Source Apportionment of Atmospheric Iron in Northern China Based on 3‐Year Continuous Measurements
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Atmospheric iron (Fe) impacts atmospheric chemistry and marine ecosystems. However, the scarcity of long‐term observations limits insights into its source variations that may reflect emission controls. From September 2016 to December 2019, Fe in atmospheric fine particles (PM 2.5 ) was measured in Beijing. Positive Matrix Factorization was used to apportion Fe sources. Results showed nearly 50% of Fe originated from anthropogenic sources, primarily industrial processes (30%) and coal combustion (17%). Although PM 2.5 concentrations decreased significantly, the Fe component of PM 2.5 did not show a significant decline. Instead, annual source contributions changed with dust source rising from 45% to 61%, while combustion sources decreased from 27% to 12%. Dust Fe aligned better with monthly MERRA‐2 dust extinction coefficients than hourly data, suggesting the limitations of MERRA‐2 in resolving hourly changes in dust. Anthropogenic Fe correlated with labile Fe, indicating anthropogenic emission reductions in Asia could decrease labile Fe supply to downwind oceans.
Source: Geophysical Research Letters
DOI: 10.1029/2024gl114462
Authors: Tianle Zhang, Yaxin Xiang, Yue Liu, Caiqing Yan, Bingxing Zhu, Xiaomeng Liu, Xuehua Fan, Yinan Wang, Haoran Zhang, Yuntao Wang, Shuangling Chen, Fei Chai, Tong Zhu, Mei Zheng
Institutions: Peking University, Shandong University, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Ministry of Natural Resources, Second Institute of Oceanography, State Key Laboratory of Satellite Ocean Environment Dynamics, Xiamen University, State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science
Language: English
Subfield: Atmospheric Science
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Climate action
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,190
Award: G5799914027
OpenAlex ID: W4415618744