Dust Layer Height Research Articles

Understanding day–night differences in dust aerosols over the dust belt of North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia

Abstract. Utilizing the well-calibrated, high-spectral-resolution equal-quality performance of daytime and nighttime (09:30 and 21:30 local solar Equator-crossing time (local solar ECT)) products of the Infrared Atmospheric Sounder Interferometer (IASI) from the Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (LMD), this study investigates the day–night differences in dust aerosols over the global dust belt of North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Both daytime dust optical depth (DOD) and nighttime DOD at 10 µm show high consistency with solar and lunar observations of coarse-mode aerosol optical depth (CAOD) from AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET) sites across the dust belt, with correlation coefficients of 0.8–0.9 for most sites. Both IASI DOD and dust layer height show a significant (95 % confidence level) day–night difference over the major dust sources within the dust belt. Daytime DOD over the central to northern Sahara, the central to eastern Arabian Peninsula, and the Taklamakan Desert is significantly higher than that of nighttime but lower than nighttime over the southern Sahel to the Guinea Coast and the western to central Indian subcontinent in the annual mean. The magnitude of the day–night differences in DOD is larger and more evident in boreal winter and spring than in other seasons. The positive day–night differences in DOD (i.e., higher daytime values than nighttime) over the central Sahara, the Middle East, and Asia are likely associated with greater dust emissions driven by higher dust uplift potential (DUP) and stronger wind speeds during daytime. Dust layer heights demonstrate negative day–night differences over dust source regions in the central Sahara, central Arabian Peninsula, and Taklamakan Desert and positive height differences in the southern Sahel to the Guinea Coast, southern parts of the Arabian Peninsula, and large parts of the Indian subcontinent. The higher dust layer height over the Guinea Coast and the Indian subcontinent during the daytime is associated with a deeper planetary boundary layer height and greater convective instability during daytime than nighttime, which promotes vertical transport and mixing of dust aerosols. The corresponding lower daytime DOD over the Sahel and the Indian subcontinent indicates a possible dilution of dust aerosols when they are transported to higher altitudes by convection where they are more susceptible to horizontal transport. Ground-based observations of dust show surface PM10 concentration and CAOD exhibit a spatially varying diurnal cycle across the dust belt. CAOD and PM10 concentrations generally peak in late morning and from late afternoon to midnight in the Sahel and in early afternoon and around early morning in the Middle East, the timings of which are largely consistent with the day–night differences in IASI DOD. It is also found that DOD from reanalysis products (e.g., Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, version 2 (MERRA-2) and ECMWF Atmospheric Composition Reanalysis 4 (EAC4)) failed to capture the day–night differences in IASI DOD in large parts of the dust belt except in small dust source hotspots over North Africa.

First Mapping of Monthly and Diurnal Climatology of Saharan Dust Layer Height Over the Atlantic Ocean From EPIC/DSCOVR in Deep Space

AbstractThe monthly and hourly climatology of Saharan dust layer height over the Atlantic, at a spatial resolution of ∼10 km, is obtained for the first time, via a passive remote sensing technique. The technique is applied to multiple years of Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) data collected at the Lagrange‐1 point, generating a climate data record (CDR) of aerosol optical centroid height (AOCH). This CDR offers unprecedented spatial coverage and diurnal sampling compared to spaceborne lidars (CALIOP and CATS). Our results show high correspondence with CALIOP data in domain‐averaged monthly variations and with CATS data in diurnal variations, respectively. A principal component analysis (PCA) reveals the dominant role of dust transport in regulating AOCH variation, whereas the impact of the boundary layer is less significant. MERRA‐2 and satellite retrievals respectively display zero and 200–1,000 m of diurnal variation of AOCH, highlighting the uniqueness of EPIC AOCH CDR in constraining climate models.

