Insights into Variations and Potential Long-Range Transport of Atmospheric Aerosols from the Aral Sea Basin in Central Asia

The dramatic shrinkage of the Aral Sea in past decades has inevitably led to an environmental calamity. Existing knowledge on variations and potential transport atmospheric aerosols from Basin (ASB) is limited. To bridge this gap, study tried identify long-range ASB recent years. Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model Cloud–Aerosol Lidar Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) data were used gain new insight into types, variation ASB. results showed five types tropospheric one type stratospheric aerosol observed over Polluted dust dominant subtypes through year. Sulfate/other was only detected. occurrence frequency obvious seasonal variation. Maximum appeared spring (MAM) that polluted peaked summer (JJA). monthly exhibited unimodal distribution. distributed wide ranges 1 km 5 vertically. multi-year average thickness layers around 1.3 km. Their different directions mainly impacts Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan eastern Iran, may reach as far Caucasus region, part China, Mongolia Russia. Combining lidar, climate models geochemical methods strongly suggested clarity Basin.