Tropospheric Aerosols: Observation, Modeling, and Assimilation

A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Aerosols".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (18 February 2021) | Viewed by 9284

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
National Centre for Meteorological Research, CNR, Meteo-France, France
Interests: atmospheric chemistry; modeling; assimilation; air quality and pollution

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Aerosols are characterized by their production processes and chemical composition. They are considered an important source of particulate matter for the atmosphere. Therefore, they have a direct impact on earth radiation, clouds, climate, human health, agriculture, ecological systems, air quality, and aviation. A better knowledge of the spatial and temporal distribution of aerosols at global and regional scales is essential for our understanding of their influence on the atmosphere.

Observational techniques (passive and active remote sensing, in-situ, ground-based, etc.) have helped the characterization of different types of aerosols, including optical properties and chemical composition. The improvement of observational techniques has offered new opportunities to highlight the role of aerosols in the global atmospheric system. In parallel to different observational capabilities, numerical models enable the tri-dimensional distribution of different aerosols and daily aerosol forecasts.

The aims of this Special Issue are the following:

  • Present the recent advances concerning the characterization, transport, and chemical composition of the aerosol particles in the troposphere.
  • Highlight the new findings of aerosols using observational techniques, modeling, and assimilation.
  • Evaluate the impact of different types of aerosols on the atmospheric chemistry
  • Assess the role of the long-range transport on the tropospheric aerosol distribution including global pollution and the local air quality.

Dr. Laazziz El Amraoui
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • aerosols
  • particulate matter
  • long-range transport
  • optical properties
  • chemical composition
  • pollution
  • air quality
  • remote sensing
  • passive radiometers
  • active sensors
  • aerosol concentration

