Acid Rain and Below-Cloud Scavenging in South-Western China

Major urban areas in south-western China exhibit unique air pollutionproblems due to increasing use of high sulphur-content fuels in an environmentof unfavourable topography and climate. Ambient levels of sulphur dioxideexceed the air quality objectives, and this gas is the major precursor of acidrain. Cloudwater chemistry studies are reported for urban, suburban andcountryside locations, during the period 1985–1989. Although cloudwateracidity was found to increase towards the cloud base, the acidity was muchgreater for rainwater samples collected simultaneously, and was morepronounced in urban rather than neighbouring suburban or countryside regions.The main contribution to the acidity arises from below-cloud scavenging of gasand aerosol and model calculations are able to simulate this behaviour.     

On the effect of the chemical composition of atmospheric aerosol particles on nucleation scavenging and the formation of a cloud interstitial aerosol

Nucleation scavenging and the formation of a cloud interstitial aerosol (CIA) were theoretically studied in terms of the chemical composition of atmospheric aerosol particles. For this study, we used our air-parcel cloud model, which includes the entrainment of air and detailed microphysics, for determining the growth and interaction of aerosol particles and drops. Maritime and remote continental aerosol particle spectrums were used whose size distributions were superpositions of three log-normal distributions, each of a prescribed chemical composition. Our results show (1) that the CIA exhibits a size distribution with a distinctive cut-off at a specific radius of the dry as well as of the wet particle size distribution. All particles above this limiting size become activated to cloud drops and, thus, are not present in the CIA spectrum. This limiting size was found to be independent of the chemical composition of the particles and only dependent on the prevailing supersaturation. Below this specific size, the CIA spectrum becomes depleted of dry aerosol particles in a manner which does depend on their chemical composition and on the supersaturation in the air. (2) The number of aerosol particles nucleated to cloud drops depends critically on the chemical composition of the particles and on the prevailing supersaturation.     

Wet removal of highly soluble gases

Partition, not kinetics, ultimately determines the concentration of highly soluble gases in cloud droplets. Partition equations are formulated and applied to idealized air-mass thunderclouds and precipitating stratus. Contribution to aqueous concentrations from sub-cloud scavenging of highly soluble gases is estimated at between 10 and 20% under relatively unpolluted conditions. Data indicate that evaporation can produce enhancements in concentration of as much as a factor of 3. The calculations give large-scale mean coefficients of wet removal of highly soluble gases of about 2.8×10^-6 s^-1 (4-day residence time) for air-mass thunderclouds and precipitating stratus. Removal is so effective that the mean scale heights of these gases should be decreased to 2 km or less. The criterion of high solubility in this paper is that K ^H (Henry's Law coefficient) > 10⁵ mol l^-1 atm^-1. Gases that are effectively highly soluble include HCl, HNO₃, H₂SO₄, H₂O₂, NH₃ in acid droplets, SO₂ in oxidizing droplets (and probably some light amines and sulfonic acids), but not SO₂ in the absence of oxidants, nor HCHO. A variation of removal coefficient and scale height with solubility is presented. A comparison of atmospheric NH₃ concentrations deduced from rain NH₄ ⁺ and measured directly gives reasonable agreement.     

下沉气流对Z-I关系的影响

采用伽玛分布形式的雨滴谱表达式，讨论了下沉气流W对Z－I关系的影响。发现随着W（向下为正）增大，关系式Z＝AI^b中系数A值减小,b值增大。利用地面实测雨滴谱资料计算出不同下沉气流下Z、I后回归得到的A、b值，以及根据由平均谱拟合得到的伽玛分布参数计算出A、b值，它们随W改变的变化趋势，均与理论分析结果一致。还讨论了环境气压场p对Z－I关系的作用，气压减小时，A值减小，b值增大，但变化不如W影响时的变化影响。此外，结合实测雨滴谱资料，分析了雨滴平均谱特征以及相关物理量的演变过程。     

Locally modified surface winds on linear dunes as derived from directional raingauges

