Characterization and sources of aerosol particles over the southeastern Tibetan Plateau during the Southeast Asia biomass-burning season

Guenter Engling; Yi-Nan Zhang; Chuen-Yu Chan; Xue-Fang Sang; Mang Lin; Kin-Fai Ho; Yok-Sheung Li; Chuan-Yao Lin; James J. Lee

doi:10.1111/j.1600-0889.2010.00512.x

Characterization and sources of aerosol particles over the southeastern Tibetan Plateau during the Southeast Asia biomass-burning season

Tellus B: Chemical and Physical Meteorology

Volume 63 (2011): Issue 1

By: Guenter Engling, Yi-Nan Zhang, Chuen-Yu Chan, Xue-Fang Sang, Mang Lin, Kin-Fai Ho, Yok-Sheung Li, Chuan-Yao Lin and James J. Lee

Open Access

|Jan 2011

Abstract

The Tibetan Plateau is one of the highest regions in theworld, exerting profound influence on the large-scale atmospheric circulation of Asia and the global climate. Here we report ambient concentrations of black carbon (BC), aerosol mass (PM_2.5 and PM₁₀) and associated carbonaceous species and water-soluble inorganic ions from a remote mountain site in the southeastern part of the Tibetan Plateau during spring, in order to characterize the major sources contributing to the ambient aerosol in the background atmosphere of Southeast Asia. Significant build-up of aerosol and BC concentrations was observed during a dry period, accompanied by the occurrence of fires and transport of pollution from the nearby regions of Southeast Asia and the northern part of the Indian Peninsula. The concentrations of BC, PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ mass reached maximum hourly values of 1470 ng m^-3, 107 and 117 μg m^-3, respectively. Organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC) and sulfate were the predominant aerosol components. OC showed strong correlations with EC (R ² = 0.93 for PM_2.5 and 0.74 for PM₁₀) and non-sea-salt potassium, especially in fine aerosol (R ² = 0.95). In addition, the relative change rates of K⁺ against OC reached characteristically high values, highlighting the important contributions of biomass-burning smoke.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0889.2010.00512.x | Journal eISSN: 1600-0889

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Language: English

Page range: 117 - 128

Submitted on: Dec 24, 2009

Accepted on: Sep 16, 2010

Published on: Jan 1, 2011

Published by: Stockholm University Press

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© 2011 Guenter Engling, Yi-Nan Zhang, Chuen-Yu Chan, Xue-Fang Sang, Mang Lin, Kin-Fai Ho, Yok-Sheung Li, Chuan-Yao Lin, James J. Lee, published by Stockholm University Press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Volume 63 (2011): Issue 1