Asian Dust Storm Research Articles

Heterogeneous reaction of peroxyacetic acid and hydrogen peroxide on ambient aerosol particles under dry and humid conditions: kinetics, mechanism and implications

Abstract. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and organic peroxides play important roles in the cycle of oxidants and the formation of secondary aerosols in the atmosphere. Recent field observations have suggested that the budget of peroxyacetic acid (PAA, CH3C(O)OOH) is potentially related to the aerosol phase processes, especially to secondary aerosol formation. Here, we present the first laboratory measurements of the uptake coefficient of gaseous PAA and H2O2 onto ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) as a function of relative humidity (RH) at 298 K. The results show that the PM2.5, which was collected in an urban area, can take up PAA and H2O2 at the uptake coefficient (γ) of 10−4, and both γPAA and γH2O2 increase with increasing RH. The value of γPAA at 90 % RH is 5.4 ± 1.9 times that at 3 % RH, whereas γH2O2 at 90 % RH is 2.4 ± 0.5 times that at 3 % RH, which suggests that PAA is more sensitive to the RH variation than H2O2 is. Considering the larger Henry's law constant of H2O2 than that of PAA, the smaller RH sensitivity of the H2O2 uptake coefficient suggests that the enhanced uptake of peroxide compounds on PM2.5 under humid conditions is dominated by chemical processes rather than dissolution. Considering that mineral dust is one of the main components of PM2.5 in Beijing, we also determined the uptake coefficients of gaseous PAA and H2O2 on authentic Asian Dust storm (ADS) and Arizona Test Dust (ATD) particles. Compared to ambient PM2.5, ADS shows a similar γ value and RH dependence in its uptake coefficient for PAA and H2O2, while ATD gives a negative dependence on RH. The present study indicates that, in addition to the mineral dust in PM2.5, other components (e.g., soluble inorganic salts) are also important to the uptake of peroxide compounds. When the heterogeneous reaction of PAA on PM2.5 is considered, its atmospheric lifetime is estimated to be 3.0 h on haze days and 7.1 h on non-haze days, values that are in good agreement with the field observations.

Influence of Asian dust storms on daily acute myocardial infarction hospital admissions.

This study was the first to explore the relationship between Asian dust storm events (ADS) and acute myocardial infarction (AMI) hospital admissions by applying time series models. Nationwide population-based hospitalization claims data in Taiwan were used. There were 143,063 AMI admissions during 2000-2009. An autoregressive with exogenous variables (ARX) time series model was used to investigate the dynamic connection between AMI hospital admissions and ADS events. AMI hospitalizations significantly spiked on post-ADS day three. Among the total population, 3.2 more cases of AMI admissions occurred on post-ADS day three. When the data were stratified by age and gender, the same delayed effect was present in the male population, especially those aged 45-64 and over 74. Our study shows that although an ADS event does not cause an immediate incidence of AMI, storms may increase AMI incidence through a delayed effect. Hence, AMI prevention is not only important during a dust storm, but particularly so in subsequent days. During the days after an ADS, exposure to dust should be minimized by staying indoors as much as possible and by wearing a mask when exposure to dust is unavoidable. This is especially true for working and older adults. Nurses at local public health centers can increase awareness and promote public safety by providing health information to local communities regarding the link between dust storms and AMI.

On the Detection and Monitoring of the Transport of an Asian Dust Storm Using Multi-Sensor Satellite Remote Sensing

Dynamical and physical features of a long range transported dust event originating in China affecting Korea early March 2008 are examined using an integrative multi-sensor and multi-algorithm approach. Aerosol loadings and their size mode were analyzed over both ocean and land surfaces using the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aerosol optical depth (AOD), employing standard dark target (DT) and deep blue  (DB) algorithms, and the A…ngstrA¶m exponent (AE). Anthropogenic absorbing aerosols and smoke were found to be significant over the Indochina Peninsula, the Philippines and southern China, while a mixture of dust and pollution were predominant over central to northern China, as identified by the AE analysis and the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) spherecitiy and plume height. Remarkable aerosol absorptions in both the near ultraviolet (UV) and the visible were spread over central, central western and northern China, probably due to aerosol mixtures including desert dust and industrial pollution as well as smoke from biomass burning  as evidenced from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI). Long range transport is validated as dust storm reached up to 4–5 km vertically and a mixed cloud layer was identified over the Yellow Sea as disclosed by the vertical structure of dust aerosols as well as observed aerosols subtypes from Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO). The real time detection and monitoring of the dust outbreak and its subsequent evolution are available through the infrared optical depth index (IODI), developed from the MTSAT-1R geostationary satellite imager.

