Please wait a minute...
Journal of Arid Land  2014, Vol. 6 Issue (6): 668-677    DOI: 10.1007/s40333-014-0069-6
Research Articles     
Ambient TSP concentration and dustfall variation in Urumqi, China
XiaoXiao ZHANG1,2*, Xi CHEN1, YuHong GUO2,3, ZiFa WANG2, LianYou LIU4, Cottle PAUL5, ShengYu LI1, HuaWei PI1,3
1 State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China;
2 State Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Boundary Layer and Atmospheric Chemistry, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China;
3 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China;
4 Key Laboratory of Environmental Change and Natural Disaster, Ministry of Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China;
5 Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver V6T 1Z2, Canada
Download:   PDF(984KB)
Export: BibTeX | EndNote (RIS)      

Abstract  Total suspended particulate (TSP, particle diameter≤100 µm) was the dominant air pollutant and sig-nificantly influenced local air quality. In this paper, we investigated the interannual and seasonal variations of TSP and dustfall of the atmosphere over Urumqi, the capital city of Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, northwestern China, basing on environmental monitoring records and meteorological data from 1986–2012. The results showed that during the study period, annual average TSP concentration decreased from 716 to 260 µg/m3, with an average level of 422.9 µg/m3, while dustfall intensity reduced from 350.4 to 166.6 t/(km2•a), with an average level of 259 t/(km2•a). Over 50% of the annual pollution days were induced mainly by TSP. Spring and winter had relatively higher dustfall intensities, and dense traffic and residential areas had the highest dustfall intensities in the Urumqi metropolitan area. With an annual average precipitation of less than 300 mm, atmospheric particulates in Urumqi could be hardly removed through wet deposition. During spring and summertime prevailing winds from northwest and northeast could carry aeolian dust particles from sandy deserts to Urumqi. Aeolian dusts from deserts would remain to be a priority regarding air pollution control in arid oasis cities.

Key wordsheavy metals      interaction      vegetables      oasis soils      arid regions      Brassica campestris L.     
Received: 08 October 2013      Published: 10 December 2014
Fund:  

This work was supported by the West Light Foundation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XBBS201104), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41301655), the Coopera-tion Team of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (granted to Prof. Xi CHEN, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, the Chinese Academy of Sciences), and the Open Funds of the State Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Boundary Layer and Atmospheric Chemistry, China (LAPC-KF-2013-17).

Corresponding Authors:
Cite this article:

XiaoXiao ZHANG, Xi CHEN, YuHong GUO, ZiFa WANG, LianYou LIU, Cottle PAUL, ShengYu LI, HuaWei PI. Ambient TSP concentration and dustfall variation in Urumqi, China. Journal of Arid Land, 2014, 6(6): 668-677.

URL:

http://jal.xjegi.com/10.1007/s40333-014-0069-6     OR     http://jal.xjegi.com/Y2014/V6/I6/668

Amina A, Dilinuer A. 2011. Analysis of sandstorm disaster in Xinjiang in recent 50 years. Journal of Arid Land Resources and Environment, 25(8): 118–121.

Bogo H, Otero M, Castro P, et al. 2003. Study of atmospheric particulate matter in Buenos Aires city. Atmospheric Environment, 37(8): 1135–1147.

Chen X, Yan J F, Chen Z, et al. 2009. A spatial geostatistical analysis of impact of land use development on groundwater resources in the Sangong Oasis Region using remote sensing imagery and data. Journal of Arid Land, 1(1): 1–8.

China Meteorological Administration. 2010. Yearbook of China Mete-orological Disasters. Beijing: China Meteorological Press, 41.

Derbyshire E, Meng X, Kemp R A. 1998. Provenance, transport and characteristics of modern aeolian dust in western Gansu Province, China, and interpretation of the quaternary loess record. Journal of Arid Environments, 39: 497–516.

Dong Z W, Li Z Q, Edwards R, et al. 2011. Temporal characteristics of mineral dust particles in precipitation of Urumqi River Valley in Tian Shan, China: a comparison of alpine site and rural site. Atmospheric Research, 101: 294–306.

Groll M, Opp Chr, Aslanov I. 2013. Spatial and temporal distribution of the dust deposition in Central Asia—results from a long term moni-toring program. Aeolian Research, 9: 49–62.

He Q, Yang Q, Li H J. 2003. Variations of air temperature, precipitation and sand-dust weather in Xinjiang in past 40 years. Journal of Gla-ciology and Geocryology, 25(4): 423–427.

