Saharan mineral dust outbreaks observed over the North Atlantic island of La Palma in summertime between 1984 and 2012
Abstract We estimate the frequency of Saharan mineral dust outbreak events observed over the North Atlantic island of La Palma based on in situ nightly atmospheric extinction measurements recorded almost continuously since 1984 by the Carlsberg Meridian Telescope at the Roque de los Muchachos observ...
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crwiley:10.1002/qj.2170 2024-06-02T08:11:06+00:00 Saharan mineral dust outbreaks observed over the North Atlantic island of La Palma in summertime between 1984 and 2012 Laken, Benjamin A. Parviainen, Hannu Pallé, Enric Shahbaz, Tariq 2013 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/qj.2170 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fqj.2170 https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/qj.2170 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society volume 140, issue 680, page 1058-1068 ISSN 0035-9009 1477-870X journal-article 2013 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.2170 2024-05-03T11:34:25Z Abstract We estimate the frequency of Saharan mineral dust outbreak events observed over the North Atlantic island of La Palma based on in situ nightly atmospheric extinction measurements recorded almost continuously since 1984 by the Carlsberg Meridian Telescope at the Roque de los Muchachos observatory. The outbreak frequency shows a well‐defined seasonal peak in the months of July to September, during which time the occurrence of Saharan dust events (SDEs) is approximately 28 ± 6%. We find considerable year‐to‐year variability in the summertime SDE frequency, observing a steady reduction between 1984 and 1997, followed by a period of relative mean stability from 1999 to 2012. We investigated changes in the atmospheric extinction of the SDEs as an indicator of strength of the episodes and found that this parameter approximately follows the SDE frequency, however, instrumental limitations prevented us from deriving precise conclusions regarding their long‐term changes. A lagged correlation analysis between SDE properties and the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and Sahel rainfall index (SRI) was performed. We found that 55 ± 4% of the year‐to‐year variations in July–September SDE frequency may be reproduced by a lagged relationship to the NAO conditions during the preceding October–December period, and 45 ± 4% may be reproduced by a negative correlation to the SRI during the preceding February–April period. Based on these relationships it may be possible to obtain an approximate indication of the strength of the upcoming summertime dust season over the North Atlantic around half a year in advance. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation Wiley Online Library Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society 140 680 1058 1068 |
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English |
description |
Abstract We estimate the frequency of Saharan mineral dust outbreak events observed over the North Atlantic island of La Palma based on in situ nightly atmospheric extinction measurements recorded almost continuously since 1984 by the Carlsberg Meridian Telescope at the Roque de los Muchachos observatory. The outbreak frequency shows a well‐defined seasonal peak in the months of July to September, during which time the occurrence of Saharan dust events (SDEs) is approximately 28 ± 6%. We find considerable year‐to‐year variability in the summertime SDE frequency, observing a steady reduction between 1984 and 1997, followed by a period of relative mean stability from 1999 to 2012. We investigated changes in the atmospheric extinction of the SDEs as an indicator of strength of the episodes and found that this parameter approximately follows the SDE frequency, however, instrumental limitations prevented us from deriving precise conclusions regarding their long‐term changes. A lagged correlation analysis between SDE properties and the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and Sahel rainfall index (SRI) was performed. We found that 55 ± 4% of the year‐to‐year variations in July–September SDE frequency may be reproduced by a lagged relationship to the NAO conditions during the preceding October–December period, and 45 ± 4% may be reproduced by a negative correlation to the SRI during the preceding February–April period. Based on these relationships it may be possible to obtain an approximate indication of the strength of the upcoming summertime dust season over the North Atlantic around half a year in advance. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Laken, Benjamin A. Parviainen, Hannu Pallé, Enric Shahbaz, Tariq |
spellingShingle |
Laken, Benjamin A. Parviainen, Hannu Pallé, Enric Shahbaz, Tariq Saharan mineral dust outbreaks observed over the North Atlantic island of La Palma in summertime between 1984 and 2012 |
author_facet |
Laken, Benjamin A. Parviainen, Hannu Pallé, Enric Shahbaz, Tariq |
author_sort |
Laken, Benjamin A. |
title |
Saharan mineral dust outbreaks observed over the North Atlantic island of La Palma in summertime between 1984 and 2012 |
title_short |
Saharan mineral dust outbreaks observed over the North Atlantic island of La Palma in summertime between 1984 and 2012 |
title_full |
Saharan mineral dust outbreaks observed over the North Atlantic island of La Palma in summertime between 1984 and 2012 |
title_fullStr |
Saharan mineral dust outbreaks observed over the North Atlantic island of La Palma in summertime between 1984 and 2012 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Saharan mineral dust outbreaks observed over the North Atlantic island of La Palma in summertime between 1984 and 2012 |
title_sort |
saharan mineral dust outbreaks observed over the north atlantic island of la palma in summertime between 1984 and 2012 |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/qj.2170 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fqj.2170 https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/qj.2170 |
genre |
North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic North Atlantic oscillation |
op_source |
Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society volume 140, issue 680, page 1058-1068 ISSN 0035-9009 1477-870X |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.2170 |
container_title |
Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society |
container_volume |
140 |
container_issue |
680 |
container_start_page |
1058 |
op_container_end_page |
1068 |
_version_ |
1800757131640569856 |