Understanding the Daytime and Nighttime Impacts of Dust Aerosols on Surface Energy and Meteorological Fields in Northwest China

AbstractDust aerosols pose non‐negligible impacts on regional and global climate, particularly over northwest China (NWC), where dust events frequently occur. Here, six dust events with different intensities occurred from 2014 to 2019 in NWC were simulated by the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled to Chemistry (WRF‐Chem) to quantitatively evaluate the contributions of dust aerosols to radiation fluxes, surface energy, and meteorology, with specific consideration to the distinctions between daytime and nighttime. The results show that the contributions of dust aerosols to surface energy and meteorology were significantly affected by dust concentrations and dust layer heights and exhibited diurnal variation. In the case with high dust concentration and low dust layer height, dust aerosols increased the surface energy during the nighttime but decreased in the daytime, and the increase was much greater than the decrease. As a result, dust aerosols increase surface energy (0.06 W/m2 in the dust source region; 0.13 W/m2 in the dust affected region (DAR)) and surface temperature (0.0088°C in the DSR; 0.0781°C in the DAR) and decrease surface relative humidity (−0.053% in the DSR; −0.205% in the DAR) throughout the whole day. In contrast, dust causes opposite impacts on surface meteorology throughout the whole day due to the nighttime warming effect from the dust events with low dust concentration and high dust layer height is lesser than the daytime cooling effect. The study provides scientific insights for improving our understanding of dust aerosols‐regional meteorology interaction.

A 3D Monte Carlo Simulation of Convective Diffusional Deposition of Ultrafine Particles on Fiber Surfaces

The microscale simulation of ultrafine particle transport and deposition in fibrous filtration media was achieved with a novel particle tracking model using a 3D Monte Carlo model. The particle deposition process is governed by the convection–diffusion field. Simulations were performed by considering the fibrous filtration media as an array of identical parallel fibers, in which the flow field was accurately described by an analytical solution. The model of particle movement was described by the random probability distribution characterized by a dimensionless factor, the Peclet number (Pe), based on a convection–diffusive equation of particle transport in fluid. The influence of the particle Peclet number (Pe) on the particle deposition process and the resulting deposition morphology was investigated. The results were analyzed in terms of dust layer growth, particles’ trajectories and dust layer porosity for a vast range of Peclet numbers. The development of distinct deposition morphologies was found by varying the Peclet number (Pe). With a small Peclet number, diffusion dominated deposition and led to the formation of a more open and looser dust layer structure, while with larger Peclet numbers, convection dominated deposition and was found to form compact deposits. According to the change in the location of the packing densities along the dust layer height direction, the dust layer structure could be divided into three typical parts: the substructure, main profile and surface layer. In addition, the deposit morphologies observed for a high Pe were in good agreement with the experimental results found in the literature.

Contribution of IASI to the Observation of Dust Aerosol Emissions (Morning and Nighttime) Over the Sahara Desert

AbstractObserving the planet at global scale, twice a day, and measuring the whole infrared atmospheric spectrum (8,461 channels at 0.50 cm−1 resolution), Infrared Atmospheric Sounder Interferometer (IASI)/METOP can concurrently detect clouds, determine the 3‐D atmospheric structure (temperature, water vapor, ozone, etc.), surface properties (emissivity and temperature), as well as dust aerosol AOD and altitude. Observing morning (0930 hr) and nighttime (2130 hr), IASI is in relatively good phase with the most frequent times of occurrence of the main Saharan dust uplift mechanisms reported in the literature. Here we classify IASI dust observations according to both the dust loading (AOD) and the dust layer height, providing a more comprehensive picture of dust characteristics. This classification is analyzed at daily scale and its capability to detect dust uplift events is evaluated through comparisons with results from the particularly well documented June 2011 Fennec campaign. Then, a Dust Emission Index (DEI), specific to IASI, is constructed by selecting AOD‐altitude bins with largest AODs and smallest altitudes likely indicative of freshly emitted dust. Applying this to the 12‐year 2007–2018 period, we determine climatological DEI maps and comparisons are made with other equivalent existing results derived from ground‐based or other satellite observations. Results of these comparisons demonstrate the capability of IASI to document the dust distribution over the whole Earth desert areas over a long period of time. The present approach is also suitable to the processing of the at least hourly observations of the coming Infrared Sounder instrument (IRS), planned on board Meteosat Third Generation (2021).

