymmetry factor (g) of atmospheric aerosols for two large-scale subdivisions—the coastal sea (within 250 km from the coast) and the open sea (the remaining area)—over the western North Pacific (110°E–180°, 20°N–50°N). Our estimation method uses satellite measurements, obtained over a six-year period (2000–2005), of aerosol optical depth (AOD) and shortwave fluxes at both the surface and the top of the atmosphere (TOA); the measurements are obtained using the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES). For the two subdivisions, the estimated annual means of (ω,g) at 630 nm are significantly different: (0.94, 0.65) over the coastal sea and (0.97, 0.70) over the open sea. From a quantitative viewpoint, this result indicates that in comparison with aerosols over the open sea, those over the coastal sea show greater absorption and lesser forward scattering of solar radiation. The estimated optical properties are responsible for the aerosol surface cooling observed by MODIS and CERES, which is approximately 138 and 108 W m⁻² per AOD over the coastal sea and open sea, respectively.     

Mineral aerosols from western India: Temporal variability of coarse and fine atmospheric dust and elemental characteristics

Size-segregated aerosol samples (PM_2.5 and PM₁₀) were collected during Jan–Dec-2007 from a high-altitude site located in a semi-arid region (Mt. Abu, 24.6 °N, 72.7 °E, 1680 m asl) in order to asses the temporal variability in the abundance of atmospheric mineral dust and its elemental composition over western India. The mass concentrations of fine (PM_2.5) and coarse (PM_10–2.5) mode aerosols varied from 1.6 to 46.1 and 2.3 to 102 μg m^?3 respectively over the annual seasonal cycle; with dominant and uniform contribution of mineral dust (60–80%) in the coarse mode relative to large temporal variability (11–75%) observed in the fine mode. The coarse mass fraction shows a characteristic increase with the wind speed during summer months (Mar to Jun); whereas fine aerosol mass and its elemental composition exhibit conspicuous temporal pattern associated with north-easterlies during wintertime (Oct–Feb). The Fe/Al weight ratio in PM_2.5 ranges from 0.5 to 1.0 during winter months. The relative enrichment of Fe in fine mode, compared to the crustal ratio of 0.44, is attributed to the down-wind advective transport of combustion products derived from large-scale biomass burning, industrial and automobile emission sources located in the Indo-Gangetic Plain (northern India). In contrast, Ca/Al and Mg/Al weight ratios show relative enrichment of Ca and Mg in the coarse mode; indicating their dominant contribution from carbonate minerals. This has implication to efficient neutralization of atmospheric acidic species (SO₄^2? and NO₃^?) by mineral dust over western India.     

Aerosol organic nitrogen over the remote Atlantic Ocean

Water soluble organic nitrogen (WSON) has been measured in aerosols collected on three research cruises on the Atlantic Ocean from approximately 55°N to 45°S. Results are interpreted using air mass back trajectories and results for other aerosol components. WSON concentrations range from <1 to ～40 (median 5.6) nmol m^?3 with significant WSON concentrations in both fine (<1 μm) and coarse mode (>1 μm) aerosol. Concentrations of WSON were highest in samples containing Saharan dust, suggesting a locally significant source associated with soil dust. More generally WSON concentrations were highest in air which had recently crossed continental areas. In the whole data set, WSON is well correlated to total soluble nitrogen and represents approximately 25% of total nitrogen. This correlation implies a significant anthropogenic contribution to the organic nitrogen.