Measurement and meteorological analysis of 7Be and 210Pb in aerosol at Waliguan Observatory

Abstract

Beryllium-7 (7Be) and lead-210 (210Pb) activities were measured from October 2002 to January 2004 at Waliguan Observatory (WO: 36.287°N, 100.898°E, 3816 m a.s.l (above sea level) in northwest China. 7Be and 210Pb activities are high with overall averages of 14.7±3.5 mBq m−3 and 1.8±0.8 mBq m−3 respectively. For both 7Be and 210Pb, there are significant short-term and seasonal variations with a commonly low value in summer (May-September) and a monthly maximum in April (for 7Be) and in December (for 210Pb). The ratio of 7Be/210Pb showed a broad maximum extending from April to July, coinciding with a seasonal peak in surface ozone (O3). The seasonal cycles of 7Be and 210Pb activities were greatly influenced by precipitation and thermal dynamical conditions over the boundary layer, especially for 210Pb. The vertical mixing process between the boundary layer and the aloft air modulates the variations of 7Be and 210Pb at WO in summer. It is indicated that air mass had longer residence time and originated from higher altitudes at WO in the spring-summer time and the winter in 2003. During an event with extremely high weeklyaveraged 7Be concentration (24.8 mBq m−3) together with high O3 levels and low water mixing ratio, we found that air masses had been convectively transported a long distance to WO from high latitude source regions in central Asia, where significant subsiding motions were observed. In another case with the extreme 210Pb activity of 5.7 mBq m−3 high CO2 level and specific humidity (in winter), air masses had come from south China and north Indian regions where 222Rn activities were high. This study, using 7Be and 210Pb as atmospheric tracers, has revealed that complex interactions of convective mixing from the upper troposphere and long-range transports exist at WO.