A field observation on the albedo of the snowpack in Central Tibet was conducted in the Nam Co region in the winter of 2011. Snow properties, including grain size and density, were measured in the field, and surface-layer snow samples （down to 5 cm） were collected. The average concentrations of black carbon and dust were 72 ppbm （close to that in the glaciers of Mt. Nyainqentanglha） and 120 ppmm, respectively. Inverse trends were found to exist between the albedo of the snowpack and light-absorbing aerosols （LAAs） as well as grain size growth. Modeling showed that black carbon, dust, and grain growth in the winter snowpack can reduce the broadband albedo by 11%, 28%, and 61%, respectively.
Black carbon （BC） concentration and meteorological data are measured discontinuously from May 2009 to March 2011,at the Qilian Shan Station of Glaciology and Ecologic Environment （hereafter ＂QSSGEE＂）,located near the terminal of the Laohugou No.12 Glacier in northwestern Qilian Shan,China.We measured the daily,monthly and seasonal variations of BC concentration in the atmosphere and discussed the possible emission sources.Black carbon background concentration in this region varied in the range of 18–72 ng/m 3 with the highest in summer and the lowest in autumn.The relations between BC concentration and surface wind direction indicated that BC concentration was higher when northwest wind prevails while lower when southeast wind prevails.Air masses backward trajectories showed the potential emission sources in the northwest.Significant positive correlations between daily mean BC concentration and relative humidity indicated that BC might be one of important cloud condensation nuclei.This hypothesis needs to be confirmed further through cloud microphysical features in this region.
A continuous air and precipitation sampling for carbonaceous particles was conducted in a field observatory beside Nam Co, Central Tibetan Plateau during July of 2006 through January of 2007. Organic carbon （OC） was the dominant composition of the carbonaceous particles both in the atmosphere （1660 ng/m ^3 ） and precipitation （476 ng/g） in this area, while the average elemental carbon （BC） concentrations in the atmosphere and precipitation were only 82 ng/m 3 and 8 ng/g, respectively. Very high OC/BC ratio suggested local secondary organic carbon could be a dominant contribution to OC over the Nam Co region, while BC could be mainly originated from Southern Asia, as indicated by trajectory analysis and aerosol optical depth. Comparison between the BC concentrations measured in Lhasa, those at ＂Nepal Climate Observatory at Pyramid （NCO-P）＂ site on the southern slope of the Himalayas, and Nam Co suggested BC in the Nam Co region reflected a background with weak anthropogenic disturbances and the emissions from Lhasa might have little impact on the atmospheric environment here, while the pollutants from the Indo-Gangetic Basin of Southern Asia could be transported to the Nam Co region by both the summer monsoon and the westerly.
