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The nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease (NTM-PD) caused by Mycobacterium species has increased in prevalence all over the world. The distributions of NTM-PD are possibly determined by the westerly wind traveling at high altitudes over East Asia. However, the long-range transport of Mycobacterium species has not been demonstrated by analyzing the bacterial communities in aerosols such as desert mineral particles and anthropogenic pollutants transported by the westerly wind. Here, airborne bacterial compositions were investigated including Mycobacterium species in high-elevation aerosols, which were captured in the snow cover at 2,450 m altitude on Mt. Tateyama. This was further compared to the ground-level or high-altitude aerosols collected at six sampling sites distributed from Asian-dust source region (Tsogt-Ovoo) to downwind areas in East Asia (Asian continental cities; Erenhot, Beijing, Yongin, Japanese cities; Yonago, Suzu, Noto Peninsula). The cell concentrations and taxonomic diversities of airborne bacteria decreased from the Asian continent to the Japan area. Terrestrial bacterial populations belonging to Firmicutes and Actinobacteria showed higher relative abundance at high-elevation and Japanese cities. Additionally, Mycobacterium species captured in the snow cover on Mt. Tateyama increased in relative abundance in correspondence to the increase of black carbon concentrations. The relative abundance of Mycobacterium sequences was higher in the aerosol samples of Asian continental cities and Japanese cities than in the desert area. Presumably, anthropogenic pollution over East Asia carries potential Mycobacterium species, which induce NTM-PD, thereby impacting upon the public health., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

As an important type of light-absorbing aerosol, brown carbon (BrC) has the potential to affect the atmospheric photochemistry and Earth's energy budget. A comprehensive field campaign was carried out along the transport pathway of Asian dust during the spring of 2016, including a desert site (Erenhot), a rural site (Zhangbei), and an urban site (Jinan), in northern China. Optical properties, bulk chemical compositions, and potential sources of water-soluble brown carbon (WS-BrC) were investigated in atmospheric total suspended particulate (TSP) samples. Samples from Zhangbei had higher mass absorption efficiency at 365 nm (MAE 365 , 1.32 ± 0.34 m 2 g -1 ) than those from Jinan (1.00 ± 0.23 m 2 g -1 ) and Erenhot (0.84 ± 0.30 m 2 g -1 ). Compere to the non-dust samples, elevated water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) concentrations and MAE 365 values of dust samples from Erenhot are related to the input of high molecular weight organic compounds and biogenic matter from the Gobi Desert, while lower values from Zhangbei and Jinan are attributed to the dilution effect caused by strong northwesterly winds. Based on fluorescence excitation-emission matrix spectra and parallel factor analysis, two humic-like (C1 and C2) and two protein-like (C3 and C4) substances were identified. Together, C1 and C2 accounted for ~64% of total fluorescence intensity at the highly polluted urban Jinan site; C3 represented ~45% at the rural Zhangbei site where local biomass burning affects; and C4 contributed ~24% in the desert region (Erenhot) due to dust-sourced biogenic substances. The relative absorptive forcing of WS-BrC compared to black carbon at 300-400 nm was about 31.3%, 13.9%, and 9.2% during non-dust periods at Erenhot, Zhangbei, and Jinan, respectively, highlighting that WS-BrC may significantly affect the radiative balance of Earth's climate system and should be included in radiative forcing models., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

On 16 April 2022, China successfully launched the world's first spaceborne high-spectral-resolution lidar (HSRL), which is called the Aerosol and Carbon Detection Lidar (ACDL), on board the Atmospheric Environment Monitoring Satellite known as Daqi-1 (DQ-1). The ACDL is expected to precisely detect the three-dimensional distribution of aerosol and cloud globally with high spatial–temporal resolutions. To assess the performance of the newly launched satellite lidar, the ACDL-retrieved observations were compared with ground-based lidar measurements of atmospheric aerosol and cloud over northwest China from May to July 2022 using the Belt and Road lidar network (BR-lidarnet) initiated by Lanzhou University in China and the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) lidar observations. A total of six cases in the daytime and nighttime, including clear days, dust events, and cloudy conditions, were selected for further analysis. Moreover, profiles of the total attenuated backscatter coefficient (TABC) and the volume depolarization ratio (VDR) at 532 nm measured by the ACDL, the CALIPSO lidar, and ground-based lidar are compared in detail. Comparison is made between the 532 nm extinction coefficient and lidar ratio obtained from ACDL HSRL retrieval and the Raman retrieval results obtained from BR-lidarnet. The achieved results revealed that the ACDL observations were in good agreement with the ground-based lidar measurements during dust events with a relative deviation of about - 10.5 ± 25.4 % for the TABC and - 6.0 ± 38.5 % for the