The study deals with local airflow patterns induced by 12–16 m high, partly vegetated dunes, under various prevailing wind conditions. Detailed empirical data were derived by means of an unconventional use of directional raingauges. The utility and accuracy of the method have been previously tested in a combined empirical and numerical study over ridges on a similar scale. Results are presented on the nature, extent and intensity of locally modified patterns of surface flow and on their dependence on wind conditions and slope inclination. Results may serve to verify or refine existing perceptions or models of the flow affecting sand movement over dunes. For example, deflected surface wind flow and even stationary vortices were found to form under winds with resultant angles of incidence of only 5–10° relative to the axes of the dunes, and on slopes inclined only 12–15°, i.e. lower angles than often assumed in previous studies of dune morphology. Various effects of the resulting surface flow on the dune ecosystem are also referred to, e.g. the distribution of settling dust and seed dispersal. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluation of an interrill soil erosion model using laboratory catchment data

Physically based soil erosion simulation models require input parameters of soil detachment and sediment transport owing to the action and interactions of both raindrops and overland flow. A simple interrill soil water transport model is applied to a laboratory catchment to investigate the application of raindrop detachment and transport in interrill areas explicitly. A controlled laboratory rainfall simulation study with slope length simulation by flow addition was used to assess the raindrop detachment and transport of detached soil by overland flow in interrill areas. Artificial rainfall of moderate to high intensity was used to simulate intense rain storms. However, experiments were restricted to conditions where rilling and channelling did not occur and where overland flow covered most of the surface. A simple equation with a rainfall intensity term for raindrop detachment, and a simple sediment transport equation with unit discharge and a slope term were found to be applicable to the situation where clear water is added at the upper end of a small plot to simulate increased slope length. The proposed generic relationships can be used to predict raindrop detachment and the sediment transport capacity of interrill flow and can therefore contribute to the development of physically‐based erosion models. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An intercomparison of four wet deposition schemes used in dust transport modeling

The characteristics of four wet deposition schemes widely used in dust modeling studies are examined within the framework of a regional scale dust model. Since these schemes are based on different formulations, the scavenging coefficients of them deviate by a factor of 10³ depending on precipitation rate and particle size. The four schemes coupled with the dust model are applied to simulate a 2002 Asian dust event. The corresponding wet deposition patterns and scavenging efficiencies are compared. It is found that apart from the scheme derived from scavenging coefficient measurements, the other three schemes give similar wet deposition patterns although their scavenging efficiencies are different depending on the particle-size range. The results suggest that the performances of these schemes are affected by the particle size distribution of the dust emission, together with the model's performance of precipitation prediction.     

Scavenging Efficiency of ‘Aerosol Carbon’ and Sulfate in Supercooled Clouds at Mt. Sonnblick (3106 m a.s.l., Austria)

Cloud water and interstitial aerosol samples collected at Mt. Sonnblick (SBO) were analyzed for sulfate and aerosol carbon to calculate in-cloud scavenging efficiencies. Scavenging efficiencies for sulfate (_SO) ranged from 0.52 to 0.99 with an average of 0.80. Aerosol carbon was scavenged less efficiently with an average value (_AC) of 0.45 and minimum and maximum values of 0.14 and 0.81, respectively. Both _SO and _AC showed a marked, but slightly different, dependence on the liquid water content (LWC) of the cloud. At low LWC, _SO increased with rising LWC until it reached a relatively constant value of 0.83 above an LWC of 0.3 g/m³. In the case of aerosol carbon, we obtained a more gradual increase of _AC up to an LWC of 0.5 g/m³. At higher LWCs, _{_} remained relatively constant at 0.60. As the differences between _SO and _A varied across the LWC range observed at SBO, we assume that part of the aerosol carbon was incorporated into the cloud droplets independently from sulfate. This hypothesis is supported by size classified aerosol measurements. The differences in the size distributions of sulfate and total carbon point to a partially external mixture. Thus, the different chemical nature and the differences in the size and mixing state of the aerosol particles are the most likely candidates for the differences in the scavenging behavior.     

坡面土壤侵蚀过程研究进展

基于土壤侵蚀发生方式,重点评述了坡面雨滴溅蚀、薄层水流侵蚀、细沟侵蚀和浅沟侵蚀的研究进展,指出了各自研究中存在的问题,并提出坡面侵蚀过程中亟待加强的研究领域。