Influence of the Anthropogenic Fugitive, Combustion, and Industrial Dust on Winter Air Quality in East Asia

We estimate the effects of the anthropogenic fugitive, combustion, and industrial dust (AFCID) on winter air quality in China and South Korea for November 2015–March 2016 using the Comprehensive Regional Emissions inventory for Atmospheric Transport Experiment (KU-CREATE) monthly anthropogenic emission inventory in conjunction with a nested version of GEOS-Chem. Including AFCID emissions in models results in a better agreement with observations and a reduced normalized mean bias of −28% compared to −40% without AFCID. Furthermore, we find that AFCID amounts to winter PM₁₀ concentrations of 17.9 μg m⁻³ (17%) in eastern China (30−40° N, 112−120° E) with the largest contribution of AFCID to winter PM₁₀ concentrations of up to 45 μg m⁻³ occurring in eastern China causing a significant impact on air quality to downwind regions. Including AFCID in the model results in an increase of simulated winter PM₁₀ concentrations in South Korea by 3.1 μg m⁻³ (9%), of which transboundary transport from China accounts for more than 70% of this increased PM₁₀ concentration. Our results indicate that AFCID is an essential factor for winter PM₁₀ concentrations over East Asia and its sources and physical characteristics need to be better quantified to improve PM air quality forecasts. View Full-Text