Comparison of Key Absorption and Optical Properties Between Pure and Transported Anthropogenic Dust over East and Central Asia

Abstract. Asian dust particulate is one of the primary aerosol constituents in the Earth–atmosphere system that exerts profound influences on environmental quality, human health, the marine biogeochemical cycle, and Earth's climate. To date, the absorptive capacity of dust aerosol generated from the Asian desert region is still an open question. In this article, we compile columnar key absorption and optical properties of mineral dust over East and Central Asian areas by utilizing the multiyear quality-assured datasets observed at 13 sites of the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET). We identify two types of Asian dust according to threshold criteria from previously published literature. (1) The particles with high aerosol optical depth at 440 nm (AOD 440  ≥  0.4) and a low Angstrom wavelength exponent at 440–870 nm ( α 440  ≥  0.4 and 0.2  α α α