Surrogate atmospheric dust particles generated from dune soils in laboratory: Comparison with field measurement

Abstract

Desert dust strongly influences the climate and the environment by altering the radiation budget, participating in atmospheric chemical reactions, and engaging the biogeochemical cycle. Studying its impacts requires knowledge of the physical and chemical properties of the original particles from the source origin. Unfortunately, the field collection of atmospheric samples in the desert is impractical. Fine surface soil is thus considered an alternative material from which to obtain the information applicable to dust particles from the desert soil. In this study, a laboratory system was set up to generate dust particles with simulated natural wind erosion processes from surface soils or directly from desert surfaces. Surface soils and field dust were simultaneously collected during a local blowing dust event. The comparison between the laboratory-generated dust and the field dust showed a consistent trend in particle size distribution and chemical composition. The chemical compositions were found to have explainable differences with the Certified Reference Materials for Asian dust (CJ-2). The laboratory-generated dust particles with the system could be applied as surrogates for soil-emitted dust in desert areas.