Abstract
To investigate the regional transport and dry deposition of black carbon (BC) aerosol in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau, continuous equivalent BC (eBC) mass concentrations were measured at a high-altitude remote site of Lulang from July 2008 to July 2009. The bivariate polar plots for eBC mass concentrations showed that large eBC values were often associated with low winds (< 2 m s−1) during the pre-monsoon, post-monsoon, and winter seasons. Moreover, strong winds (> 4 m s−1) from southeast or northeast also contribute to the large eBC loadings during the pre-monsoon, monsoon, and post-monsoon seasons. The concentration-weighted trajectory analysis showed that emissions from the eastern Kingdom of Bhutan, Assam of India, and southern Shannan Prefecture of Tibet had the most important contributions to the eBC pollution at Lulang during the pre-monsoon and monsoon seasons. In contrast, the eBC potential source region shifted to the east and southeast of Lulang during the post-monsoon and to the north India and northwest Nepal during the winter. The estimated eBC deposition rate was the highest for the pre-monsoon (6.3–62.6 μg eBC m−2 day−1), followed by the post-monsoon (4.6–45.9 μg eBC m−2 day−1), winter (4.3–43.1 μg eBC m−2 day−1), and monsoon (2.4–24.5 μg eBC m−2 day−1). Further calculations of eBC concentrations in the snow surface were 33.3–333.2, 61.5–614.7, 27.0–269.9, and 58.8–587.6 μg kg−1 during the pre-monsoon, monsoon, post-monsoon, and winter seasons, respectively, which resulted in the snow albedos being reduced by 2.6–25.3, 4.7–46.6, 2.1–20.5, and 4.5–44.5% accordingly.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aoki T, Aoki T, Fukabori M, Hachikubo A, Tachibana Y, Nishio F (2000) Effects of snow physical parameters on spectral albedo and bidirectional reflectance of snow surface. J Geophys Res-Atmos 105:10219–10236. https://doi.org/10.1029/1999JD901122
Aoki T, Motoyoshi H, Kodama Y, Yasunari TJ, Sugiura K (2007) Variations of the snow physical parameters and their effects on albedo in Sapporo, Japan. Ann Glaciol 46:375–381. https://doi.org/10.3189/172756407782871747
Bond TC et al (2013) Bounding the role of black carbon in the climate system: a scientific assessment. J Geophys Res-Atmos 118:5380–5552. https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrd.50171
Cao JJ, Tie XX, Xu BQ, Zhao ZZ, Zhu CS, Li GH, Liu SX (2010) Measuring and modeling black carbon (BC) contamination in the SE Tibetan Plateau. J Atmos Chem 67:45–60. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10874-011-9202-5
Cao JJ et al (2012) Impacts of aerosol compositions on visibility impairment in Xi’an, China. Atmos Environ 59:559–566. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2012.05.036
Ding AJ et al (2016) Enhanced haze pollution by black carbon in megacities in China. Geophys Res Lett 43:2873–2879. https://doi.org/10.1002/2016gl067745
Draxler RR, Rolph GD (2003) HYSPLIT (HYbrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory) Model access via NOAA ARL READY Website http://www.arlnoaagov/ready/hysplit4htmlNOAA Air Resources Laboratory, Silver Spring, MD
Fast JD et al (2007) A meteorological overview of the MILAGRO field campaigns. Atmos Chem Phys 7:2233–2257. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-7-2233-2007
Grahame TJ, Klemm R, Schlesinger RB (2014) Public health and components of particulate matter: the changing assessment of black carbon. J Air Waste Manag Assoc 64:620–660. https://doi.org/10.1080/10962247.2014.912692
Grieshop AP, Reynolds CCO, Kandlikar M, Dowlatabadi H (2009) A black-carbon mitigation wedge. Nature Geosci 2:533–534. https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo595
Gupta P, Singh SP, Jangid A, Kumar R (2017) Characterization of black carbon in the ambient air of Agra, India: seasonal variation and meteorological influence. Adv Atmos Sci 34:1082–1094. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-017-6234-z
Hansen ADA, Rosen H, Novakov T (1984) The aethalometer—An instrument for the real-time measurement of optical absorption by aerosol particles. Sci Total Environ 36:191–196. https://doi.org/10.1016/0048-9697(84)90265-1
Hsu Y-K, Holsen TM, Hopke PK (2003) Comparison of hybrid receptor models to locate PCB sources in Chicago. Atmos Environ 37:545–562. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1352-2310(02)00886-5
Immerzeel WW, van Beek LPH, Bierkens MFP (2010) Climate change will affect the Asian water towers. Science 328:1382–1385. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1183188
Jacobi H-W et al (2015) Black carbon in snow in the upper Himalayan Khumbu Valley, Nepal: observations and modeling of the impact on snow albedo, melting, and radiative forcing. Cryosphere 9:1685–1699. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-1685-2015