VDR. Additionally, the heights of the cloud top and bottom from these two measurements were well matched and comparable. Compared with the observation of CALIPSO, the ACDL also shows high consistency. This study proves that the ACDL provides reliable observations of aerosol and cloud in the presence of various climatic conditions, which helps to further evaluate the impacts of aerosol on climate and the environment, as well as on the ecosystem in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurately determining the atmospheric boundary layer height (ABLH) is needed when one is addressing the air quality-related issues in highly urbanized areas, as well as when one is investigating issues that are related to the emission and transport of dust aerosols over the source region. In this study, we propose a new ABLH retrieval method, which is named ADEILP (ABLH that is determined by polarization lidar); it is based on the short-term polarized lidar observation that took place during the intensive field campaign in July 2021 in Tazhong, the hinterland of Taklimakan Desert. Furthermore, we conducted comparisons between the ABLH that was identified using a radiosonde (ABLHsonde), the ABLH that was identified by ERA5 (ABLHERA5) and the ABHL that was identified by ADELIP (ABLHADELIP), and we discussed the implications of the dust events. The ADELIP method boasts remarkable advancements in two parts: (1) the lidar volume linear depolarization ratio (VLDR) that represented the aerosol type was adopted, which is very effective in distinguishing between the different types of boundary layers (e.g., mixing layer and residual layer); (2) the idea of breaking up the entire layer into sub-layers was applied on the basis of the continues wavelet transform (CWT) method, which is favorable when one is considering the effect of fine stratification in an aerosol layer. By combining the appropriate height limitations, these factors ensured that there was good robustness of the ADELIP method, thereby enabling it to deal with complex boundary layer structures. The comparisons revealed that ABLHADELIP shows good consistency with ABLHsonde and ABLHERA5 for non-dust events. Nevertheless, the ADELIP method overestimated the stable boundary layer and underestimated the heights of the mixing layer. The dust events seem to be a possible reason for the great difference between ABLHERA5 and ABLHsonde. Thus, it is worth suggesting that the influence that is caused by the differences of the vertical profile in the ERA5 product should be carefully considered when the issues on dust events are involved. Overall, these findings support the climatological analysis of the atmosphere boundary layer and the vertical distribution characteristics of aerosols over typical climatic zones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have shown that Saharan dust can be transported thousands of miles, affecting regional climates, environments, and ecosystems. However, research on the long‐range transport of Saharan dust in Asia remains limited. We systematically investigated the long‐range transportation of Saharan dust over East Asia from 2007 to 2020 using WRF‐Chem model simulations, space‐borne CALIPSO lidar observations, NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data, as well as HYSPLIT trajectory analysis. The results show that one quarter (24.3 ± 6.2%) of dust events in East Asia during 2007–2020 originated from the Sahara Desert. Moreover, long‐range transported Saharan dust over East Asia was usually distributed in the upper troposphere. The average total amount of transported Saharan dust over East Asia between 2010 and 2015 was estimated at 33.05 ± 9.78 Tg/yr. Additionally, Saharan dust could be transported eastward all year and contributed about 35.8% of dust loading in the upper troposphere in Northern China in spring, which is almost the same amount of dust aerosols lifted up from East Asian dust sources. This study provides new sights on the important role of Saharan dust over East Asia, and elucidates the influence of long‐range transported dust on regional climate and the water cycle. Key Points: About one fourth of dust cases in East Asia from 2007 to 2020 originated from the Sahara DesertLong‐range transported Saharan dust over East Asia was usually distributed in the upper troposphere where is >5 km above sea levelOver East Asia, Saharan dust contributes 35.8% of total dust concentration in the upper troposphere in spring [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The vertical structure of dust properties in desert sources is crucial for evaluating their long-range transportation and radiative forcing. To investigate vertical profiles of dust optical properties in the Taklimakan Desert, we conducted ground-based polarization Raman lidar measurements in Tazhong (83.39°E, 38.58°N, 1103 m above sea level), located at the center of the Taklimakan Desert in the summer of 2019. The lidar system developed by Lanzhou University for continuous network observation is capable of measuring polarization at 532 and 355 nm and detecting Raman signals at 387, 407, and 607 nm. The results indicate that dust aerosols in the central Taklimakan Desert were regularly lifted over 6 km during the summer with a mass concentration of 400–1000 µg m−3, while the majority of the dust remained restricted within 2 km. Moreover, the height