Abstract
During the SALTRACE field experiment, conducted during June/July 2013, the Saharan dust transport across the Atlantic was analyzed by a set of ground based, in-situ and airborne instruments, including a 2-μm coherent DWL (Doppler wind lidar) mounted onboard the DLR Falcon 20 research aircraft. An overview of the measurements of aerosol backscatter and extinction, horizontal and vertical winds retrieved from the DWL are presented together with a brief description of the applied methods. The retrieved measurements provide direct observation of Saharan dust transport mechanisms across the Atlantic as well as island induced lee waves in the Barbados region.
Highlights
Mineral dust is a key component of the climate system and the most mass abundant type of aerosol, accounting for about half of the total aerosol mass emissions (e.g. Hinds 1999), acting as cloud and ice nuclei and playing an important role in the radiation budget of the earth.The Saharan desert has been identified as the world largest source of mineral dust (e.g. Mahowald et al, 2005)
Despite the progress made during the last decades, the transport mechanisms of the Saharan dust over the Atlantic and their relative importance remain under discussion
Between 3 and 6 km altitude a region with high wind speeds is visible, which corresponds to the African Easterly Jet (AEJ)
Summary
Mineral dust is a key component of the climate system and the most mass abundant type of aerosol, accounting for about half of the total aerosol mass emissions (e.g. Hinds 1999), acting as cloud and ice nuclei and playing an important role in the radiation budget of the earth. Large amounts of Saharan dust are transported across the Atlantic into the Caribbean region Despite the progress made during the last decades, the transport mechanisms of the Saharan dust over the Atlantic and their relative importance remain under discussion Experiment (SALTRACE: http://www.pa.op.dlr.de/saltrace) conducted during June/July 2013 provided a whole new set of measurements, including in-situ, airborne and ground based observations. An airborne coherent DWL was deployed onboard the DLR Falcon 20 research aircraft to study the Saharan dust transport over the Atlantic in combination with an extensive set of in-situ instruments to measure aerosol properties. The airborne coherent DWLs usually provide the horizontal wind vector and qualitative aerosol measurements. The simultaneous retrieval of aerosol properties and, horizontal and vertical winds (Sec. 4), enhance the capabilities of the DWL for aerosol transport studies
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