<![CDATA[Quantum communication is an emerging communication technology that has developed rapidly in recent years and has attracted widespread attention due to its unique advantages. Sand and dust aerosols are an important component of atmospheric aerosols and have noticeable absorption and scattering effects on optical signals. To investigate the performance variation of optical quantum signals in a dust aerosol environment, this study analyzes the relationship between link attenuation, channel bit error rate, dust aerosol particle concentration, and transmission distance based on the absorption and scattering characteristics of dust particles. Three commonly used quantum noise channels—namely the depolarization channel, amplitude damping channel, and bit-flip channel—are selected to examine how channel capacity and channel fidelity change with particle concentration and propagation distance. Simulation experiments are conducted to verify the theoretical analysis. The results indicate that particle concentration and transmission distance influence optical quantum signals differently in the three channel models. Consequently, the performance of free-space quantum communication is affected by dust aerosols to varying degrees]]>
