Evolution of dust aerosol single-scattering properties during transport

Natural dust aerosols emitted from deserts can be entrained into the atmosphere and be transported by the general circulation to remote areas. During the transport process, dust aerosols undergo noticeable variations in their compositions and microphysical and optical properties. For example, dusts originated from rural area have been found to coagulate with soot particles when they were transported through polluted urban region. In this study, we use synergetic satellite and ground-based measurements to compare the dust aerosol single-scattering properties in the source region and the downstream urban area in East Asia. Collocated Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectro-radiometer (MODIS) and the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) data is used to quantify the spatial and temporal variations of dust properties. Further validations have been done in comparison with Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) observations. Single-column broadband radiative transfer model (i.e. RRTM) simulations are also implemented to investigate the uncertainty in dust aerosol direct radiative forcing due to the dust property changes.