Northeast Asian Dust Transport: A Case Study of a Dust Storm Event from 28 March to 2 April 2012

Purevsuren Tsedendamba,Jugder Dulam,Kei Kawai,Kenji Kai,Buho Hoshino,Ganzorig Sumiya,Katsuro Hagiwara,Christopher Mccarthy,Kenji Baba,Jun Noda

doi:10.3390/atmos10020069

Purevsuren Tsedendamba, Jugder Dulam + Show 8 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos10020069

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Abstract

The distribution and transport of windblown dust that occurred in Northeast Asia from 28 March to 2 April 2012 was investigated. Data of particulate matter less than 10 micrometers (PM10) near the surface and light detection and ranging (LiDAR) measurements from the ground up to 18 km were used in the study. A severe dust event originated over southern Mongolia and northern China on 28 March 2012, and the widespread dust moved from the source area southeastward toward Japan over several days. Windblown dust reached Japan after two days from the originating area. LiDAR measurements of the vertical distribution of the dust were one to two km thick in the lower layer of the atmosphere, and increased with the increasing distance from the source area.

Highlights

IntroductionDust storms are a common phenomenon in the desert regions of Northeast Asia, especially in theGobi desert in southern Mongolia, northern China, and Taklamakan desert in northwest China [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8].Eastward and southeastward moving cyclones and the northwesterly wind often transport large amounts of fine dust particles to the eastern parts of China, the Korean Peninsula, and Japan [8].Frequent Asian Dust vents in Japan during 2000–2002 followed severe dust outbreaks in East Asia [7].Dust concentrations of particulate matter less than 10 micrometers (PM10) increase by at least double during severe dust events in comparison with normal atmospheric conditions [9,10]
In association with the movement of the mid-latitudinal cold frontal belt, the highest frequency (61%) of dust storms in Mongolia occurs in the spring, and the second maximum occurrence (22%) of dust storms occurred in the fall (October and November)
An Asian dust event occurring from 28 March to 2 April 2012 was analyzed by ground observations of particulate matter less than 10 micrometers (PM10), dust vertical spread by AD-Net light detection and ranging (LiDAR) measurements, and dust transport by air mass trajectories using the NOAA HYSPLIT model

Summary

Introduction

Dust storms are a common phenomenon in the desert regions of Northeast Asia, especially in theGobi desert in southern Mongolia, northern China, and Taklamakan desert in northwest China [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8].Eastward and southeastward moving cyclones and the northwesterly wind often transport large amounts of fine dust particles to the eastern parts of China, the Korean Peninsula, and Japan [8].Frequent Asian Dust vents in Japan during 2000–2002 followed severe dust outbreaks in East Asia [7].Dust concentrations of PM10 increase by at least double during severe dust events in comparison with normal atmospheric conditions [9,10]. Dust storms are a common phenomenon in the desert regions of Northeast Asia, especially in the. Eastward and southeastward moving cyclones and the northwesterly wind often transport large amounts of fine dust particles to the eastern parts of China, the Korean Peninsula, and Japan [8]. Frequent Asian Dust vents in Japan during 2000–2002 followed severe dust outbreaks in East Asia [7]. PM10 dust particles are the primary source of the yellow dust phenomenon that spreads across Northeast Asia [11]. Research has shown that Asian dust often reaches Korea [12,13,14,15], Taiwan [16,17,18], and Japan [7,8]

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