[Microphysics of atmospheric aerosols during winter haze/fog events in Nanjing]

Intensive field observations of fog/haze events, including simultaneous measurements of aerosol particle and fog droplet size distributions, were conducted in Nanjing in November, 2007. Four weather conditions (fog, mist, wet haze and haze) were distinguished based on visibility and liquid water content firstly. Then, the microphysical characteristics of coarse and fine particles in each condition were investigated. The results showed the dominant sequence of the four weather conditions was haze<-->mist-->wet haze-->fog-->, wet haze-->mist<-->haze. The lasting time of pre-fog wet haze was longer than that of post-fog wet haze. The number, surface area and volume concentration of coarse particles with diameter larger than 2.0 micron in fog were much higher than those in the other three conditions, and the smallest concentrations were observed in haze. The size distributions of surface area and volume concentration exhibited multi-peak in fog droplets, while it showed single peak for coarse particles in haze, mist and wet haze. For the fine particles with diameter larger than 0.010 microm, the spectral shapes of surface area concentration are similar in fog (mist) and wet haze (haze) condition. The dominant size ranges of fine particle number concentration were in 0.04-0.13 microm and 0.02-0.14 microm for fog and wet haze, separately. The same dominant size ranges located in 0.02-0.06 microm for both mist and haze. During the transition processes from haze, mist and wet haze to fog, the concentration of smaller particles (less than 0.060-0.090 microm) reduced and vice versa for the corresponding larger particles. Temporal variation of aerosol number concentration correlated well with the root mean diameters negatively during the observation period. The number concentration of aerosol was the lowest and the mean diameter was the largest in fog periods.