of the boundary layer can reach 5–6 km in the afternoon under the strong convention. Above 3 km, dust is composed of finer particles with an effective radius (Reff.) less than 3 μm and a Ångström exponent (AE) related to the extinction coefficient (AEE)532,355 greater than 4; below 3 km, however, dust is dominated by coarser particles. In addition, the particle depolarization ratios (PDR) of Taklimakan dust are 0.32 ± 0.06 at 532 nm and 0.27 ± 0.04 at 355 nm, while the lidar ratios (LRs) are 49 ± 19 sr at 532 nm and 43 ± 12 sr at 355 nm. This study firstly provides information on dust vertical structure and its optical properties in the center of the desert, which may aid in further evaluating their associated impacts on the climate and ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Central Asia is one of the most important sources of mineral saline dust worldwide. A comprehensive understanding of Central Asian dust transport is essential for evaluating its impacts on human health, ecological safety, weather and climate. This study first puts forward an observation-based climatology of Central Asian dust transport flux by using the 3-D dust detection of Cloud-Aerosol LiDAR with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP). The seasonal difference of transport flux and downstream contribution are evaluated and compared with those of the Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, version 2 (MERRA-2). Central Asian dust can be transported not only southward in summer under the effect of the South Asian summer monsoon, but also eastward in other seasons under the control of the westerly jet. Additionally, the transport of Central Asian dust across the Pamir Plateau to the Tibetan Plateau is also non-negligible, especially during spring (with a transport flux rate of 150 kg m−1 day−1). The annual CALIOP-based downstream contribution of Central Asian dust to South Asian (164.01 Tg) is 2.1 times that to East Asia (78.36 Tg). This can be attributed to the blocking effect of the higher terrain between Central and East Asia. Additionally, the downstream contributions to South and East Asia from MERRA-2 are only 0.36 and 0.84 times that of CALIOP, respectively. This difference implies the overestimation of the wet and dry depositions of the model, especially in the low latitude zone. The quantification of the Central Asian dust transport allows a better understanding of the Central Asian dust cycle, and supports the calibration/validation of aerosol-related modules of regional and global climate models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Weather Research and Forecasting model with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) is used to investigate the seasonal and inter-annual variations of mineral dust over East Asia during 2007–2011, with a focus on the dust mass balance and its direct radiative forcing. A variety of in situ measurements and satellite observations have been used to evaluate the simulation results. Generally, WRF-Chem reasonably reproduces not only the column variability but also the vertical profile and size distribution of mineral dust over and near the dust source regions. In addition, the dust lifecycle and processes that control the seasonal and spatial variations of dust mass balance are investigated over seven sub-regions of desert dust sources (Taklimakan Desert (TD) and Gobi Desert (GD)), the Tibetan Plateau (TP), Northern China, Southern China, the ocean outflow region, and Korea–Japan. Over the two major dust source regions of East Asia (TD and GD), transport and dry deposition are the two dominant sinks with contributing of ∼25% and ∼36%, respectively. Dust direct radiative forcing in a surface cooling of up to −14 and −10 W m −2 , atmospheric warming of up to 9 and 2 W m −2 , and TOA (Top of atmospheric) cooling of −5 and −8 W m −2 , respectively. Dust transported from the TD is the dominant dust source over the TP with a peak in summer. Over the identified outflow regions (the ocean outflow region, and Korea–Japan), maximum dust column concentration in spring is contributed by transport. Dry and wet depositions are comparable dominant sinks, but wet deposition is larger than dry deposition over the Korea–Japan region, particularly in spring (70% versus 30%). The ability of WRF-Chem to capture the measured features of dust optical and radiative properties and dust mass balance over East Asian provides confidence for future investigation of East Asia dust impact on regional or global climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have shown that dust aerosols may accelerate the melting of snow and glaciers over the Tibetan Plateau. To investigate the vertical structure of dust aerosols, we conducted a ground-based observation by using multi-wavelength polarization lidar which is designed for continuous network measurements. In this study, we used the lidar observation from September to October 2020 at the Ruoqiang site (39.0°N, 88.2°E; 894 m ASL), located at the junction of the Taklimakan Desert–Tibetan Plateau. Our results showed that dust aerosols can be lifted up to 5 km from the ground, which is comparable with the elevation of the Tibetan Plateau in autumn with a mass concentration of 400–900 μg m−3. Moreover, the particle depolarization ratio (PDR) of the lifted dust aerosols at 532 nm and 355 nm are 0.34 ± 0.03 and 0.25 ± 