Acidic air pollutants dissolve iron in aerosols and fertilize the ocean.

Emissions from agricultural biomass burning (ABB) in northern China have a significant impact on the regional and global climate. The monthly average aerosol optical depth (AOD) at 550 nm in northern China in 2007 had a maximum of 0.7 in June. The AOD measurements are consistent with regional brown hazes that occurred at that time, which was a period of severe aerosol pollution. Aerosol particles were collected in urban Beijing from 12 to 30 June 2007, during a period of high haze, and studied using transmission electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry. The dominant particle types collected in the fine fraction (diameter <1 μm) were ammonium sulfate, soot, K₂SO₄, KNO₃, and organic matter, except that the K salts were minor between 21 and 30 June. K-rich particles as tracers of biomass burning, together with wildfire maps, show that intense regional ABB in northern China contributed significantly to the regional haze between 12 and 20 June. We therefore grouped the episodes into type-1 and -2 haze, with the former occurring between 12 and 20 June and the latter between 21 and 30 June. After long-range transport, ABB particles in the type-1 haze exhibited marked changes in morphology, composition, and mixing state. KCl particles were absent, presumably having been converted by heterogeneous reactions to K₂SO₄ and KNO₃. Soot particles were mixed with the other particle types. Abundant organic matter and soluble salts emitted by ABB increased their sizes during transport and resulted in more hygroscopic aerosol particles in downwind areas, becoming additional cloud condensation nuclei. The high AOD (average value 2.2) in Beijing during 12 to 20 June is partly explained by the hygroscopic growth of fine aerosol particles and by the strong absorption of internally mixed soot particles, both coming from regional ABB emissions. Therefore, it is important to consider the origins of the haze, which in turn leads to the different particle types.

Nitrate compounds have received much attention because of their ability to alter the hygroscopic properties and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activity of mineral dust particles in the atmosphere. However, very little is known about specific characteristics of ambient nitrate-coated mineral particles on an individual particle scale. In this study, sample collection was conducted during brown haze and dust episodes between 24 May and 21 June 2007 in Beijing, northern China. Sizes, morphologies, and compositions of 332 mineral dust particles together with their coatings were analyzed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) microanalyses. Structures of some mineral particles were verified using selected-area electron diffraction (SAED). TEM observation indicates that approximately 90% of the collected mineral particles are covered by visible coatings in haze samples whereas only 5% are coated in the dust sample. 92% of the analyzed mineral particles are covered with Ca-, Mg-, and Na-rich coatings, and 8% are associated with K- and S-rich coatings. The majority of coatings contain Ca, Mg, O, and N with minor amounts of S and Cl, suggesting that they are possibly nitrates mixed with small amounts of sulfates and chlorides. These nitrate coatings are strongly correlated with the presence of alkaline mineral components (e.g., calcite and dolomite). CaSO₄ particles with diameters from 10 to 500 nm were also detected in the coatings including Ca(NO₃)₂ and Mg(NO₃)₂. Our results indicate that mineral particles in brown haze episodes were involved in atmospheric heterogeneous reactions with two or more acidic gases (e.g., SO₂, NO₂, HCl, and HNO₃). Mineral particles that acquire hygroscopic nitrate coatings tend to be more spherical and larger, enhancing their light scattering and CCN activity, both of which have cooling effects on the climate.