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Origin of non-spherical particles in the boundary layer over Beijing, China: based on balloon-borne observations

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Abstract

Vertical structures of aerosols from the ground to about 1,000 m altitude in Beijing were measured with a balloon-borne optical particle counter. The results showed that, in hazy days, there were inversions at approximately 500–600 m, below which the particulate matters were well mixed vertically, while the concentration of particles decreased sharply above the mixing layer. Electron microscopic observation of the particles collected with the balloon-borne impactor indicates that the composition of particles is different according to weather conditions in the boundary mixing layer of Beijing city and suggests that dust particles are always dominant in coarse-mode particles. Interestingly, sea-salt particles are frequently identified, suggesting the importance of marine air inflow to the Beijing area even in summer. The Ca-rich spherical particles are also frequently identified, suggesting chemical modification of dust particle by NOx or emission of CaO and others from local emission. Additionally, those types of particles showed higher concentration above the mixing layer under the relatively calm weather condition of summer, suggesting the importance of local-scale convection found in summer which rapidly transported anthropogenic particles above the mixing layer. Lidar extinction profiles qualitatively have good consistency with the balloon-borne measurements. Attenuation effects of laser pulse intensity are frequently observed due to high concentration of particulate matter in the Beijing atmosphere, and therefore quantitative agreement of lidar return and aerosol concentration can be hardly observed during dusty condition. Comparing the depolarization ratio obtained from the lidar measurements with the balloon-borne measurements, the contribution of the dry sea-salt particles, in addition to the dust particles, is suggested as an important factor causing depolarization ratio in the Beijing atmosphere.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41475136), supported by International Science & Technology Cooperation Program of China (Grant No. 2013DFG22820), supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41130104) and supported by Open Research Fund of Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Composition and Optical Radiation, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The authors are also thankful to the staff of Beijing Meteorological Observatory for the kind support on the meteorological data and for the help in launching the balloon.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Composition and Optical Radiation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Bin Chen & Zhenzhu Wang

  2. Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China

    Bin Chen, Hengchi Lei & Guangyu Shi

  3. Center for Innovation, Kanazawa University, Kakuma-machi, Kanazawa, 920-1192, Japan

    Maromu Yamada & Yasunobu Iwasaka

  4. Faculty of Environmental and Symbiotic Sciences, Prefectural University of Kumamoto, 3-1-100 Tsukide, Kumamoto, 862-8502, Japan

    Daizhou Zhang

  5. Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences (CAMS), Beijing, 100081, China

    Hong Wang

Authors
  1. Bin Chen
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  2. Maromu Yamada
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  3. Yasunobu Iwasaka
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  4. Daizhou Zhang
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  5. Hong Wang
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  6. Zhenzhu Wang
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  7. Hengchi Lei
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  8. Guangyu Shi
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Correspondence to Bin Chen or Zhenzhu Wang.

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Chen, B., Yamada, M., Iwasaka, Y. et al. Origin of non-spherical particles in the boundary layer over Beijing, China: based on balloon-borne observations. Environ Geochem Health 37, 791–800 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-014-9668-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-014-9668-6

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