The emission, transport, and impacts of the extreme Saharan dust storm of 2015
Each summer, the Saharan Air Layer (SAL) transports massive amounts of mineral dust across the Atlantic Ocean, affecting weather, climate, and public health over large areas. Despite the considerable impacts of African dust, the causes and impacts of extreme trans-Atlantic African dust events are no...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:798d0727e3634d329ec8d02272d3eb72 2024-09-15T18:22:03+00:00 The emission, transport, and impacts of the extreme Saharan dust storm of 2015 B. Harr B. Pu Q. Jin 2024-08-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8625-2024 https://doaj.org/article/798d0727e3634d329ec8d02272d3eb72 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/24/8625/2024/acp-24-8625-2024.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7316 https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7324 doi:10.5194/acp-24-8625-2024 1680-7316 1680-7324 https://doaj.org/article/798d0727e3634d329ec8d02272d3eb72 Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol 24, Pp 8625-8651 (2024) Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 article 2024 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8625-2024 2024-08-12T15:24:06Z Each summer, the Saharan Air Layer (SAL) transports massive amounts of mineral dust across the Atlantic Ocean, affecting weather, climate, and public health over large areas. Despite the considerable impacts of African dust, the causes and impacts of extreme trans-Atlantic African dust events are not fully understood. The “Godzilla” trans-Atlantic dust event of 2020 has been extensively studied, but little is known about other similar events. Here, we examine the June 2015 event, the second strongest trans-Atlantic African dust event that occurred during the summers from 2003–2022. This event was characterized by moderately high dust emissions over western North Africa and an extremely high aerosol optical depth (AOD) over the tropical North Atlantic. The high dust loading over the Atlantic is associated with atmospheric circulation extremes similar to the Godzilla event. Both the African easterly jet (AEJ) and Caribbean low-level jet (CLLJ) have greatly intensified, along with a westward extension of the North Atlantic subtropical high (NASH), all of which favor the westward transport of African dust. The enhanced dust emissions are related to anomalously strong surface winds in dust source regions and reduced vegetation density and soil moisture across the northern Sahel. The dust plume reduced net surface shortwave radiation over the eastern tropical North Atlantic by about 25 W m −2 but increased net longwave flux by about 3 W m −2 . In contrast to the Godzilla event, the 2015 event had minor air quality impacts on the US, partially due to the extremely intensified CLLJ that dispersed the dust plume towards the Pacific. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 24 15 8625 8651 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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English |
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Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 |
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Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 B. Harr B. Pu Q. Jin The emission, transport, and impacts of the extreme Saharan dust storm of 2015 |
topic_facet |
Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 |
description |
Each summer, the Saharan Air Layer (SAL) transports massive amounts of mineral dust across the Atlantic Ocean, affecting weather, climate, and public health over large areas. Despite the considerable impacts of African dust, the causes and impacts of extreme trans-Atlantic African dust events are not fully understood. The “Godzilla” trans-Atlantic dust event of 2020 has been extensively studied, but little is known about other similar events. Here, we examine the June 2015 event, the second strongest trans-Atlantic African dust event that occurred during the summers from 2003–2022. This event was characterized by moderately high dust emissions over western North Africa and an extremely high aerosol optical depth (AOD) over the tropical North Atlantic. The high dust loading over the Atlantic is associated with atmospheric circulation extremes similar to the Godzilla event. Both the African easterly jet (AEJ) and Caribbean low-level jet (CLLJ) have greatly intensified, along with a westward extension of the North Atlantic subtropical high (NASH), all of which favor the westward transport of African dust. The enhanced dust emissions are related to anomalously strong surface winds in dust source regions and reduced vegetation density and soil moisture across the northern Sahel. The dust plume reduced net surface shortwave radiation over the eastern tropical North Atlantic by about 25 W m −2 but increased net longwave flux by about 3 W m −2 . In contrast to the Godzilla event, the 2015 event had minor air quality impacts on the US, partially due to the extremely intensified CLLJ that dispersed the dust plume towards the Pacific. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
B. Harr B. Pu Q. Jin |
author_facet |
B. Harr B. Pu Q. Jin |
author_sort |
B. Harr |
title |
The emission, transport, and impacts of the extreme Saharan dust storm of 2015 |
title_short |
The emission, transport, and impacts of the extreme Saharan dust storm of 2015 |
title_full |
The emission, transport, and impacts of the extreme Saharan dust storm of 2015 |
title_fullStr |
The emission, transport, and impacts of the extreme Saharan dust storm of 2015 |
title_full_unstemmed |
The emission, transport, and impacts of the extreme Saharan dust storm of 2015 |
title_sort |
emission, transport, and impacts of the extreme saharan dust storm of 2015 |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8625-2024 https://doaj.org/article/798d0727e3634d329ec8d02272d3eb72 |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol 24, Pp 8625-8651 (2024) |
op_relation |
https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/24/8625/2024/acp-24-8625-2024.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7316 https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7324 doi:10.5194/acp-24-8625-2024 1680-7316 1680-7324 https://doaj.org/article/798d0727e3634d329ec8d02272d3eb72 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8625-2024 |
container_title |
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
container_volume |
24 |
container_issue |
15 |
container_start_page |
8625 |
op_container_end_page |
8651 |
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1810461347626876928 |