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Arid Land Geography ›› 2022, Vol. 45 ›› Issue (2): 346-358.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000–6060.2021.221

• Climatology and Hydrology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Spatiotemporal variation characteristics of aerosol optical depth in Xinjiang from 2003 to 2019

YU Zhixiang1,2(),LI Xia1(),YU Xiaojing3,4,ZHENG Yu5,Manlen AYITKEN1,LI Shuting1,WANG Nan1   

  1. 1. Institute of Desert Meteorology, Chinese Meteorological Administration, Urumqi 830002, Xinjiang, China
    2. Urumqi Meteorological Satellite Ground Station, Urumqi 830011, Xinjiang, China
    3. LASG, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China
    4. University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
    5. Institute of Atmospheric Composition and Environmental Meteorology, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
  • Received:2021-05-11 Revised:2021-08-07 Online:2022-03-25 Published:2022-04-02
  • Contact: Xia LI E-mail:676854355@qq.com;susannaryy@163.com

Abstract:

Aerosol optical depth (AOD) is the integration of the aerosol extinction coefficient in the vertical direction, which is an important indicator of air pollution. Based on the MODIS Aqua Aerosol L2 products, the temporal and spatial variation characteristics of AOD in Xinjiang, China from 2003 to 2019 were analyzed. First, the MODIS AOD was verified based on the Chinese Aerosol Optical Property Network AOD data, with a correlation coefficient of 0.6381 and an expected error of 65%. Then, the Spearman rank correlation test was used to analyze the annual mean variation of AOD, and 14 main AOD regions were extracted to analyze the annual linear trend. The results show that the climatology of AOD presents obvious regional characteristics in Xinjiang, with higher values over southern Xinjiang than northern Xinjiang. The AOD center located over the Tarim Basin, with mean values exceeding 0.6, is highly related to dust weather. The AOD center located along the economic belt of the north slope of the Tianshan Mountains, with an average value of about 0.3, is mainly affected by human economic activities. Therefore, natural and anthropogenic aerosols are responsible for the air pollution in Xinjiang. In terms of seasonal change, AOD is the most in spring (0.45); however, it is the least in autumn (0.15). Furthermore, the seasonal change in AOD in southern Xinjiang is more significant than in northern Xinjiang for the dust weather. The monthly mean AOD increases from January to April and decreases from May to December, with a range of 0.11-0.51. For the long-term trend, the AOD shows an increasing tendency in the economic belt of the north slope of the Tianshan Mountains and decreasing tendency in desert regions.

Key words: MODIS, aerosol optical depth (AOD), sun photometer, distribution characteristics, variation trend