Field observation on secondary organic aerosols during Asian dust storm periods: Formation mechanism of oxalic acid and related compounds on dust surface

Chemical evolution of East Asian dust during transpacific transport has been given much attention for inorganic species such as sulfate, nitrate and ammonium. However, the role of organic species during the transport has almost entirely been ignored. To understand the formation mechanism of secondary organic aerosols (SOA) on dust surfaces, this study investigated the concentrations and compositions of dicarboxylic acids, keto-carboxylic acids, α-dicarbonyls and inorganic ions in size-segregated aerosols (9-stages) collected in Xi'an, central China during the two dust storm episodes in the springs of 2009 and 2011 and compared with those in nondust storm periods. During the events the ambient particulate dicarboxylic acids were 932–2240 ng m−3, which are comparable and even higher than those in nondust periods. Molecular compositions of the above SOA are similar to those in nondust periods with oxalic acid being the leading species. In the presence of the dust storms, all the above mentioned SOA species in Xi'an were predominantly enriched on the coarse particles (>2.1 μm), and oxalic acid well correlated with NO3− (R2 = 0.72, p < 0.001) rather than SO42−. This phenomenon differs greatly from the SOA in any other nondust period that is usually characterized by an enrichment of oxalic acid in fine mode and a strong correlation of oxalic acid with SO42−. We propose a formation pathway to explain these observations, in which nitric acid and/or nitrogen oxides react with dust to produce Ca(NO3)2 and form a liquid phase on the surface of dust aerosols via water vapor-absorption of Ca(NO3)2, followed by a partitioning of the gas-phase water-soluble organic precursors (e.g.,glyoxal and methylglyoxal) into the aqueous-phase and a subsequent oxidation into oxalic acid. To the best of our knowledge, we found for the first time the enrichment of glyoxal and methylglyoxal on dust surface. Our data suggest an important role of nitrate in the heterogeneous formation process of SOA on the surface of dust.

Fine particulate matter events associated with synoptic weather patterns, long-range transport paths and mixing height in the Taipei Basin, Taiwan

Asian dust storms (ADS) and PM2.5 (particle pollution) events have an evident influence on air quality in Taiwan. However, the synoptic weather patterns and atmospheric conditions on ADS days are not entirely similar to those related to PM2.5 event days. The aim of this study is to clarify the weather characteristics such as synoptic weather patterns, long-range transport paths, and stagnant conditions that precipitate PM2.5 events. Air quality and meteorological data from 2006 to 2013 were obtained from government-owned observation stations, and the mixing height was estimated in relation to the Nozaki planetary boundary layer height. This study used back trajectories as simulated gridded analysis data, which were based on kinematic trajectory analysis using NASA's GMAO (Global Modeling Assimilation Office) and NCEP (National Centers for Environmental Prediction) analyses. For testing the differences between means of two large, independent samples, the confidence interval of a common statistical indicator was employed. The results show that in comparison to low PM2.5 level days, weather features such as stagnant conditions, including low mixing height and low wind speed, low rainfall amount, and high solar hours, are favorable for inducing PM2.5 events. Eighty percent of the synoptic weather patterns on PM2.5 days were associated with either polar continental high pressure, a high-pressure system in mainland China moving from the continent to the sea, or a stationary front stretching from southern China to the East Sea, and moving eastwards. More than 81% of the contributing factors of the causes of PM2.5 events were found to be related to stagnant conditions. The pattern of the contributing factors causing the maximum-recorded concentration of PM2.5, (73.90 μg/m3) was attributed to local emissions, and a long-range transport time that was extended for a longer period over the land than over the sea. The synoptic weather patterns were also found to affect the spatial distribution of PM2.5 concentrations in the basin.

