Asian aerosols in North America: Frequency and concentration of fine dust

Abstract

Using an elemental signature for Asian dust derived from events in April 1998, we probed a long‐term set of routine aerosol samples to develop the first empirical assessment of the frequency and intensity of dust transport from Asia to midlatitude North America. Our data reveal a pattern of consistent, frequent transport that contradicts the episodic characterization derived from short‐term studies and anecdotal reports. We find that fine (<2.5 μm) Asian dust is a regular component of the troposphere over the eastern Pacific and western North America and is common, at least in spring, across North America. Typical Asian fine dust concentrations (24‐hour average) are between 0.2 and 1 μg/m3 and only very rarely exceed 5 μg/m3. Our data also indicate that Asian dust is concentrated in an altitude zone ranging from about 500 to 3000 m MSL, consistent with isentropic transport processes previously observed in the western Pacific.