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

27 pages, 11425 KiB  
Article
Characterization of Aerosol Sources and Optical Properties in Siberia Using Airborne and Spaceborne Observations
by Antonin Zabukovec, Gerard Ancellet, Iwan E. Penner, Mikhail Arshinov, Valery Kozlov, Jacques Pelon, Jean-Daniel Paris, Grigory Kokhanenko, Yuri S. Balin, Dimitry Chernov and Boris D. Belan
Atmosphere 2021, 12(2), 244; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12020244 - 11 Feb 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2546
Abstract
Airborne backscatter lidar at 532 nm and in-situ measurements of black carbon (BC), carbon monoxide excess above background (ΔCO), and aerosol size distribution were carried out over Siberia in July 2013 and June 2017 in order to sample several kinds of aerosol sources. [...] Read more.
Airborne backscatter lidar at 532 nm and in-situ measurements of black carbon (BC), carbon monoxide excess above background (ΔCO), and aerosol size distribution were carried out over Siberia in July 2013 and June 2017 in order to sample several kinds of aerosol sources. Aerosol types are derived using the Lagrangian FLEXible PARTicle dispersion model (FLEXPART) simulations and satellite observations. Six aerosol types could be identified in this work: (i) dusty aerosol mixture, (ii) Ob valley gas flaring emission, (iii) fresh forest fire, (iv) aged forest fire, (v) urban emissions over the Tomsk/Novosibirsk region (vi) long range transport of Northern China urban emission. The altitude range of aerosol layers is discussed for each aerosol type, showing transport above the boundary layer for long range transport of Northern China emissions or fresh forest fire. Comparisons of aerosol optical properties, BC and ΔCO are made between aged and fresh plumes for both the urban and forest fire emissions. An increase of aerosol optical depth at 532 nm (AOD532), aerosol particle size and ΔCO is found for aged forest fire plumes. Similar results are obtained when comparing the aged urban plume from Northern China with fresh urban emissions from Siberian cities. A flight above gas flaring emissions corresponds to the largest AOD532 and provides a possible range of 50–60 sr for the lidar ratio of these aerosol plumes often encountered in Siberia. Black carbon concentrations are relatively higher for the flaring plume (0.4–0.5 μμg.m3) than for the urban plume (0.2 μμg.m3). The largest BC concentrations are found for the fresh forest fire plume. The aerosol type identification and AOD532 provided by CALIOP Version 4.2 data products in air masses with similar origin generally agree with the results obtained from our detailed analysis of the aerosol plume origins. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tropospheric Aerosols: Observation, Modeling, and Assimilation)
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14 pages, 4591 KiB  
Article
Data Assimilation of Ambient Concentrations of Multiple Air Pollutants Using an Emission-Concentration Response Modeling Framework
by Jia Xing, Siwei Li, Dian Ding, James T. Kelly, Shuxiao Wang, Carey Jang, Yun Zhu and Jiming Hao
Atmosphere 2020, 11(12), 1289; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos11121289 - 29 Nov 2020
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3095
Abstract
Data assimilation for multiple air pollutant concentrations has become an important need for modeling air quality attainment, human exposure, and related health impacts, especially in China, which experiences both PM2.5 and O3 pollution. Traditional data assimilation or fusion methods are mainly [...] Read more.
Data assimilation for multiple air pollutant concentrations has become an important need for modeling air quality attainment, human exposure, and related health impacts, especially in China, which experiences both PM2.5 and O3 pollution. Traditional data assimilation or fusion methods are mainly focused on individual pollutants and thus cannot support simultaneous assimilation for both PM2.5 and O3. To fill the gap, this study proposed a novel multipollutant assimilation method by using an emission-concentration response model (noted as RSM-assimilation). The new method was successfully applied to assimilate precursors for PM2.5 and O3 in the 28 cities of the North China Plain (NCP). By adjusting emissions of five pollutants (i.e., NOx, sulfur dioxide = SO2, ammonia = NH3, VOC, and primary PM2.5) in the 28 cities through RSM-assimilation, the RMSEs (root mean square errors) of O3 and PM2.5 were reduced by about 35% and 58% from the original simulations. The RSM-assimilation results in small sensitivity to the number of observation sites due to the use of prior knowledge of the spatial distribution of emissions; however, the ability to assimilate concentrations at the edge of the control region is limited. The emission ratios of five pollutants were simultaneously adjusted during the RSM-assimilation, indicating that the emission inventory may underestimate NO2 in January, April, and October, and SO2 in April, but overestimate NH3 in April, and VOC in January and October. Primary PM2.5 emissions were also significantly underestimated, particularly in April (dust season in NCP). Future work should focus on expanding the control area and including NH3 observations to improve the RSM-assimilation performance and emission inventories. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tropospheric Aerosols: Observation, Modeling, and Assimilation)
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17 pages, 2401 KiB  
Article
Measuring the Vertical Profiles of Aerosol Extinction in the Lower Troposphere by MAX-DOAS at a Rural Site in the North China Plain
by Siyang Cheng, Junli Jin, Jianzhong Ma, Xiaobin Xu, Liang Ran, Zhiqiang Ma, Junming Chen, Junrang Guo, Peng Yang, Yang Wang and Thomas Wagner
Atmosphere 2020, 11(10), 1037; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos11101037 - 27 Sep 2020
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2711
Abstract
Ground-based multi-axis differential optical absorption spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS) measurements were performed during the summer (13 June–20 August) of 2014 at a rural site in North China Plain. The vertical profiles of aerosol extinction (AE) in the lower troposphere were retrieved to analyze the temporal [...] Read more.
Ground-based multi-axis differential optical absorption spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS) measurements were performed during the summer (13 June–20 August) of 2014 at a rural site in North China Plain. The vertical profiles of aerosol extinction (AE) in the lower troposphere were retrieved to analyze the temporal variations of AE profiles, near-surface AE, and aerosol optical depth (AOD). The average AOD and near-surface AE over the period of study were 0.51 ± 0.26 and 0.33 ± 0.18 km−1 during the effective observation period, respectively. High AE events and elevated AE layers were identified based on the time series of hourly AE profiles, near-surface AEs and AODs. It is found that in addition to the planetary boundary layer height (PBLH) and relative humidity (RH), the variations in the wind field have large impacts on the near-surface AE, AOD, and AE profile. Among 16 wind sectors, higher AOD or AE occur mostly in the directions of the cities upstream. The diurnal variations of the AE profiles, AODs and near-surface AEs are significant and influenced mainly by the source emissions, PBLH, and RH. The AE profile shape from MAX-DOAS measurement is generally in agreement with that from light detection and ranging (lidar) observations, although the AE absolute levels are different. Overall, ground-based MAX-DOAS can serve as a supplement to measure the AE vertical profiles in the lower troposphere. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tropospheric Aerosols: Observation, Modeling, and Assimilation)
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