Element composition and source apportionment of atmospheric aerosols over the China Sea

Four categories of different size marine aerosols (PM1.0, PM1.0–2.5, PM2.5–10 and PM10–100) were collected from the Yellow Sea and East China Sea in the spring of 2011 and analyzed for 22 elements by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The enrichment factors and air mass backward trajectory analysis were used to identify the potential sources. During the sampling periods, two sampling areas were influenced by Asian Dust on the basis of Al concentrations (an indicator of mineral dust). Average mass concentrations of particles showed relatively higher values in the Yellow Sea except PM2.5-10. Al, Ba, Ca, Fe, Mg, Ti, Na, K, Pb, Zn, Cr, P and Zr were abundant elements and they accounted for more than 96% of the total concentrations of elements in all samples of the two areas. High levels of trace elements were associated with the airflow from Asia as the air passed over heavily populated and industrialized regions before reaching the northwest Pacific Ocean. For the crustal elements, there were higher levels in the East China Sea, while the anthropogenic elements showed higher levels in the Yellow Sea. These results indicated that Asian Dust Storm had more effects on East China Sea during the sampling periods, and Yellow Sea suffered from more influence by human activities. Size distribution analysis revealed that elements derived from crust and anthropogenic sources tend to reside in fine particles and owing to the long distance away from the land, the concentrations of anthropogenic elements in PM2.5 were slightly higher in the East China Sea than those in the Yellow Sea. The results also suggested that the impact of Asian Dust presented a downward trend from west to east and from north to south in general.

A multidisciplinary approach to trace Asian dust storms from source to sink

Tracing the source of dust storm (DS) in mega-cities of northern China currently suffers ambiguities from different approaches including source-sink proxy comparison, air mass back trajectory modeling, and satellite image monitoring. By integrating advantages of all three methods, we present a multidisciplinary approach to trace the provenance of dust fall in Xi'an during the spring season (March to May) of 2012. We collected daily dust fall to calculate dust flux variation, and detected eight DS events with remarkable high flux values based on meteorological comparison and extreme detection algorithm. By combining MODIS images and accompanying real-time air mass back trajectories, we attribute four of them as natural DS events and the other four as anthropogenic DS events, suggesting the importance of natural and anthropogenic processes in supplying long-range transported dust. The primary sources of these DS events were constrained to three possible areas, including the northern Chinese deserts, Taklimakan desert, and Gurbantunggut desert. Proxy comparisons based upon the quartz crystallinity index and oxygen isotope further confirmed the source-to-sink linkage between the natural DS events in Xi'an and the dust emissions from the northern Chinese deserts. The integration of geochemical and meteorological tracing approaches favors the dominant contribution of short-distance transportation of modern dust fall on the Chinese Loess Plateau. Our study shows that the multidisciplinary approach could permit a better source identification of modern dust and should be applied properly for tracing the provenance fluctuations of geological dust deposits.

A time series analysis of multiple ambient pollutants to investigate the underlying air pollution dynamics and interactions

Understanding the temporal dynamics and interactions of particulate matter (PM) concentration and composition is important for air quality control. This paper applied a dynamic factor analysis method (DFA) to reveal the underlying mechanisms of nonstationary variations in twelve ambient concentrations of aerosols and gaseous pollutants, and the associations with meteorological factors. This approach can consider the uncertainties and temporal dependences of time series data. The common trends of the yearlong and three selected diurnal variations were obtained to characterize the dominant processes occurring in general and specific scenarios in Taipei during 2009 (i.e., during Asian dust storm (ADS) events, rainfall, and under normal conditions). The results revealed the two distinct yearlong NOx transformation processes, and demonstrated that traffic emissions and photochemical reactions both critically influence diurnal variation, depending upon meteorological conditions. During an ADS event, transboundary transport and distinct weather conditions both influenced the temporal pattern of identified common trends. This study shows the DFA method can effectively extract meaningful latent processes of time series data and provide insights of the dominant associations and interactions in the complex air pollution processes.

Source Apportionment of Submicron Particle Size Distribution and PM2.5 Composition during an Asian Dust Storm Period in Two Urban Atmospheres