Examining Asian dust refractive indices for brightness temperature simulations in the 650–1135 cm−1 spectral range

In this paper, we modeled dust impacts on atmospheric radiative transfer in the thermal infrared region of 650–1135 cm−1 by using the radiative transfer for TOVs model (RTTOV). We assessed three sets of Asian dust refractive indices (the Volz refractive index implemented in the RTTOV as default, and the Gobi and Taklamakan refractive indices) for brightness temperature simulations. The US 76 standard profile was employed to represent the atmospheric status. Three scenarios of high (532.6~575.2 hPa), middle (661~703.6 hPa) and low (786.3~825.8 hPa) dust layers and four cases of aerosol optical thickness (AOT) (0.1, 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 at 1000 cm−1) were considered in the simulations. It was found that the refractive indices have a clear impact on simulating the values and the spectral slope of brightness temperature in the mid-thermal infrared band. Brightness temperature difference (BTD) for different refractive indices (Gobi/Taklamakan–Volz) increases with the height of dust layer and the AOT. The BTD reaches ~4 K for the high dust layer (532.6~575.2 hPa) and the AOT of 1.5. Most BTDs (0.5–4 K) are much larger than the noise-equivalent temperature difference of high-spectral resolution infrared sounders. Even for the AOT of 0.1, BTDs for different refractive indices could be close to or larger than 0.2 K. This study emphasizes the requirement of accurate refractive indices according to dust origins for improving brightness temperature simulations and provides valuable references for potential improvement of dust retrievals.

The influence of dust optical properties on the colour of simulated MSG-SEVIRI Desert Dust infrared imagery

Abstract. Satellite imagery of atmospheric mineral dust is sensitive to the optical properties of the dust, governed by the mineral refractive indices, particle size, and particle shape. In infrared channels the imagery is also sensitive to the dust layer height and to the surface and atmospheric environment. Simulations of mineral dust in infrared Desert Dust imagery from the Spinning Enhanced Visible and InfraRed Imager (SEVIRI) have been performed, using the COSMO-MUSCAT (COSMO: COnsortium for Small-scale MOdelling; MUSCAT: MUltiScale Chemistry Aerosol Transport Model) dust transport model and the Radiative Transfer for TOVS (RTTOV) program, in order to investigate the sensitivity of the imagery to assumed dust properties. This paper introduces the technique and performs initial validation and comparisons with SEVIRI measurements over North Africa for daytime hours during 6 months covering June and July of 2011–2013. Using T-matrix scattering theory and assuming the dust particles to be spherical or spheroidal, wavelength- and size-dependent dust extinction values are calculated for a number of different dust refractive index databases, along with several values of the particle aspect ratio, denoting the particle shape. The consequences for the infrared extinction values of both the particle shape and the particle orientation are explored: this analysis shows that as the particle asphericity increases, the extinctions increase if the particles are aligned horizontally, and decrease if they are aligned vertically. Randomly oriented spheroidal particles have very similar infrared extinction properties as spherical particles, whereas the horizontally and vertically aligned particles can be considered to be the upper and lower bounds on the extinction values. Inputting these values into COSMO-MUSCAT-RTTOV, it is found that spherical particles do not appear to be sufficient to describe fully the resultant colour of the dust in the infrared imagery. Comparisons of SEVIRI and simulation colours indicate that of the dust types tested, the dust refractive index dataset produced by Volz (1973) shows the most similarity in the colour response to dust in the SEVIRI imagery, although the simulations have a smaller range of colour than do the observations. It is also found that the thermal imagery is most sensitive to intermediately sized particles (radii between 0.9 and 2.6 µm): larger particles are present in too small a concentration in the simulations, as well as with insufficient contrast in extinction between wavelength channels, to have much ability to perturb the resultant colour in the SEVIRI dust imagery.

