Emission inventory of eight elements, Fe, Al, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ca and Ti, in dust source region of East Asia

Based on calculation of the emission rate of the atmospheric mineral dust and the data of elemental contents in surface soils, this paper calculates the emission inventory of eight main elements of the atmospheric dust, Fe, Al, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ca and Ti, in the dust source region of East Asia. As the dust sources in both Northern China and the Southern Mongolia are of three types and, in each of the six source type areas, surface soils are relatively uniform in soil types and soil texture, a simple method to calculate the emission of an element in one source type area is proposed by multiplying the total emission of the dust PM10 and PM50 in the source type area with the mean percentage content of the element in surface soils of the area. Comparison of our calculation of the total Fe emission in the source region of East Asia with the total Fe deposition to the North Pacific Ocean, measured and calculated by previous authors, shows very good agreement. This general method can also be used for the emission calculation of any other element.