0.04, respectively, indicating the high degree of non-sphericity in shape. In addition, extinction-related Ångström exponents are very small (0.11 ± 0.24), implying the large values in size. Based on ground-based lidar observation, this study proved that coarse non-spherical Taklimakan dust with high concentration can be transported to the Tibetan Plateau, suggesting its possible impacts on the regional climate and ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The satellite-based estimation of the dust mass concentration (DMC) is essential for accurately evaluating the global biogeochemical cycle of the dust aerosols. As for the uncertainties in estimating DMC caused by mixing dust and pollutants and assuming a fixed value for the mass extinction efficiency (MEE), a classic lidar-photometer method is employed to identify and separate the dust from pollutants, obtain the dust MEE, and evaluate the effect of the above uncertainties, during five dust field experiments in Northwest China. Our results show that this method is effective for continental aerosol mixtures consisting of dust and pollutants. It is also seen that the dust loading mainly occurred in the free troposphere (<6 km), with the average mass loading of 905 ± 635 µg m−2 trapped in the planetary boundary layer. The dust MEE ranges from 0.30 to 0.60 m2 g−1 and has a significantly negative relationship with the size of dust particles. With the assumption of the dust MEE of 0.37 (0.60) m2 g−1, the DMC is shown to be overestimated (underestimated) by 20–40% (15–30%). In other words, our results suggest that the change of MEE with the size of dust particles should be considered in the estimation of DMC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 PM2.5 (particulate matter with diameter < 2.5 µm) and PM10 (particulate matter with diameter < 10 µm) (PM2.5/PM10) in cities examined were less than 0.2 and the extinction coefficients became greater than 1 km−1 based on Lidar observations. In addition, the growth rates of PM2.5 were higher than that of PM10. 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 PM2.5 and PM10 were found firstly and their R2 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dust aerosols have significant impact on the environment and climate through long-range transport. We report, in this paper, a case of dust–cloud interaction process using combined measurements of a ground-based polarization and Raman (PR) lidar systems, and implemented by the spaceborne Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) lidar observations. The dust event occurred on 14 March 2009 over East Asia. During the two hours of observing time, the ground-based lidar observed an ongoing process of decreasing of the depolarization ratio (DR) accompanied by the increase of the water vapor simultaneously, indicating a dust–cloud interaction and particle transformation. CALIPSO measurements also found similar layers of dusts and clouds over lands and oceans with properties similar to the ground based lidar measurements. Our observation was a real-time dust–cloud process with the observation of occurrence of particle transformation. The depolarization reduced from 0.2 to 0.1 corresponding to a change of aspect ratio from 1.2 to 1.1. A discussion of a dust–cloud interaction in terms of three-stage cloud processes is made based on back-trajectory analyses and lidar observations. The result shows that dust aerosols decrease the cloud extinction coefficient by 41% but increase the cloud optical depth (COD) of water cloud by 12.79%, compared with that of pure water clouds. Furthermore, if dust aerosols participate as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) in cloud physical processes, then they significantly reduce the size of the cloud droplet by 44–79%. Finally, based on three-year collocated CALIPSO and CloudSat measurements from 2007 to 2010, we found approximately one-third of clouds are originally dusty in the spring over the Pacific Coast areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ground-based measurements were carried out during field campaigns in April–June of 2010, 2011 and 2012 over northwestern China at Minqin, the Semi-Arid Climate and Environment Observatory of Lanzhou University (SACOL) and Dunhuang. In this study, three dust cases were examined, and the statistical results of dust occurrence, along with physical and optical properties, were analyzed. The results show that both lofted dust layers and near-surface dust layers were characterized by extinction coefficients of 0.25–1.05 km−1 and high particle depolarization ratios (PDRs) of 0.25–0.40 at 527 nm wavelength. During the three campaigns, the frequencies of dust occurrence retrieved from the lidar observations were all higher than 88%, and the highest frequency was in April. The vertical distributions revealed that the maximum height of dust layers typically reached 7.8–9 km or higher. The high intensity of dust layers mostly occurred within the planetary boundary layer (PBL). The monthly averaged PDRs decreased from April to June, which implies a dust load reduction. A comparison of the relationship between the aerosol optical depth at 500 nm (AOD500) and the Angstrom exponent at 440–870 nm (AE440–870) confirms that there is a more complex mixture of dust aerosols with other types of aerosols when the effects of human activities become significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long-range transport of North African and Middle Eastern dust has been frequently observed in East Asia. However, understanding of their characteristics and effects in this region is insufficient. In this study, the transboundary transport of multi-source dust was captured by a polarized micro-pulse lidar from April 5 to 10, 2012, during a field campaign in Dunhuang, northwest China. Six dust plumes (DN1-DN6) were selected based on the spatiotemporal evolution of the depolarization ratio. Furthermore, the source, vertical characteristics of the coarse and fine components and their contributions were investigated by combining lidar observation with the WRF-Chem model simulation. The results indicated that DN1 was from Central Asia and it took approximately 4–5 days. DN2 originated from sources in North Africa and the Middle East and took approximately 6–7 days to reach Dunhuang. Samples DN3-DN6 originated from the Taklimakan and Gobi deserts in East Asia. A noticeable contrast was observed in the vertical distribution of the coarse and fine components between the long-range transported (DN1∼DN2) and fresh (DN3∼DN6) dust plumes. DN1 and DN2 presented comparable dust components (DD = Dc + Df, where Dc and Df are coarse- and fine-mode dust, respectively) and non-dust (ND) component contributions and a high predominance of Dc particles was present with at least 40% of total components in DN3-DN4. The contribution of ND particles was nearly negligible in DN5 and DN6. Lidar observations and model simulation both indicated that the maximum contribution of North African and Middle Eastern dust to the local aerosol loading exceeded 58%. However, the model simulation underestimated the contribution of DN1 by an average of 18% compared to lidar observations because DN1 was not reproduced well. This implies that the vertical distribution of dust should be carefully considered when dust impacts (e.g., radiation effects and air quality) are finely assessed using a model on a regional scale. [Display omitted] • POLIPHON algorithm was conducted to the P-MPL observations over northwest China. • A noticeable contrast exists in the vertical structure between the long-range transported and fresh dust plumes. • Model underestimates the contribution of long-range transported dust to local aerosol loading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A full understanding of the Asian dust cycle can help with evaluation of the profound impact of mineral dust on human health, the ecosystem, the terrestrial and oceanic biogeochemical cycles, and the weather and climate. The Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP)-based 3-D dust detection and routine sampling capability, with the accurate dust mass extinction efficiency from Dust Constraints from joint Observational-Modelling-experimental analysis (DustCOMM) dataset, has made it possible to estimate the climatology of Asian dust mass loading (DML) and its transport flux. This study draws on this to provide new insights into the Asian dust cycle, especially the variability of its mass-weighted dust transport central axis (TCA), the contribution of different desert sources to its downstream effects, and the resulting dust budgets in terrestrial and oceanic regions. Dust aerosols emitted from the East Asian and Central Asian deserts together form a heavy dust transport belt stretching from the Taklimakan Desert (TD) and Gobi Desert (GD) to the Pacific Ocean. South Asian dust from the Thar Desert (ThD) can also affect southern China by crossing the Hengduan Mountains and the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. The dust TCA is controlled by the terrain of northwest inland China, but shifts in remote regions in the range of 35-50°N due to the western Pacific subtropical high and Aleutian low, and it trend towards a zonal straight line as the altitude increases. The dust transport contribution of the East Asian deserts to the mainland of China and adjacent sea is about 7 times than that of South Asia, with the annual transport fluxes being 214.28 and 30.43 Tg, respectively. The GD dominates the contribution of Asian deserts to the downstream effects and accounts for about 60% of the dust. This can be attributed to its maximum transport flux being near the surface, while the dust transport of the TD and ThD is above 3 km because of the blocking effect of the surrounding terrain. The deposition of Asian dust in the adjacent seas decreases significantly along the dust TCA, with the annual deposition rates being about 40.12, 20.41, and 4.01 g m-2 in the Yellow Sea, Japan Sea and the Northwest Pacific Ocean, respectively. These new findings and quantification of the Asian dust cycle will help with validation of the simulations provided by global and regional climate models and enable further evaluation of the impact of Asian dust on various related Earth systems. • Asian dust transport flux and its contributor are firstly estimated using satellite. • East Asian deserts produce 88% of dust in mainland China and adjacent seas. • Gobi Desert is the largest downstream contributor of dust aerosol at 145.88 Tg y-1. • Dust transport flux from South Asia to the southern China is about 30.43 Tg y-1. • Asian dust outflow settles most in the Yellow Sea, with a value of 40 g m-2 y-1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]