Characterizing a Heavy Dust Storm Event in 2021: Transport, Optical Properties and Impact, Using Multi-Sensor Data Observed in Jinan, China

On 15 March 2021, the strongest sandstorm of the last 10 years occurred in China. The MODIS, MPL lidar, EDM 180, ADI 2080 and Meteorological observation instruments were used to observe the dust in Jinan, China, while the HYSPLIT model was also employed to find the source. It was found that the dust originated from Mongolia and the Gobi desert and was transported to Jinan at night on 14th March, lasting until the 18th. Multi-layer dust was observed, of which the dust below the height of 1 km was strongest with the VDR about 0.2 and the maximum extinction coefficient up to 3 km(-1). The values of AOD and AE were greater than 2 and less than 0.25, respectively. The mass concentrations of PM10 and PM2.5 increased rapidly, and were up to 573 mu g/m(3) and 3406 mu g/m(3), respectively. Additionally, the mass concentration ratio decreased rapidly, with a minimum of 17%. The particle size of the dust was mainly distributed between 0.58-6.50 micros due to larger particles increasing dramatically; simultaneously, both the proportion and the value for calcium ions in PM2.5 went up. The dust had an obvious impact on the vertical structure of the air temperature, resulting in occurrence of a strong inversion layer.

Automated summary

On 15 March 2021, the strongest sandstorm of the last 10 years occurred in China. The dust originated from Mongolia and the Gobi desert, and it lasted for 4 days in Jinan. The sandstorm resulted in multi-layer dust in the air, with the strongest dust layer below 1 km, and it had a significant impact on the vertical structure of air temperature.