Previous studies have shown that dust aerosols may accelerate the melting of snow and glaciers over the Tibetan Plateau. To investigate the vertical structure of dust aerosols, we conducted a ground-based observation by using multi-wavelength polarization lidar which is designed for continuous network measurements. In this study, we used the lidar observation from September to October 2020 at the Ruoqiang site (39.0°N, 88.2°E; 894 m ASL), located at the junction of the Taklimakan Desert–Tibetan Plateau. Our results showed that dust aerosols can be lifted up to 5 km from the ground, which is comparable with the elevation of the Tibetan Plateau in autumn with a mass concentration of 400–900 μg m⁻³. Moreover, the particle depolarization ratio (PDR) of the lifted dust aerosols at 532 nm and 355 nm are 0.34 ± 0.03 and 0.25 ± 0.04, respectively, indicating the high degree of non-sphericity in shape. In addition, extinction-related Ångström exponents are very small (0.11 ± 0.24), implying the large values in size. Based on ground-based lidar observation, this study proved that coarse non-spherical Taklimakan dust with high concentration can be transported to the Tibetan Plateau, suggesting its possible impacts on the regional climate and ecosystem.

Understanding the vertical structures of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and ice-nucleating particle (INP) number concentrations in desert source regions is crucial for examining dust-cloud interactions and other related impacts. To explore the vertical profiles of the CCN and INP number concentrations and their possible atmospheric–dynamic influence factors at the center of the Taklimakan Desert, intensive observations were conducted by employing a ground-based polarization Raman lidar, sounding balloons, and a sun photometer in Tazhong (83.39° E, 38.58° N, 1103 m above sea level) during the summer of 2019. Based on the GRASP algorithm, the extinction-to-volume conversion factor of dust aerosols was 0.85 × 10⁻¹² Mmm³ m⁻³, and the extinction-to-number conversion factor was predicted to be 0.20 Mm cm⁻³ on the basis of the sun photometer observations. Thus, the vertical CCN and INP number concentration profiles obtained with different parameterization schemes in the presence of various pollution levels were calculated by combining dust extinction coefficients retrieved by lidar and meteorological data observed by sounding balloon observations. The achieved results indicated that the CCN number concentration varied from 10⁻² to 10² cm⁻³ and decreased from ground level to 12 km with an average value of 36.57 cm⁻³ at the 10–12 km height range, while the INP number concentration based on parameterization schemes D10 and D15 mainly varied from 10⁻¹ to 10² L⁻¹ and from 1 L⁻¹ to 10³ L⁻¹, with average values of 3.50 L⁻¹ and 7.80 L⁻¹, respectively. Moreover, we observed a strong relationship between the INP number concentration of scheme D10 and the wind speed, with an R² value of 0.72, but a weak relationship between the CCN number concentration and the relative humidity in the boundary layer, with a Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient R² value of 0.38. The present study provides original and valuable information regarding the CCN and INP number concentrations and their related influencing factors at the center of the Taklimakan Desert and can improve our understanding of the vertical distributions of dust–cloud–atmosphere dynamic interactions, as well as of the roles of dust aerosols in the desert hydrological cycle.

Taklimakan dust is known to be transported over long distances to the Tibetan Plateau, significantly impacting its climates and ecosystems. However, information on how dust aerosols affect airborne microorganisms is still lacking. In the summer of 2019, we simultaneously collected air samples from the Tibetan Plateau (Ali) and the Taklimakan Desert (Minfeng and Tazhong) and analyzed them using high‐throughput DNA sequencing techniques. We found that the diversity of airborne bacteria decreased by 42.2% during dust events. Taklimakan dust contributed 85.4% ± 2.1% of airborne bacteria on the Plateau. Moreover, the potential pathogens and bacterial ice nuclei (IN) in the Plateau increased by 16.4% and 73.8%, respectively. Our study provides novel insights into the impact of dust‐coated bacteria on the climate and ecosystem across the Tibetan Plateau.

The vertical distribution of dust modulates its radiative forcing and long‐range transport, yet the diurnal relationship between dust layer height (DLH) and atmospheric boundary layer height (ABLH) remains poorly constrained by observations. Here, we present the first hourly, 4‐km‐resolution DLH climatology over the Taklimakan Desert (2018–2023) derived from FY‐4A geostationary satellite observations using a validated Random Forest model ( R = 0.72, RMSE = 0.39 km). DLH exhibits a unimodal diurnal cycle peaking at 13:00 local time, with a seasonal maximum in summer and a spatial pattern of higher values in the west and south and lower values in the east and north. The ABLH peaks approximately 3 hr after the DLH peak, revealing a robust time lag between dust vertical redistribution and boundary layer development. These findings provide critical observational constraints for improving aerosol vertical distribution parameterizations and dust‐boundary layer interactions in weather and climate models, particularly over complex terrain.