Aerosol observational data spanning three years (2005–2007) from the Chinese Sun Hazemeter Network (CSHN) were analyzed to characterize the optical properties of spring aerosol particles in dust and non-dust weather conditions. The measurements were segregated and the dates of dust period were chosen by ground-based observations and the National Sand-dust Weather Almanac. Observational data obt...

Atmospheric nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (NPAHs), which have been shown to have adverse health effects such as carcinogenicity, are formed in part through nitration reactions of their parent polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the atmosphere. However, little is known about heterogeneous nitration rates of PAHs by gaseous NO2 on natural mineral substrates, such as desert dust...

A long-term record of Asian dust storms showed seven high-occurrence-frequency centers in China. The intrusion of Asian dust into the downwind seas, including the China seas, the Sea of Japan, the subarctic North Pacific, the North Pacific subtropical gyre, and the western and eastern Equatorial Pacific, has been shown to add nutrients to ocean ecosystems and enhance their biological activities...

1. introduction in recent years, desert dust frequency has increased in the global system. due to lack of vegetation in the regions prone to dust, the earth’s surface air becomes warm enough in these regions, moves upward and causes a cold downward circular air flow when it collides with upper tropospheric winds. when these winds strongly hit the earth’s surface, they create dust storms (xuan e...

Aeolian dust is rarely considered an important source for nutrients in large peatlands, which generally develop in moist regions far from the major centers of dust production. As a result, past studies assumed that the Everglades provides a classic example of an originally oligotrophic, P-limited wetland that was subsequently degraded by anthropogenic activities. However, a multiproxy sedimenta...

[1] Wind-blown sand, or ‘saltation,’ creates sand dunes, erodes geological features, and could be a significant source of dust aerosols on Mars. Moreover, the electrification of sand and dust in saltation, dust storms, and dust devils could produce electric discharges and affect atmospheric chemistry. We present the first calculations of electric fields in martian saltation, using a numerical m...

[1] A recent field experiment in southern Florida using aircraft and polarization lidar shows that mineral dust particles transported from Saharan Africa are effective ice nuclei, apparently capable of glaciating a mildly supercooled ( 5.2 to 8.8 C) altocumulus cloud. These results are similar to those from Asian dust storm particles observed over the western US, suggesting that in the northern...