Asian dust storms (ADS), coming from deserts of China and Mongolia, have serious environmental impact on particulate matter (PM) and other pollutants in Taiwan. This study selected two urban sites, Taipei and Kaohsiung, to evaluate the influence of ADS on air quality. During the ADS periods, the hourly PM10 mass concentrations were 800 µg m–3 in Taipei and the 400 µg m–3 in Kaohsiung, which was three to five times higher than PM episodes during the non-ADS periods. By using the principal component analysis (PCA) manner, the potential sources, the dust storm contained, can be successfully identified during ADS periods. The other potential sources can be identified as vehicular emission and secondary organic aerosols from local area. There have been many studies conducted on the impact of ADS on airborne coarse particle concentration, but very few on fine particle concentration. This study focused on, using PCA for analysis and discussion, the impact of ADS on submicron particle size distribution. The results showed that there was no close relationship between the ADS and Aitken mode (30–100 nm or D30–100nm) or accumulation mode (from 0.1–1 µm). However, it was found that strong correlation existed between the ADS and nucleation mode (10–30 nm or D10–30nm). In addition, it was found that nucleation mode appeared first, followed by an air plume of dust particles twelve (12) hours later. The nucleation component from the PCA could be used as predictors of arrival time for an ADS. Taking into account the effects of meteorological conditions and employing technique of backward trajectories, PCA can be utilized as a powerful tool to better identify the source of dust storms and provide accurate results.

Effect of exposure to an Asian dust storm on fractional exhaled nitric oxide in adult asthma patients in Western Japan.

Epidemiological investigations indicate that an Asian dust storm (ADS) can aggravate respiratory disorders. However, the effects of ADS on airway inflammation remain unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of exposure to ADS with airway inflammation. The subjects were 33 adult patients with asthma who measured daily peak flow expiratory (PEF) from March to May 2012. Fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) was measured before and after ADS. The FeNO values were 13.8±13.7 ppb before the ADS and 20.3±19.0 ppb after the ADS, with no significant difference. There was also no significant association of PEF with ADS exposure. However, the increase of FeNO after ADS exposure was proportional to the decrease of PEF (R=-0.78, P<0.0001). These results suggest that airway inflammation aggravated by ADS exposure may induce a decrease in pulmonary function in some adult patients with asthma.

Temporal and Spatial Variations in Fine and Coarse Particles in Seoul, Korea

Concentrations of fine (PM2.5) and coarse (PM10–2.5) particles, whose aerodynamic diameters are less than or equal to 2.5 µm, and greater than 2.5 and less than or equal to 10 µm, respectively, at ambient air monitoring stations in Seoul between 2002 and 2008 were analyzed. Effects of Asian dust are mainly manifested as concentration spikes of PM10–2.5, but were considerable on PM2.5 levels in 2002 when Asian dust storms were the strongest. Excluding the effects of Asian dust, annual average PM2.5 showed a downward trend. Despite a similarity in year-to-year variations, PM10–2.5, mostly affected by fugitive dust emissions, and CO and NO2, primarily affected by motor vehicle emissions, did not show a decrease. PM2.5 along with CO and NO2 had peak concentration during the morning rush hour; the PM10–2.5 peak lagged one hour behind the PM2.5 peak. On high PM2.5 days, PM2.5 peaks occurred two hours later than usual as the effects of secondary formation through photochemical reactions became more important. A test for the spatial variability shows that PM10–2.5, which is known to be greatly influenced by local effects, is lower in its correlation coefficient and higher in its coefficient of divergence (COD, which serves as an indicator for spatial variability) than PM2.5, albeit by only a small difference. The average COD of PM2.5 among monitoring stations was about 0.2 but was lowered to 0.13 when considering high PM2.5 days only, signifying that spatial uniformity increases due to the pervasive influence of photochemical reactions.

Investigation of Three-Dimensional Evolution of East Asian Dust Storm by Modeling and Remote Sensing Measurements

The three-dimensional evolution of an East Asian dust storm during 23–26 April 2009 was investigated by utilizing a regional air quality model system (RAQMS) and satellite measurements. This severe dust storm hit Mt. Tai in east China with daily mean PM10concentration reaching 1400 μg/m3and the model captured the PM10variation reasonably well. Modeled spatial distributions of AOD and vertical profiles of aerosol extinction coefficient during the dust storm were compared with MODIS and CALIPSO data, demonstrating that RAQMS was able to reproduce the 3D structure and the evolution of the dust storm reasonably well. During early days of the dust storm, daily mean dust-induced AOD exceeded 2.0 over dust source regions (the Gobi desert and the Taklamakan desert) and was in a range of 1.2–1.8 over the North China Plain, accounting for about 98% and up to 90% of total AOD over corresponding areas, respectively. The top of the dust storm reached about 8 km over east China, with high dust concentration locating at around 40°N. Dust aerosol below 2 km was transported southeastward off the Gobi desert while dust above 2 km was transported out of China along 40°–45°N.

