The characteristics of aerosol types and their temporal-spatial properties are investigated using ground-based observation data at twelve AERONET sites in China.The aerosols are categorized into six types

namely dust

mixture

strong-scattering fine Sized Particles（SS）

slightly absorbing fine Sized Particles（SA）

moderate absorbing fine Sized Particles（MA）

and high absorbing fine Sized Particles（HA）.The optical characteristics（Single Scattering Aldedo（SSA）

Asymmetry Parameter（ASY）

and Aerosol Optical Thickness（AOT）） of different aerosol types vary greatly.The aerosol types of China show high spatial variation and strong seasonal periodicity.The dust aerosols occur mainly in spring; SS aerosol types are most observed in summer; and HA aerosol types are mostly found in winter.Between 2003 and 2012

the dust

mixture

and SS aerosol types had an increasing trend

while the HA aerosol types showed an opposite tendency.Furthermore

the differences in aerosol types between China

United States

and France were studied.The HA aerosol types were in higher proportion and SS aerosol types were in lower p roportion in China than in the United States and France.