Husar R B, Tratt D M, Schichtel B A, et al. 2001. Asian dust events of April 1998. Journal of Geophysical Research, 106(D16): 18317–18330.

IPCC. 2007. Climate Change 2007—The Physical Science Basis. New York: Cambridge University Press, 171–177.

Kumar P, Fennell P, Britter R. 2008. Effect of wind direction and speed on the dispersion of nucleation and accumulation mode particles in an urban street canyon. Science of the Total Environment, 402(1): 82–94.

Leinen M, Prospero J M, Arnold E, et al. 1994. Mineralogy of aeolian dust reaching the North Pacific Ocean: 1. Sampling and analysis. Journal of Geophysical Research, 99: 21017–21023.

Li K, Wang Y J, Wang T, et al. 2010. Vehicle pollution emission inven-tory research in Urumqi city. Research of Environmental Sciences, 23(4): 407–412.

Li J, Zhuang G S, Huang K, et al. 2008. Characteristics and sources of air-borne particulate in Urumqi, China, the upstream area of Asia dust. Atmospheric Environment, 42: 776–787.

Li J L, Zheng Y P, Liu Z Q. 2007. Relationship between the low altitude temperature stratification and the heating period atmospheric pollu-tion in Urumqi city. Journal of Arid Land Geography, 30(4): 519–525.

Li R, Wang X. 2007. Effects of precipitation on air pollution in Urumqi city. Journal of Desert and Oasis Meteorology, 1(2): 13–15.

Li Z Q, Edwards R., Thompson E M. 2006. Seasonal variability of ionic concentrations in surface snow and elution processes in snow-firn packs at the PGPI site on Urumqi glacier No. 1, eastern Tien Shan, China. Annals of Glaciology, 43: 250–256.

Liang Y, Liu X C, He Q, et al. 2008. Analysis on total dust fall during spring and summer in Xinjiang. Journal of Desert Research, 28(5): 992–995.

Mamtimin B, Meixner F. 2007. The characteristics of air pollution in the semi-arid city of Urumqi (NW China) and its relation to clima-tological process. Geophysical Research Abstracts 9, 06357.

Mamtimin B, Meixner F. 2011. Air pollution and meteorological processes in the growing dryland city of Urumqi (Xinjiang, China). Science of the Total Environment, 409: 1277–1290.

MEP (Ministry of Environmental Protection, China). 1994. Ambient Air Determination of Dustfall Gravimetric Method (GB/T 15265–1994). Beijing: Standards Press of China.

MEP (Ministry of Environmental Protection, China). 1995. Ambient air determination of total suspended particulates Gravimetric method (GB/T 15432–1995). Beijing: Standards Press of China.

Okada K, Kai K. 2004. Atmospheric mineral particles collected at Qira in the Taklamakan Desert, China. Atmospheric Environment, 38(40): 6927–6935.

Prospero J M, Uematsu M, Savoie D L. 1989. Mineral aerosol transport to the Pacific Ocean. Chemical Oceanography, 10: 188–216.

Sassen K. 2002. Indirect climate forcing over the western US from Asian dust storms. Geophysical Research Letters, 29: 1465–1469.

Shao Y P. 2000. Physics and Modeling of Wind Erosion. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 5–62.

Uno I, Eguchi K, Yumimoto K. 2009. Asian dust transported one full circuit around the globe. Nature Geoscience, 2: 557–560.

Urumqi Municipal Bureau of Statistics. 2013. Urumqi Statistical Year-book 2013. Beijing: China Statistical Press, 91–92.

Wang L, Xia D S, Yu Y, et al. 2010. Magnetic properties of urban dustfall in North Xinjiang and its environmental significance. Journal of Desert Research, 30(3): 699–705.

Wang T, Yan C Z, Song X, et al. 2012. Monitoring recent trends in the area of aeolian desertified land using Landsat images in China’s Xinjiang region. Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 68: 184–190.

Wei W S, Gao W D, Shi Y G, et al. 2004. Influence of climate and environment change on dust storms in Xinjiang, China. Journal of Arid Land Geography, 27(2): 137–141.

Xinjiang Department of Environmental Protection. 2012. “Blue Sky” project achieved progresses in Urumqi, capital city of Xinjiang, China. [2013-09-20]. http://www.xjepb.gov.cn/tabid/787/InfoID/390237/frtid/40/Default.aspx.

Xinjiang Statistical Bureau. 2012. Xinjiang Statistical Yearbook 2012. Beijing: China Statistical Press, 60–225.

