Size distributions of mineral aerosols and dust emission flux observed over Horqin Sandy Land area in northern China

Abstract. Size distribution of mineral aerosols is of primary importance in determining their residence time in atmosphere, transport patterns, removal mechanisms as well as their effects on climate and human health. This study aims to obtain dust particle size distribution and size-resolved dust emission flux under different weather conditions over a sandy land area in northern China (Horqin Sandy Land, Inner Mongolia), using the observational data from Horqin sandstorm monitoring station in the spring of 2010 and 2012. Dust (PM20) mass concentration was measured by a 10-stage quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) cascade impactor. The statistical results indicate that finer dust particles (r ≤ 1.0 μm) take a large proportion of all PM20 concentration under clear-day conditions, while coarser dust particles (r ≥ 2.5 μm) concentration increased under dust-day conditions, with the peak occurring between 4–7 μm. The dust particle size distributions during the pre-dust-emission and dust-emission periods of a dust event on 7 April 2012 have similar features to the statistical results. During the dust event, the magnitude of dust emission flux of all sizes increased about one or two orders (0.1–10 μg m−2 s−1) as u* increase from 0.54 to 1.29 m s−1. The maximum total F value was about 43.0 μg m−2 s−1 and the maximum size-resolved F(Ddi) is 12.3 μg m−2 s−1 in 0.3–0.45 μm size bin when u* is 1.29 m s−1. Dust advection has effects on airborne dust size distribution, making the proportion of dust particles of different sizes more uniform, as observed in a non-local dust event on 19 April 2012.