Detection of a Dust Storm in 2020 by a Multi-Observation Platform over the Northwest China
Dust storms have occurred frequently in northwest China and can dramatically reduce visibility and exacerbate air quality in downwind regions through long-range transport. In order to study the distribution characteristics of dust particles sizes, structures and concentrations in the process of dust...
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MDPI AG
2021-03-01
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| Series: | Remote Sensing |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/6/1056 |
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| author | Lili Yang Zhiyuan Hu Zhongwei Huang Lina Wang Wenyu Han Yanping Yang Huijie Tao Jing Wang |
| author_facet | Lili Yang Zhiyuan Hu Zhongwei Huang Lina Wang Wenyu Han Yanping Yang Huijie Tao Jing Wang |
| author_sort | Lili Yang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Dust storms have occurred frequently in northwest China and can dramatically reduce visibility and exacerbate air quality in downwind regions through long-range transport. In order to study the distribution characteristics of dust particles sizes, structures and concentrations in the process of dust storm, especially for the vertical distributions, the multi-observation platform composed of six Lidars and nine aerosol analytical instruments is first used to detect a severe dust storm event, which occurred in Northwest China on 3 May 2020. As a strong weather system process, the dust storm has achieved high intensity and wide range. When the intensity of a dust storm is at its strongest, the ratios of PM<sub>2.5</sub> (particulate matter with diameter < 2.5 µm) and PM<sub>10</sub> (particulate matter with diameter < 10 µm) (PM<sub>2.5</sub>/PM<sub>10</sub>) in cities examined were less than 0.2 and the extinction coefficients became greater than 1 km<sup>−1</sup> based on Lidar observations. In addition, the growth rates of PM<sub>2.5</sub> were higher than that of PM<sub>10</sub>. The dust particles mainly concentrated at heights of 2 km, after being transported about 200–300 km, vertical height increased by 1–2 km. Meanwhile, the dust concentration decreased markedly. Furthermore, the depolarization ratio showed that dust in the Tengger Desert was dominated by spherical particles. The linear relationships between 532 nm extinction coefficient and the concentration of PM<sub>2.5</sub> and PM<sub>10</sub> were found firstly and their R<sup>2</sup> were 0.706 to 0.987. Our results could give more information for the physical schemes to simulate dust storms in specific models, which could improve the forecast of dust storms. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T13:21:55Z |
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| id | doaj.art-0dab3b24a85445afb24802364f1d6486 |
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| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T13:21:55Z |
| publishDate | 2021-03-01 |
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| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj.art-0dab3b24a85445afb24802364f1d64862023-11-21T09:57:30ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922021-03-01136105610.3390/rs13061056Detection of a Dust Storm in 2020 by a Multi-Observation Platform over the Northwest ChinaLili Yang0Zhiyuan Hu1Zhongwei Huang2Lina Wang3Wenyu Han4Yanping Yang5Huijie Tao6Jing Wang7Key Laboratory for Semi-Arid Climate Change of the Ministry of Education, College of Atmospheric Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, ChinaSchool of Atmospheric Sciences, Key Laboratory of Tropical Atmosphere-Ocean System of the Ministry of Education, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai 519082, ChinaKey Laboratory for Semi-Arid Climate Change of the Ministry of Education, College of Atmospheric Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, ChinaForecast Department, Gansu Province Environmental Monitoring Center, Lanzhou 730020, ChinaForecast Department, Lanzhou Ecological Environment Monitoring Center, Lanzhou 730000, ChinaKey Laboratory for Semi-Arid Climate Change of the Ministry of Education, College of Atmospheric Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, ChinaForecast Department, Gansu Province Environmental Monitoring Center, Lanzhou 730020, ChinaMarketing Center, Wuxi CAS Photonics Co., Ltd., Wuxi 214135, ChinaDust storms have occurred frequently in northwest China and can dramatically reduce visibility and exacerbate air quality in downwind regions through long-range transport. In order to study the distribution characteristics of dust particles sizes, structures and concentrations in the process of dust storm, especially for the vertical distributions, the multi-observation platform composed of six Lidars and nine aerosol analytical instruments is first used to detect a severe dust storm event, which occurred in Northwest China on 3 May 2020. As a strong weather system process, the dust storm has achieved high intensity and wide range. When the intensity of a dust storm is at its strongest, the ratios of PM<sub>2.5</sub> (particulate matter with diameter < 2.5 µm) and PM<sub>10</sub> (particulate matter with diameter < 10 µm) (PM<sub>2.5</sub>/PM<sub>10</sub>) in cities examined were less than 0.2 and the extinction coefficients became greater than 1 km<sup>−1</sup> based on Lidar observations. In addition, the growth rates of PM<sub>2.5</sub> were higher than that of PM<sub>10</sub>. The dust particles mainly concentrated at heights of 2 km, after being transported about 200–300 km, vertical height increased by 1–2 km. Meanwhile, the dust concentration decreased markedly. Furthermore, the depolarization ratio showed that dust in the Tengger Desert was dominated by spherical particles. The linear relationships between 532 nm extinction coefficient and the concentration of PM<sub>2.5</sub> and PM<sub>10</sub> were found firstly and their R<sup>2</sup> were 0.706 to 0.987. Our results could give more information for the physical schemes to simulate dust storms in specific models, which could improve the forecast of dust storms.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/6/1056lidarsdust stormextinction coefficientdepolarization ratioparticulate concentration |
| spellingShingle | Lili Yang Zhiyuan Hu Zhongwei Huang Lina Wang Wenyu Han Yanping Yang Huijie Tao Jing Wang Detection of a Dust Storm in 2020 by a Multi-Observation Platform over the Northwest China Remote Sensing lidars dust storm extinction coefficient depolarization ratio particulate concentration |
| title | Detection of a Dust Storm in 2020 by a Multi-Observation Platform over the Northwest China |
| title_full | Detection of a Dust Storm in 2020 by a Multi-Observation Platform over the Northwest China |
| title_fullStr | Detection of a Dust Storm in 2020 by a Multi-Observation Platform over the Northwest China |
| title_full_unstemmed | Detection of a Dust Storm in 2020 by a Multi-Observation Platform over the Northwest China |
| title_short | Detection of a Dust Storm in 2020 by a Multi-Observation Platform over the Northwest China |
| title_sort | detection of a dust storm in 2020 by a multi observation platform over the northwest china |
| topic | lidars dust storm extinction coefficient depolarization ratio particulate concentration |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/6/1056 |
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