Xuan J, Sokolik I N. 2002. Characterization of sources and emission rates of mineral dust in northern China. Atmospheric Environment, 36(31): 4863–4876.

Yang L P, Chen F H. 2002. Study on the source apportionment of at-mospheric dust pollutants in Lanzhou. Acta Scientiae Circumstantiae, 22(4): 499–503.

Yu H B, Remer L A, Chin M, et al. 2012. Aerosols from overseas rival domestic emissions over north America. Science, 337: 566–569.
[1] ZHANG Chaobo, LI Rong, JIANG Jing, YANG Qihong. Effects of loading rate on root pullout performance of two plants in the eastern Loess Plateau, China[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2023, 15(9): 1129-1142.
[2] ZHANG Lihua, GAO Han, WANG Junfeng, ZHAO Ruifeng, WANG Mengmeng, HAO Lianyi, GUO Yafei, JIANG Xiaoyu, ZHONG Lingfei. Plant property regulates soil bacterial community structure under altered precipitation regimes in a semi-arid desert grassland, China[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2023, 15(5): 602-619.
[3] Lobna MNIF FAKHFAKH, Mohamed CHAIEB. Effects of water stress on growth phenology photosynthesis and leaf water potential in Stipagrostis ciliata (Desf.) De Winter in North Africa[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2023, 15(1): 77-90.
[4] ZHANG Zhaoyong, GUO Jieyi, WANG Pengwei. Occurrence, sources, and relationships of soil microplastics with adsorbed heavy metals in the Ebinur Lake Basin, Northwest China[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2022, 14(8): 910-924.
[5] WANG Kun, WANG Xiaoxia, FEI Hongyan, WAN Chuanyu, HAN Fengpeng. Changes in diversity, composition and assembly processes of soil microbial communities during Robinia pseudoacacia L. restoration on the Loess Plateau, China[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2022, 14(5): 561-575.
[6] ZHANG Hua, YU Miao, XU Hongjia, WEN Huan, FAN Haiyan, WANG Tianyi, LIU Jiangang. Geochemical baseline determination and contamination of heavy metals in the urban topsoil of Fuxin City, China[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2020, 12(6): 1001-1017.
[7] Mahsa MIRDASHTVAN, Mohsen MOHSENI SARAVI. Influence of non-stationarity and auto-correlation of climatic records on spatio-temporal trend and seasonality analysis in a region with prevailing arid and semi-arid climate, Iran[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2020, 12(6): 964-983.
[8] FENG Jian, ZHAO Lingdi, ZHANG Yibo, SUN Lingxiao, YU Xiang, YU Yang. Can climate change influence agricultural GTFP in arid and semi-arid regions of Northwest China?[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2020, 12(5): 837-853.
[9] LYU Changhe, XU Zhiyuan. Crop production changes and the impact of Grain for Green program in the Loess Plateau of China[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2020, 12(1): 18-28.
[10] Yadong XUE, Jia LI, Guli SAGEN, Yu ZHANG, Yunchuan DAI, Diqiang LI. Activity patterns and resource partitioning: seven species at watering sites in the Altun Mountains, China[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2018, 10(6): 959-967.
[11] Lishan SHAN, Xiang YU, Lingxiao SUN, Bin HE, Haiyan WANG, Tingting XIE. Seasonal differences in climatic controls of vegetation growth in the Beijing-Tianjin Sand Source Region of China[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2018, 10(6): 850-863.
[12] Zheng LIU, Zhongren NAN, Chuanyan ZHAO, Yang YANG. Potato absorption and phytoavailability of Cd, Ni, Cu, Zn and Pb in sierozem soils amended with municipal sludge compost[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2018, 10(4): 638-652.
[13] BELALA Fahima, HIRCHE Azziz, D MULLER Serge, TOURKI Mahmoud, SALAMANI Mostefa, GRANDI Mohamed, AIT HAMOUDA Tahar, BOUGHANI Madjid. Rainfall patterns of Algerian steppes and the impacts on natural vegetation in the 20th century[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2018, 10(4): 561-573.
[14] Congjuan LI, Ran LIU, Shijie WANG, Yongqiang SUN, Shengyu LI, Heng ZHANG, Jie GAO, Yanxi DANG, Lili ZHANG. Growth and sustainability of Suaeda salsa in the Lop Nur, China[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2018, 10(3): 429-440.
[15] TAMADDUN Kazi, KALRA Ajay, AHMAD Sajjad. Potential of rooftop rainwater harvesting to meet outdoor water demand in arid regions[J]. Journal of Arid Land, 2018, 10(1): 68-83.