Investigation of relevant processes of aerosol pollution in Beijing - source identification, elemental composition and bio-availability with respect to different land use types

几十年来，北京一直遭受严重的大气污染。北京大气气溶胶的来源是多方面的。一方面，人为的沙尘源正在污染这个特大城市的大气，另一方面，北京必须科普来自戈壁和塔克拉玛干沙漠的强沙尘暴。任何未来的可持续城市规划都迫切需要全面了解气溶胶的产生、分布、转化过程、沉积和组成。应采用跨学科和国际方法（中国和德国的5个不同研究小组）调查主要排放源的元素和矿物组成。将建立指纹识别系统。应代表性地收集和分析城市地区的气溶胶矿物和元素含量，其方式应反映典型的土地使用类型（排放源组合）以及由于来自沙漠的远距离迁移和由于来自裸露土壤或煤堆的短程迁移而产生的自然源的影响。碳具有特殊的作用，因为它存在于几个不同的阶段，如烟尘、生物成分、有机碳或碳酸盐，有助于确定排放源。因此，将对气溶胶地球化学的空间分布进行分析，并确定排放源，以此作为模拟建模的基础，从而制定有效的缓解措施。此外，应结合对可能的毒性效应和影响颗粒物质的进一步化学反应的环境评估，调查气溶胶中元素的生物利用率和化学形态。

Beijing suffers from severe atmospheric pollution since decades. The sources of aerosols in Beijing are manifold. On the one hand anthropogenic dust sources are polluting the atmosphere of this megacity, on the other hand Beijing has to cope with strong dust storms originating in the deserts of Gobi and Takla Makan. Any future sustainable urban planning needs urgently the comprehensive understanding of processes of aerosol production, distribution, transformation processes, deposition and composition. The main emission sources shall be investigated for their elemental and mineralogical composition in an interdisciplinary and international approach (5 different research groups of China and Germany). A fingerprinting system will be established. Aerosols shall representatively be collected and analysed for the mineralogical and elemental contents in the urban area in a manner that reflects typical land use types (emission source combinations) and the impact of natural sources due to long range transport from the deserts and due to short range transport, e.g. from bare soils or coal heaps. Carbon plays a specific role, since it occurs in several distinct phases such as soot, biological components, organic carbon or carbonates that contributes to the identification of emission sources. Thus, the spatial distribution of aerosol geochemistry will be analysed and emission sources identified as basis for simulation modelling resulting in effective mitigation measures. Furthermore, bio-availability and chemical speciation of elements in aerosols shall be investigated with regard to an environmental assessment of possible toxic effects and further chemical reactions effecting particulate matter.