Influence of Asian dust particles on immune adjuvant effects and airway inflammation in asthma model mice.

ObjectiveAn Asian dust storm (ADS) contains airborne particles that affect conditions such as asthma, but the mechanism of exacerbation is unclear. The objective of this study was to compare immune adjuvant effects and airway inflammation induced by airborne particles collected on ADS days and the original ADS soil (CJ-1 soil) in asthma model mice.MethodsAirborne particles were collected on ADS days in western Japan. NC/Nga mice were co-sensitized by intranasal instillation with ADS airborne particles and/or Dermatophagoides farinae (Df), and with CJ-1 soil and/or Df for 5 consecutive days. Df-sensitized mice were stimulated with Df challenge intranasally at 7 days after the last Df sensitization. At 24 hours after challenge, serum allergen specific antibody, differential leukocyte count and inflammatory cytokines in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were measured, and airway inflammation was examined histopathologically.ResultsCo-sensitization with ADS airborne particles and Df increased the neutrophil and eosinophil counts in BALF. Augmentation of airway inflammation was also observed in peribronchiolar and perivascular lung areas. Df-specific serum IgE was significantly elevated by ADS airborne particles, but not by CJ-1 soil. Levels of interleukin (IL)-5, IL-13, IL-6, and macrophage inflammatory protein-2 were higher in BALF in mice treated with ADS airborne particles.ConclusionThese results suggest that substances attached to ADS airborne particles that are not in the original ADS soil may play important roles in immune adjuvant effects and airway inflammation.

Evolution of aerosol chemistry in Xi'an, inland China, during the dust storm period of 2013 – Part 1: Sources, chemical forms and formation mechanisms of nitrate and sulfate

Abstract. A total suspended particulate (TSP) sample was collected hourly in Xi'an, an inland megacity of China near the Loess Plateau, during a dust storm event of 2013 (9 March 18:00−12 March 10:00 LT), along with a size-resolved aerosol sampling and an online measurement of PM2.5. The TSP and size-resolved samples were determined for elemental carbon (EC), organic carbon (OC), water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) and nitrogen (WSON), inorganic ions and elements to investigate chemistry evolution of dust particles. Hourly concentrations of Cl−, NO3−, SO42−, Na+ and Ca2+ in the TSP samples reached up to 34, 12, 180, 72 and 28 μg m−3, respectively, when dust peak arrived over Xi'an. Chemical compositions of the TSP samples showed that during the whole observation period NH4+ and NO3− were linearly correlated with each other (r2=0.76) with a molar ratio of 1 : 1, while SO42− and Cl− were well correlated with Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+ and K+ (r2 &gt; 0.85). Size distributions of NH4+ and NO3− presented a same pattern, which dominated in the coarse mode (&gt; 2.1 μm) during the event and predominated in the fine mode (&lt; 2.1 μm) during the non-event. SO42− and Cl− also dominated in the coarse mode during the event hours, but both exhibited two equivalent peaks in both the fine and the coarse modes during the non-event, due to the fine-mode accumulations of secondarily produced SO42− and biomass-burning-emitted Cl- and the coarse-mode enrichments of urban soil-derived SO42− and Cl−. Linear fit regression analysis further indicated that SO42− and Cl− in the dust samples possibly exist as Na2SO4, CaSO4 and NaCl, which directly originated from Gobi desert surface soil, while NH4+ and NO3− in the dust samples exist as NH4NO3. We propose a mechanism to explain these observations in which aqueous phase of dust particle surface is formed via uptake of water vapor by hygroscopic salts such as Na2SO4 and NaCl, followed by heterogeneous formation of nitrate on the liquid phase and subsequent absorption of ammonia. Our data indicate that 54 ± 20% and 60 ± 23% of NH4+ and NO3− during the dust period were secondarily produced via this pathway, with the remaining derived from the Gobi desert and Loess Plateau, while SO42− in the event almost entirely originated from the desert regions. Such cases are different from those in the East Asian continental outflow region, where during Asia dust storm events SO42− is secondarily produced and concentrates in sub-micrometer particles as (NH4)2SO4 and/or NH4HSO4. To the best of our knowledge, the current work for the first time revealed an infant state of the East Asian dust ageing process in the regions near the source, which is helpful for researchers to understand the panorama of East Asian dust ageing process from the desert area to the downwind region.