Comparison of dust-layer heights from active and passive satellite sensors

Abstract. Aerosol-layer height is essential for understanding the impact of aerosols on the climate system. As part of the European Space Agency Aerosol_cci project, aerosol-layer height as derived from passive thermal and solar satellite sensors measurements have been compared with aerosol-layer heights estimated from CALIOP measurements. The Aerosol_cci project targeted dust-type aerosol for this study. This ensures relatively unambiguous aerosol identification by the CALIOP processing chain. Dust-layer height was estimated from thermal IASI measurements using four different algorithms (from BIRA-IASB, DLR, LMD, LISA) and from solar GOME-2 (KNMI) and SCIAMACHY (IUP) measurements. Due to differences in overpass time of the various satellites, a trajectory model was used to move the CALIOP-derived dust heights in space and time to the IASI, GOME-2 and SCIAMACHY dust height pixels. It is not possible to construct a unique dust-layer height from the CALIOP data. Thus two CALIOP-derived layer heights were used: the cumulative extinction height defined as the height where the CALIOP extinction column is half of the total extinction column, and the geometric mean height, which is defined as the geometrical mean of the top and bottom heights of the dust layer. In statistical average over all IASI data there is a general tendency to a positive bias of 0.5–0.8 km against CALIOP extinction-weighted height for three of the four algorithms assessed, while the fourth algorithm has almost no bias. When comparing geometric mean height there is a shift of −0.5 km for all algorithms (getting close to zero for the three algorithms and turning negative for the fourth). The standard deviation of all algorithms is quite similar and ranges between 1.0 and 1.3 km. When looking at different conditions (day, night, land, ocean), there is more detail in variabilities (e.g. all algorithms overestimate more at night than during the day). For the solar sensors it is found that on average SCIAMACHY data are lower by −1.097 km (−0.961 km) compared to the CALIOP geometric mean (cumulative extinction) height, and GOME-2 data are lower by −1.393 km (−0.818 km).

Lidar Measurements of Dust Aerosols during Three Field Campaigns in 2010, 2011 and 2012 over Northwestern China

Ground-based measurements were carried out during field campaigns in April–June of 2010, 2011 and 2012 over northwestern China at Minqin, the Semi-Arid Climate and Environment Observatory of Lanzhou University (SACOL) and Dunhuang. In this study, three dust cases were examined, and the statistical results of dust occurrence, along with physical and optical properties, were analyzed. The results show that both lofted dust layers and near-surface dust layers were characterized by extinction coefficients of 0.25–1.05 km−1 and high particle depolarization ratios (PDRs) of 0.25–0.40 at 527 nm wavelength. During the three campaigns, the frequencies of dust occurrence retrieved from the lidar observations were all higher than 88%, and the highest frequency was in April. The vertical distributions revealed that the maximum height of dust layers typically reached 7.8–9 km or higher. The high intensity of dust layers mostly occurred within the planetary boundary layer (PBL). The monthly averaged PDRs decreased from April to June, which implies a dust load reduction. A comparison of the relationship between the aerosol optical depth at 500 nm (AOD500) and the Angstrom exponent at 440–870 nm (AE440–870) confirms that there is a more complex mixture of dust aerosols with other types of aerosols when the effects of human activities become significant.