Jacobson MZ (2001) Strong radiative heating due to the mixing state of black carbon in atmospheric aerosols. Nature 409:695–697. https://doi.org/10.1038/35055518
Jacobson MZ (2010) Short-term effects of controlling fossil-fuel soot, biofuel soot and gases, and methane on climate, Arctic ice, and air pollution health. J Geophys Res-Atmos 115:D14209. https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JD013795
Jansen KL, Larson TV, Koenig JQ, Mar TF, Fields C, Stewart J, Lippmann M (2005) Associations between health effects and particulate matter and black carbon in subjects with respiratory disease. Environ Health Perspect 113:1741–1746. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.8153
Kaspari S, Painter TH, Gysel M, Skiles SM, Schwikowski M (2014) Seasonal and elevational variations of black carbon and dust in snow and ice in the Solu-Khumbu, Nepal and estimated radiative forcings. Atmos Chem Phys 14:8089–8103. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-8089-2014
Ke L, Ding X, Li W, Qiu B (2017) Remote sensing of glacier change in the central Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the relationship with changing climate. Remote Sens 9:114. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9020114
Kopacz M, Mauzerall DL, Wang J, Leibensperger EM, Henze DK, Singh K (2011) Origin and radiative forcing of black carbon transported to the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau. Atmos Chem Phys 11:2837–2852. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-2837-2011
Lee W-S, Bhawar RL, Kim M-K, Sang J (2013) Study of aerosol effect on accelerated snow melting over the Tibetan Plateau during boreal spring. Atmos Environ 75:113–122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2013.04.004
Li Z, Tian L, Wu H, Wang W, Zhang S, Zhang J, Li X (2016) Changes in glacier extent and surface elevations in the Depuchangdake region of northwestern Tibet, China. Quat Res 85:25–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2015.12.005
Loibl D, Lehmkuhl F, Grießinger J (2014) Reconstructing glacier retreat since the Little Ice Age in SE Tibet by glacier mapping and equilibrium line altitude calculation. Geomorphology 214:22–39. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2014.03.018
Lu Z, Streets DG, Zhang Q, Wang S (2012) A novel back-trajectory analysis of the origin of black carbon transported to the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau during 1996-2010. Geophys Res Lett 39:L01809. https://doi.org/10.1029/2011gl049903
Ménégoz M et al (2014) Snow cover sensitivity to black carbon deposition in the Himalayas: from atmospheric and ice core measurements to regional climate simulations. Atmos Chem Phys 14:4237–4249. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-4237-2014
Ming J, Xiao C, Cachier H, Qin D, Qin X, Li Z, Pu J (2009) Black carbon (BC) in the snow of glaciers in west China and its potential effects on albedos. Atmos Res 92:114–123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2008.09.007
Ming J, Wang P, Zhao S, Chen P (2013) Disturbance of light-absorbing aerosols on the albedo in a winter snowpack of Central Tibet. J Environ Sci 25:1601–1607. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1001-0742(12)60220-4
Nair VS, Babu SS, Moorthy KK, Sharma AK, Marinoni A, Ajai (2013) Black carbon aerosols over the Himalayas: direct and surface albedo forcing. Tellus Ser B-Chem Phys Meteorol 65:19738. https://doi.org/10.3402/tellusb.v65i0.19738
Nenes A, Conant WC, Seinfeld JH (2002) Black carbon radiative heating effects on cloud microphysics and implications for the aerosol indirect effect—2. Cloud microphysics. J Geophys Res-Atmos 107:4605. https://doi.org/10.1029/2002JD002101
Petzold A et al (2013) Recommendations for reporting “black carbon” measurements. Atmos Chem Phys 13:8365–8379. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-8365-2013
Ping X, Jiang Z, Li C (2011) Status and future perspectives of energy consumption and its ecological impacts in the Qinghai–Tibet region. Renew Sust Energ Rev 15:514–523. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2010.07.037
Pryor SC et al (2008) A review of measurement and modelling results of particle atmosphere–surface exchange Tellus Ser. B-Chem Phys Meteorol 60:42–75. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0889.2007.00298.x
Qiu J (2008) China: the third pole. Nature 454:393–396. https://doi.org/10.1038/454393a
Qu B et al (2014) The decreasing albedo of the Zhadang glacier on western Nyainqentanglha and the role of light-absorbing impurities. Atmos Chem Phys 14:11117–11128. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-11117-2014
Quinn PK et al (2008) Short-lived pollutants in the Arctic: their climate impact and possible mitigation strategies. Atmos Chem Phys 8:1723–1735. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-8-1723-2008
