ABSTRACTThe physical and optical properties of atmospheric aerosols at a suburban site in North China were continuously measured from July 20, 2014 to August 30, 2014. The particle number concentration (Na), mass concentration (Ma), geometric mean diameter (GMD), scattering coefficient (σsc), and Angstrom exponent (α) were calculated. The potential source contribution was also analyzed. The results revealed that the average Na, Ma, GMD, σsc, and α values reached 19653.2 cm–3, 17.7 µg m–3, 44.38 nm, 186.7 Mm–1, and 1.77, respectively, in non-rainy days and 14323.1 cm–3, 15.3 µg m–3, 44.98 nm, 226.9 Mm–1, and 1.87, respectively, in rainy days. Small-sized aerosols (< 100 nm) dominated the total aerosol numbers under clear conditions. The diurnal variation of Na showed one peak, usually appearing at 12:00, which could be correlated with new particle formation (NPF) events. Most NPF events began at 08:00–10:00 and continued until 12:00–14:00. The average particle formation rate (FR) and particle growth rate (GR) were 1.93 cm–3 s–1 and 7.24 nm h–1, respectively. The diurnal variation of Ma showed two peaks, at 7:00 and 21:00, which were caused by local or regional transport of urban plumes. A potential source contribution function (PSCF) analysis indicated that aerosol potential sources in Xinzhou were mainly concentrated in the relatively developed, densely populated areas, particularly in some areas to the east and southeast of Shanxi, and the PSCF values of these areas were higher than 0.6.