Effect of particle size and polydispersity on dust entrainment behind a moving shock wave

To improve the fundamental understanding of dust dispersion with application to explosion safety, a series of experiments was conducted to elucidate the effect of particle size and size polydispersity on dust-layer dispersion behind moving shock waves. Aluminum samples of various average sizes (D3,2 = 1.7–30.3 μm) with varying polydispersity (σD = 0.93, 1.52, 2.62) were the focus of this study. A 3.2-mm layer of Al dust was subjected to shock Mach numbers ranging from 1.23 to 1.52 in a shock tube. The effect of particle density on the dust-lifting process was also studied by comparing aluminum and limestone powders with similar average sizes. The results of the study confirm that particle size and size polydispersity have significant impacts on dust lifting as smaller particles lift higher and faster for a given shock speed. To the best of our knowledge, this work is the first to measure the effect of size polydispersity in a dust layer in a shock tube. New correlations were developed between the shock strength and the dust entrainment height as a function of time. Correlations were also developed to show the relation between dust entrainment height and particle size polydispersity. In summary, the results herein are in agreement with trends found in our previous work, where there is a linear relationship between dust-layer height growth rate and shock Mach number, and with the increase of particle size the dust entrainment height decreases. New data were collected for image analyses, where the longer observation time and higher camera framing rates led to the observation of a clear transition time between the early, linear growth regime of the dust-layer height and a much-slower average growth regime to follow. The dust particle size and polydispersity affected both the growth rate of the dust layer (i.e., the change of dust-layer height with time) and the transition times between the two growth regimes.

Spatio-temporal monitoring by ground-based and air- and space-borne lidars of a moderate Saharan dust event affecting southern Europe in June 2013 in the framework of the ADRIMED/ChArMEx campaign

During the ADRIMED (Aerosol Direct Radiative Impact on the regional climate in the Mediterranean region) special observation period (SOP-1a), conducted in June 2013 in the framework of the ChArMEx (Chemistry-Aerosol Mediterranean Experiment) project, a moderate Saharan dust event swept the Western and Central Mediterranean Basin (WCMB) from west to east during a 9-day period between 16 and 24 June. This event was monitored from the ground by six EARLINET/ACTRIS (European Aerosol Research Lidar Network/Aerosols, Clouds, and Trace gases Research Infrastructure Network) lidar stations (Granada, Barcelona, Naples, Potenza, Lecce and Serra la Nave) and two ADRIMED/ChArMEx lidar stations specially deployed for the field campaign in Cap d’en Font and Ersa, in Minorca and Corsica Islands, respectively. The first part of the study shows the spatio-temporal monitoring of the dust event during its transport over the WCMB with ground-based lidar and co-located AERONET (Aerosol Robotic Network) Sun-photometer measurements. Dust layer optical depths, Angstrom exponents, coarse mode fractions, linear particle depolarization ratios (LPDRs), dust layer heights and the dust radiative forcing estimated in the shortwave (SW) and longwave (LW) spectral ranges at the bottom of the atmosphere (BOA) and at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) with the Global Atmospheric Model (GAME), have been used to characterize the dust event. Peak values of the AERONET aerosol optical depth (AOD) at 440 nm ranged between 0.16 in Potenza and 0.37 in Cap d’en Font. The associated Angstrom exponent and coarse mode fraction mean values ranged from 0.43 to 1.26 and from 0.25 to 0.51, respectively. The mineral dust produced a negative SW direct radiative forcing at the BOA ranging from −56.9 to −3.5 W m−2. The LW radiative forcing at the BOA was positive, ranging between +0.3 and +17.7 W m-2. The BOA radiative forcing estimates agree with the ones reported in the literature. At the TOA, the SW forcing varied between −34.5 and +7.5 W m−2. In seven cases, the forcing at the TOA resulted positive because of the aerosol strong absorbing properties (0.83 < single-scattering albedo (SSA) < 0.96). The multi-intrusion aspect of the event is examined by means of air- and space-borne lidar measurements, satellite images and back trajectories. The analysis reported in this paper underline the arrival of a second different intrusion of mineral dust observed over southern Italy at the end of the considered period which probably results in the observed heterogeneity in the dust properties.

