Dust storm induced severe cooling in the northern Arabian Sea during winter 2022

Abstract

Large-scale dust storms lifted by strong winds into the atmosphere may adversely affect local weather and climate. One such major dust storm occurred in January 2022 over the northern Arabian Sea significantly decreased the visibility in the region. In our study, we examined the potential consequences and processes of this dust storm event and their impact on sea surface temperature (SST) variability using MODIS, and satellite reanalysis model data. We observed a substantial increase in dust mass concentrations (88%) during the event date when compared to the normal days, followed by an intense cooling (6.7 °C) in the region. Furthermore, the results show an increased latent heat flux (LHF) concentrations (476 wm−2) and aerosol optical depth (1.4) over the northern Arabian Sea. Our findings also suggest a significant association between SST and LHF with wind components during the dust storm event. A numerical simulation conducted with the help of WRF-Chem validated the cooling phenomena. Taken together, our results indicate that the dust storms are a significant phenomenon that impacts the regional climate and marine ecosystem.