Acute increase of children's conjunctivitis clinic visits by Asian dust storms exposure - a spatiotemporal study in Taipei, Taiwan.

Adverse health impacts of Asian dust storms (ADS) have been widely investigated and discussed in respiratory disease, but no study has examined the association between ADS events and their impact on eye diseases, especially in children. The impact of ADS events on the incidence of children's conjunctivitis is examined by analyzing the data from children's clinic visits registered in the 41 districts of Taipei area in Taiwan during the period 2002–2007. The structural additive regression modeling approach was used to assess the association between ADS events and clinic visits for conjunctivitis in children with consideration of day-of-the-week effects, temperature, and air quality levels. This study identifies an acute increase in the relative rate for children's conjunctivitis clinic visits during ADS periods with 1.48% (95% CI = 0.79, 2.17) for preschool children (aged <6 years old) and 9.48% (95% CI = 9.03, 9.93) for schoolchildren (aged ≥6 years old), respectively. The relative rates during post-ADS periods were still statistically significant, but much lower than those during ADS periods. The spatial analysis presents geographic heterogeneity of children's conjunctivitis clinic visits where higher relative rates were more likely observed in the most populated districts Compared to previous ADS studies related to respiratory diseases, our results reveals significantly acute impacts on children's conjunctivitis during ADS periods, and much influence on schoolchildren. Vulnerable areas were also identified in high density population.

Effects of Asian Dust Storm Events on Enterovirus Infection with Severe Complications in Taiwan

Background: Dust storm has been reported to increase bacteria, fungi and virus in ambient air of the downwind area. In Taiwan, the outbreak of enterovirus infection usually began from the end of the dust storm season when is the peak of Asian dust storm (ASD) occurrence. However, the association between enterovirus infection and ASD events has not been explored. Aim: To evaluate the impacts of ASD events on the occurrence of enterovirus infection with severe complications (EVSC) in Taiwan. Methods: A time-stratified 2:1 matched-period case-crossover design was utilized in this study. We compared each case with self-controlled data using a conditional logistic regression analysis and estimated hazard ratios (HRs) for the occurrence of cases. The city, temperature, temperature difference, and rainfall were adjusted. EVSC and meteorological data were acquired from Central Weather Bureau and Taiwan Centers for Disease Control in Taiwan from 2002-2008, respectively. The arrival of ASD events in Taiwan was identified by Taiwan Environmental Protection Agency and Lin et al. (2012, Atmospheric Environment 60: 403-418). Results: There were 2099 EVSC cases and 110 ASD event days in Taiwan from 2002-2008. For lag day- 0 to 15, the elevated incidence risk of EVSC was associated with the arrival of Asian dust storm by increasing lag period from 0 to 7 days (HRs = 1.826 to 3.135). However, the risks were dramatically decreased 8-15 days after ADS. Additionally, Asian dust storm events with 6- and 7-day were significantly and positively associated with the EVSC occurrence, the adjusted HRs were 3.143 (95% CI = 1.196-8.255) and 3.135 (95% CI = 1.023-9.603), respectively. These results give a possibility that ADS may bring enterovirus to the downwind area, thereby increasing the infection risk. Conclusion: ASD events may increase the risk of the reporting EVSC cases, particularly significant at 6- and 7-day lag.

The threat of Asian dust storms on asthma patients: A population-based study in Taiwan

This study explores the relationship between Asian dust storms (ADSs), asthma hospital admissions and average medical cost discharge. We adopt the hospitalisation data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance research database covering the period from 2000 to 2009. The autoregressive integrated moving average with exogenous variables (ARIMAX) analyses were performed to explore the relationship between ADS and asthma hospital admissions, adjusting for temperature, air pollutants and season dummy. The results show that ADS events do generate a critical influence upon the occurrences of asthma on post-ADS events from days 1 through 3, with an average of 17–20 more hospitalised admissions, and have stronger effects on preschool children, middle-aged people and the elderly. From the perspective of medical expenses, the cost of hospitalised admissions for asthma substantially rises daily, on average, by NT$634,698 to NT$787,407 during ADS event days. This study suggests that government should establish a forecast and alert system and release warnings about dust storms, so that the individuals predisposed to asthma can take precautionary measures to reduce their outdoor exposure. Consequently, personal risk and medical expenditure could be reduced significantly, especially for preschool children, middle-aged people and the elderly with asthma.