A new facility for studying shock-wave passage over dust layers

Dust explosion hazards in areas where coal and other flammable materials are found have caused unnecessary loss of life and halted business operations in some instances. The elimination of secondary dust explosion hazards, i.e., reducing dust dispersion, can be characterized in shock tubes to understand shock–dust interactions. For this reason, a new shock-tube test section was developed and integrated into an existing shock-tube facility. The test section has large windows to allow for the use of the shadowgraph technique to track dust-layer growth behind a passing normal shock wave, and it is designed to handle an initial pressure of 1 atm with an incident shock wave Mach number as high as 2 to mimic real-world conditions. The test section features an easily removable dust pan with inserts to allow for adjustment of the dust-layer thickness. The design also allows for changing the experimental variables such as initial pressure, shock Mach number $$(M_{\mathrm{s}})$$ , dust-layer thickness, and the characteristics of the dust itself. The characterization experiments presented herein demonstrate the advantages of the authors’ test techniques toward providing new physical insights over a wider range of data than what have been available heretofore in the literature. Limestone dust with a layer thickness of 3.2 mm was subjected to $$M_{\mathrm{s}} = 1.23,\, 1.32$$ , and 1.6 shock waves, and dust-layer rise height was mapped with respect to time after shock passage. Dust particles subjected to a $$M_{\mathrm{s}} = 1.6$$ shock wave rose more rapidly and to a greater height with respect to shock wave propagation than particles subjected to $$M_{\mathrm{s}} = 1.23$$ and 1.32 shock waves. Although these results are in general agreement with the literature, the new data also highlight physical trends for dust-layer growth that have not been recorded previously, to the best of the authors’ knowledge. For example, the dust-layer height rises linearly until a certain time where the growth rate is dramatically reduced, and in this second regime there is clear evidence of surface vertical structures at the dust–air interface.

Effect of shock strength on dust entrainment behind a moving shock wave

Secondary dust explosion is a serious industrial issue because it occurs under conditions corresponding to an increased quantity and concentration of dispersed, combustible dust when compared with the primary explosion. The problems of lifting and dispersion of a dust layer behind a propagating shock wave must therefore be understood to ensure safety regarding secondary dust explosion hazards. Using a new shock-tube facility for studying shock propagation over dust layers, limestone dust was subjected to Mach numbers ranging from 1.10 to 1.60. A shadowgraph technique was applied by using a high-speed camera (15,000 fps) for visualization of the dust-layer height change behind the moving shock wave. Also, the effect of dust-layer thickness on the entrainment process was observed by performing tests with two different layer depths, namely 3.2- and 12.7-mm thicknesses. New correlations were developed between the shock strength and the dust entrainment height as a function of time for each layer depth. In general, the results herein are in agreement with trends found in previous work, where there is a linear relationship between dust growth rate and shock Mach number at early times after shock passage. Also, new data were collected for image analyses over longer periods, where the longer observation time and higher camera framing rates led to the discovery of trends not previously observed by earlier studies, namely a clear transition time between the early, linear growth regime and a much-slower average growth regime. This second regime is however accompanied by surface instabilities that can lead to a much larger variation in the edge of the dust layer than seen in the early growth regime. In addition, for the linear growth regime, there was no significant difference in the dust-layer height growth between the two layer thicknesses; however, the larger thickness led to higher growth rates and much larger surface instabilities at later times.

