ACP Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ACP Atmos. Chem. Phys. 1680-7324 Copernicus Publications Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/acp-10-6863-2010 Dust aerosol effect on semi-arid climate over Northwest China detected from A-Train satellite measurements Huang J. 1 Minnis P. 2 Yan H. 1 Yi Y. 3 Chen B. 1 Zhang L. 1 Ayers J. K. 3 Key Laboratory for Semi-Arid Climate Change of the Ministry of Education, College of Atmospheric Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA, 23666, USA Science Systems and Applications Incorporated, Hampton, VA, 23666, USA 23 07 2010 10 14 6863 6872 Copyright: © 2010 J. Huang et al. 2010 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This article is available from https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/10/6863/2010/acp-10-6863-2010.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/10/6863/2010/acp-10-6863-2010.pdf

The impact of dust aerosols on the semi-arid climate of Northwest China is analyzed by comparing aerosol and cloud properties derived over the China semi-arid region (hereafter, CSR) and the United States semi-arid region (hereafter, USR) using several years of surface and A-Train satellite observations during active dust event seasons. These regions have similar climatic conditions, but aerosol concentrations are greater over the CSR. Because the CSR is close to two major dust source regions (Taklamakan and Gobi deserts), the aerosols over the CSR not only contain local anthropogenic aerosols (agricultural dust, black carbon and other anthropogenic aerosols), but also include natural dust transported from the source regions. The aerosol optical depth, averaged over a 3-month period, derived from MODIS for the CSR is 0.27, which is 47% higher than that over the USR (0.19). Although transported natural dust only accounts for 53% of this difference, it is a major contributor to the average absorbing aerosol index, which is 27% higher in the CSR (1.07) than in the USR (0.84). During dust event periods, liquid water cloud particle size, optical depth and liquid water path are smaller by 9%, 30% and 33% compared to dust-free conditions, respectively.

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