Ram K, Sarin MM (2009) Absorption coefficient and site-specific mass absorption efficiency of elemental carbon in aerosols over urban, rural, and high-altitude sites in India. Environ Sci Technol 43:8233–8239. https://doi.org/10.1021/es9011542
Ramanathan V, Carmichael G (2008) Global and regional climate changes due to black carbon. Nat Geosci 1:221–227. https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo156
Santos F, Fraser MP, Bird JA (2014) Atmospheric black carbon deposition and characterization of biomass burning tracers in a northern temperate forest. Atmos Environ 95:383–390. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2014.06.038
Shindell D et al (2012) Simultaneously mitigating near-term climate change and improving human health and food security. Science 335:183–189. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1210026
Virkkula A, Mäkelä T, Hillamo R, Yli-Tuomi T, Hirsikko A, Hämeri K, Koponen IK (2007) A simple procedure for correcting loading effects of aethalometer data. J Air Waste Manage Assoc 57:1214–1222. https://doi.org/10.3155/1047-3289.57.10.1214
Wang C (2004) A modeling study on the climate impacts of black carbon aerosols. J Geophys Res-Atmos 109:D03106. https://doi.org/10.1029/2003JD004084
Wang YQ, Zhang XY, Arimoto R (2006) The contribution from distant dust sources to the atmospheric particulate matter loadings at Xi’an. China during spring Sci Total Environ 368:875–883. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2006.03.040
Wang Q et al (2013) Long-term trends in visibility and at Chengdu, China. PLoS One 8:e68894. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0068894
Wang R et al (2014) Exposure to ambient black carbon derived from a unique inventory and high-resolution model. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 111:2459–2463. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1318763111
Weingartner E, Saathoff H, Schnaiter M, Streit N, Bitnar B, Baltensperger U (2003) Absorption of light by soot particles: determination of the absorption coefficient by means of aethalometers. J Aerosol Sci 34:1445–1463. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0021-8502(03)00359-8
William KML, Maeng-Ki K, Kyu-Myong K, Woo-Seop L (2010) Enhanced surface warming and accelerated snow melt in the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau induced by absorbing aerosols. Environ Res Lett 5:025204. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/5/2/025204
Xu BQ et al (2009a) Black soot and the survival of Tibetan glaciers. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 106:22114–22118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0910444106
Xu BQ et al (2009b) Deposition of anthropogenic aerosols in a southeastern Tibetan glacier. J Geophys Res-Atmos 114:D17209. https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JD011510
Xu Y, Ramanathan V, Washington WM (2016) Observed high-altitude warming and snow cover retreat over Tibet and the Himalayas enhanced by black carbon aerosols. Atmos Chem Phys 16:1303–1315. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-1303-2016
Yang W, Guo X, Yao T, Yang K, Zhao L, Li S, Zhu M (2011) Summertime surface energy budget and ablation modeling in the ablation zone of a maritime Tibetan glacier. J Geophys Res-Atmos 116:D14116. https://doi.org/10.1029/2010JD015183
Yang S, Xu B, Cao J, Zender CS, Wang M (2015) Climate effect of black carbon aerosol in a Tibetan Plateau glacier. Atmos Environ 111:71–78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2015.03.016
Zhang Y et al (2017) Light-absorbing impurities enhance glacier albedo reduction in the southeastern Tibetan plateau. J Geophys Res-Atmos. https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JD026397
Zhao Z et al (2013) Aerosol particles at a high-altitude site on the Southeast Tibetan Plateau, China: implications for pollution transport from South Asia. J Geophys Res-Atmos 118:11360–11375. https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrd.50599
Zhao S, Tie X, Long X, Cao J (2017) Impacts of Himalayas on black carbon over the Tibetan Plateau during summer monsoon. Sci Total Environ 598:307–318. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.04.101
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41230641, 41503118, and 41661144020). The authors are grateful to the Integrated Observation and Research Station for Alpine Environment in South-East Tibet, Chinese Academy of Sciences, for their assistance with field sampling.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
On behalf of all the authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wang, Q., Zhao, Z., Tian, J. et al. Seasonal Transport and Dry Deposition of Black Carbon Aerosol in the Southeastern Tibetan Plateau. Aerosol Sci Eng 1, 160–168 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41810-017-0016-y
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41810-017-0016-y