Dust, biomass burning smoke, and anthropogenic aerosol detected by polarization-sensitive Mie lidar measurements in Mongolia

Abstract Polarization-sensitive Mie-scattering lidars were installed for dust storm monitoring at Sainshand and Zamyn-Uud in the Gobi Desert and at the Mongolian capital city of Ulaanbaatar in 2007. We studied the temporal and spatial distributions and transportation of dust, elevated dust, biomass burning smoke, and anthropogenic aerosol by using lidar measurements from the end of 2007 to the first half of 2010. The study results show that the maximum height of dust layers over the Gobi Desert of Mongolia during dust event periods varied from 0.5 to 5.5 km above the ground level (AGL). The 95th percentile level of dust vertical distribution was found at 4 and 4.5 km for Zamyn-Uud and Sainshand, respectively. The averaged maximum height of dust layers during dust events was 2.0–2.2 km AGL at those Gobi sites. The lidar measurements also revealed transport of dust layers elevated in the atmosphere. Base heights of elevated dust layers varied from 0.5 to 2.5 km AGL, while maximum heights from 2.5 to 4.5 km AGL. Backward air trajectory analyses suggested source areas of the elevated dust that transported from other source regions to southeastern Mongolia. A detail study was conducted of the dust event in 19–20 May 2008. Hourly maximum dust concentrations of PM10 (PM2.5) reached 1139–1409 (384–404) μg m−3 during the dust event episode. Dust concentration of PM10 had high correlations with visibilities. Threshold winds for dust emission were determined at Sainshand and Zamyn-Uud. The lidar measurements at the three sites detected vertical profiles of biomass burning smoke and anthropogenic aerosol with top heights of 3–4 km AGL.

Photo-polarimetric sensitivities to layering and mixing of absorbing aerosols

We investigate to what extent multi-angle polarimetric measurements are sensitive to vertical mixing/layering of absorbing aerosols, adopting calibration uncertainty of 1.5% in intensity and 0.5% in the degree of linear polarization of Multiangle SpectroPolarimetric Imager (MSPI). Employing both determinstic and Monte Carlo radiative transfer codes with polarization, we conduct modeling experiments to determine how the measured Stokes vector elements are affected at UV and short visible wavelengths by the vertical distribution, mixing and layering of smoke and dust aerosols for variety of microphysical parameters. We find that multi-angular polarimetry holds the potential to infer dust-layer heights and thicknesses at blue visible channel due to its lesser sensitivity to changes in dust coarse mode optical properties, but higher sensitivity to the dust vertical profiles. Our studies quantify requirements for obtaining simultaneous information on aerosol layer height and absorption under MSPI measurement uncertainties.

Infrared retrievals of dust using AIRS: Comparisons of optical depths and heights derived for a North African dust storm to other collocated EOS A‐Train and surface observations

AIRS thermal infrared radiance data are used with a fast infrared scattering radiative transfer model to physically retrieve the dust column amount and dust height over both ocean and land. The retrieved optical depths are compared against those retrieved using visible and ultraviolet instruments on the A‐Train, while dust layer heights are evaluated against lidar data. The synergistic use of AIRS data is explored by using dust layer heights constrained by CALIPSO retrievals and coarse mode particle sizes over ocean from PARASOL. Optical depths from AIRS correlate well with those from other instruments over ocean (R ≥ 0.9) and are lower over land when compared to MODIS Deep Blue and OMI retrievals (R ≤ 0.8). AIRS‐derived dust top heights compare favorably with CALIPSO data and can be used to improve OMI optical depth retrievals over a much larger area than CALIPSO can provide. AIRS data can also provide estimates of dust longwave radiative forcing. For the examples examined here, the forcings are estimated to be about +1.5 and +4.5 W/m2 per unit visible optical depth over ocean and land, respectively, compared to a shortwave forcing estimate of −50 W/m2 over ocean. AIRS dust retrievals are possible day or night, can provide dust column amount information over land or ocean, and are unaffected by areas of the oceans covered by sun glint.

