Emissions of mineral dust and its mixing with anthropogenic air pollutants affect both regional and global climates. Our fieldwork in late spring 2007（April 25-June 15） measured the physical and optical properties of dust storms mixed with local air pollutants at a rural site about 48 km southeast of central Lanzhou. Levels of air pollutants and aerosol optical properties were observed during the experiment, with concentrations of NOx（6.8 ± 3.3 ppb, average ± standard deviation）, CO（694 ± 486 ppb）, SO2（6.2 ±10 ppb）, O3（50.7 ± 13.1 ppb）, and PM10（172 ± 180 μg m-3）, and aerosol scattering coefficient（164 ±89 Mm-1; 1 Mm = 106m） and absorption coefficient（11.7 ± 6.6 Mm-1）, all much lower than the values observed during air pollution episodes in urban areas. During a major dust storm, the mass concentration of PM10 reached 4072 μg m-3, approximately 21-fold higher than in non-dust storm periods. The mixing ratios of trace gases declined noticeably after a cold front passed through. The observed CO/SO2 and CO/NOx ratios during air pollution episodes were 4.2-18.3 and 13.7-80.5, respectively, compared with the corresponding ratios of 38.1-255.7 and 18.0-245.9 during non-pollution periods. Our investigations suggest that dust storms have a significant influence on air quality in areas far from their source, and this large-scale transport of dust and air pollutants produces major uncertainties in the quantification of the global effects of emissions over Northwest China.
