Abstract
Abstract. Dust aerosols affect human life, ecosystems, atmospheric chemistry and climate in various aspects. Some studies have revealed intensified dust activity in the western US during the past decades despite the weaker dust activity in non-US regions. It is important to extend the historical dust records, to better understand their temporal changes, and to use such information to improve the daily dust forecasting skill as well as the projection of future dust activity under the changing climate. This study develops dust records in Arizona in 2005–2013 using multiple observation data sets, including in situ measurements at the surface Air Quality System (AQS) and Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments (IMPROVE) sites, and level 2 deep blue aerosol product by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer. The diurnal and inter-annual variability of identified dust events are shown related to observed weather patterns (e.g., wind and soil moisture) and surface conditions (e.g., land cover type and vegetation conditions), suggesting a potential for use of satellite soil moisture and land products to help interpret and predict dust activity. Backtrajectories computed using NOAA's Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model indicate that the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts are important dust source regions during identified dust events in Phoenix, Arizona. Finally, we assess the impact of a recent strong dust event on western US air quality, using various observational and modeling data sets, during a period with a stratospheric ozone intrusion event. The capability of the current US National Air Quality Forecasting Capability (NAQFC) Community Multi-scale Air Quality (CMAQ) modeling system to represent the magnitude and the temporal variability of aerosol concentrations is evaluated for this event. Directions for integrating observations to further improve dust emission modeling in CMAQ are also suggested.
Highlights
Dust aerosols, generated by anthropogenic or natural sources, present strong spatial and temporal variability (Ginoux et al, 2001, 2010, 2012a, b; Carslaw et al, 2010; Prospero et al, 2002; Zender et al, 2004) and affect human life, ecosystems, atmospheric chemistry and climate in many aspects
The Community Multi-scale Air Quality (CMAQ) base simulation was evaluated against surface observations at the AirNow and Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments (IMPROVE) sites, and we focused on PM2.5 concentrations as it is one of the standard National Air Quality Forecasting Capability (NAQFC) products
We developed dust records in Arizona for 2005–2013 using multiple observation data sets, including the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) level 2 deep blue aerosol product and in situ measurements at the surface Air Quality System (AQS) and IMPROVE sites in Phoenix
Summary
Dust aerosols, generated by anthropogenic or natural sources, present strong spatial and temporal variability (Ginoux et al, 2001, 2010, 2012a, b; Carslaw et al, 2010; Prospero et al, 2002; Zender et al, 2004) and affect human life, ecosystems, atmospheric chemistry and climate in many aspects. Recent dust observations have revealed rapid intensification of dust storm activity in the western US (e.g., Brahney et al, 2013), despite the weaker dust activity in many non-US regions (e.g., Mahowald et al, 2007; Zhu et al, 2008; Shao et al, 2013). It is important to extend the temporal changes of observed dust activity to recent years using diverse observations These various observations can assist in evaluating the chemical transport model skills especially during dust events. We analyze observations and model simulations during a recent strong dust event in the western US accompanied by a stratospheric ozone intrusion. We suggest future directions of integrating observations into regional dust emission modeling in the western US for further improvement of the air quality forecasts
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