Episodic events imposed on the seasonal nutrient dynamics of an upwelling system off northeastern Taiwan

An upwelling center has been frequently observed on the shelf break of the East China Sea (ECS) off northeastern Taiwan, where the Kuroshio encounters an abrupt shoaling topography. The region is also located under the track of Asian dust (AD) storms and frequently disturbed by typhoons. To examine the seasonal nutrient dynamics of the upwelling and the potential impacts of these episodic events, transect stations across the upwelling center were visited at intervals of 1–3months from November 2003 to January 2005. The results of the water temperature profiles indicated that the upwelling persisted throughout the year with the most intensified events occurring in winter. Seasonally, a higher nitrate concentration was observed during the stronger upwelling period. The highest nitrate value was however observed during an AD storm, with an average value of 8.3μM for the top 30m. Interestingly, the N/P ratio was larger than 16 during these episodic events, and the N/P ratios were equal to or smaller than 16 during other periods. On average, the estimated values from wet deposition constituted 17.3% of the total estimated nitrogen input. This suggests that atmospheric deposition, particularly during the episodic events, might be an important external nutrient source.

An early South Asian dust storm during March 2012 and its impacts on Indian Himalayan foothills: A case study

The impacts of an early South Asian dust storm that originated over the western part of the Middle East and engulfed northwest parts of India during the third week of March 2012 have been studied at four different stations covering India and Pakistan. The impacts of this dust storm on aerosol optical properties were studied in detail at Delhi, Jodhpur, Lahore and Karachi. The impact could also be traced up to central Himalayan foothills at Manora Peak. During dust events, the aerosol optical depth (AOD) at 500nm reached a peak value of 0.96, 1.02, 2.17 and 0.49 with a corresponding drop in Ångström exponent (AE for 440–870nm) to 0.01, −0.02, 0.00 and 0.12 at Delhi, Jodhpur, Lahore and Karachi, respectively. The single scattering albedo (SSA) at 675nm was relatively lower at Delhi (0.87) and Jodhpur (0.86), with absorption Ångström exponent (AAE) less than 1.0, but a large value of SSA was observed at Lahore (0.98) and Karachi (0.93), with AAE value greater than 1.0 during the event. The study of radiative impact of dust aerosols revealed a significant cooling at the surface and warming in the atmosphere (with corresponding large heating rate) at all the stations during dust event. The effect of this dust storm was also seen at Manora Peak in central Himalayas which showed an enhancement of ~28% in the AOD at 500nm. The transport of dust during such events can have severe climatic implications over the affected plains and the Himalayas.

Effects of Asian dust on the atmospheric input of trace elements to the East China Sea

The long-range transport of Asian dust (AD) can carry large quantities of trace elements to the marginal seas of the Northwest Pacific, and the deposition of soluble fractions of aerosol elements may significantly impact the primary productivity and ecosystem structure. Samples of total suspended particulates (TSP) and size-segregated aerosols were collected synchronously at Huaniao Island in the East China Sea (ECS) between April 2010 and March 2011 and then analyzed for the total and soluble fractions of 14 trace elements. Twelve AD events were identified in the spring and autumn of the sampling year based on official records of AD storms from the China Meteorological Administration and verified by the high Al concentration in the aerosol samples. The dry deposition flux of the total or soluble fraction of each analyzed aerosol element was estimated using its concentration in the TSP samples and dry deposition velocity derived from the size-segregated samples. The dry deposition velocity varied from 0.7cms−1 for total Pb to 1.5cms−1 for total Al based on the mass median diameters (MMD) of 1.6 and 4.9μm, respectively, of associated particles. During AD events, the mean concentrations of the total and soluble fractions of Al, Fe, Mn, P and Ba increased significantly and led to enhanced dry deposition fluxes of these elements to the ECS (over a factor of 3 for the total and over 30% for the soluble fraction). The concentrations of the soluble fractions of anthropogenically derived elements (As, Cd, Cu, Pb, V and Zn) during AD events were lower than at other times and resulted in lower dry deposition fluxes. Asian dust events were associated with higher than average dry deposition fluxes of soluble Fe and P and lower fluxes of soluble Cu and Zn.