Utilizing AEOLUS to Improve Dust Transport Modelling

• Published in: 16th International Conference on Meteorology, Climatology and Atmospheric Physics—COMECAP 2023
• Main Authors: Thanasis Georgiou, Konstantinos Rizos, Athanasios Tsikerdekis, Emmanouil Proestakis, Antonis Gkikas, Holger Baars, Athena Augusta Floutsi, Eleni Drakaki, Anna Kampouri, Eleni Marinou, Dave Donovan, Angela Benedetti, Will McLean, Christian Retscher, Dimitrios Melas, Vassilis Amiridis
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2023
• Subjects: data assimilation; NWP; AEOLUS; WRF; DART; ensemble forecasting; Environmental sciences; GE1-350; Aeolus; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/environsciproc2023026193; https://doaj.org/article/d209ffc380904c65ab2b7f18a0d31c8f

The European Space Agency’s AEOLUS mission provides vertical profiles of the horizontal line-of-sight (HLOS) wind component in the troposphere and lower stratosphere, as well as secondary products with retrievals of extinction and backscatter coefficients. Under the scope of the ESA L2A+ project, we present an assimilation system of both wind and aerosol information from AEOLUS in a regional numerical weather prediction model (WRF). This study aims to highlight the impact of such a dataset on desert dust transport through assimilation experiments over the broader North Atlantic Ocean region, which features high dust transport events through the Saharan Air Layer. The results will be validated through comparisons with observations from the ESA-ASKOS/JATAC experiments.