Vertical profiling of convective dust plumes in southern Morocco during SAMUM

Lifting of dust particles by dust devils and convective plumes may significantly contribute to the global mineral dust budget. During the Saharan Mineral Dust Experiment (SAMUM) in May–June 2006 vertical profiling of dusty plumes was performed for the first time. Polarization lidar observations taken at Ouarzazate (30.9◦N, 6.9◦W, 1133 m height above sea level) are analyzed. Two cases with typical and vigorous formation of convective plumes and statistical results of 5 d are discussed. The majority of observed convective plumes have diameters on order of 100–400 m. Most of the plumes (typically 50–95%) show top heights <1 km or 0.3DLH with the Saharan dust layer height DLH of typically 3–4 km. Height-to-diameter ratio is mostly 2–10. Maximum plume top height ranges from 1.1 to 2.9 km on the 5 d. 5–26 isolated plumes and clusters of plumes per hour were detected. A low dust optical depth (<0.3) favours plume evolution. Observed surface, 1 and 2–m air temperatures indicate that a difference of 17–20 K between surface and 2-m air temperature and of 0.9–1 K between the 1 and 2-m temperatures are required before convective plumes develop. Favourable horizontal wind speeds are 2–7 ms−1.

Variation of dust layer height in the northern Taklimakan Desert in April 2002

LIDAR observations were conducted in the northern Taklimakan Desert to investigate the vertical distribution of dust in April 2002. During the observation period, a dust outbreak occurred on 13 April, remaining over the desert for several days. Despite only slight variations being observed in dust layer height before the dust event, marked diurnal variation in dust layer height was observed after the dust event. In this study, we conducted two numerical simulations to investigate differences in the variation exhibited by the dust layer heights before and after the dust event, and assessed the influence of meteorological conditions on this variation. The simulated results show that the clearly diurnal variation in dust layer height is strongly influenced by local circulation which is affected by the characteristic topography and synoptic conditions of the Tarim Basin.

3D structure of Asian dust transport revealed by CALIPSO lidar and a 4DVAR dust model

We present detailed 3D structure of Asian dust outflow from a dust source region to the northwestern Pacific ocean retrieved by NASA/CALIOP onboard CALIPSO and results simulated by a four‐dimensional variational (4DVAR) data assimilation version of a dust transport model (RC4) based on the NIES Lidar network. The modeled and CALIOP dust extinction showed good agreement, both for horizontal scale (600–1200 km) and vertical depth (1600–3600 m) near the dust source regions. Cross‐section analyses of CALIOP and RC4 assisted by forward trajectory revealed that dust from the Gobi Desert on 5 May traveled approximately 1000–1500 km/day to the east and passed over Japan on 8 May. The elevated dust subsequently passed to the Pacific Ocean while maintaining the major dust layer height of 2500–4000 m MSL trapped within the potential temperature of 302–306 K. Results of our analyses demonstrate the importance of integration of CALIOP measurement and the dust model for clarifying the overall structure of an Asian dust event.&gt;

Sensitivity of climate forcing and response to dust optical properties in an idealized model

An idealized global climate model is used to explore the response of the climate to a wide range of dust radiative properties and dust layer heights. The top‐of‐the‐atmosphere (TOA) shortwave forcing becomes more negative as the broadband shortwave single scattering albedo increases and the broadband shortwave asymmetry parameter decreases, but the sensitivity is highly dependent on the location of the dust layer with respect to clouds. The longwave TOA forcing is most affected by the height of the dust layer. The net TOA forcing is most sensitive to the shortwave single scattering albedo and shortwave asymmetry parameter. The surface and atmospheric temperature responses are approximately linear with respect to the TOA forcing, as opposed to the surface or atmospheric forcings. Thus the TOA forcing can be used to estimate both the surface and atmospheric temperature responses to dust. The corresponding changes in latent and sensible heat fluxes are essential for the close relationship of the surface temperature response to the TOA forcing. Estimating the hydrological cycle response requires knowledge of the vertical distribution of dust with respect to clouds or other reflective particles. The sensitivity of the latent heat flux to variations in the shortwave single scattering albedo changes sign with dust height. The latent heat flux change becomes less negative as the shortwave single scattering albedo increases if the dust layer is below clouds. However, when the dust is above clouds, the latent heat response becomes more negative as the single scattering albedo increases.