Subregional inversion of North African dust sources

• Published in: Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
• Main Authors: Escribano, Jerónimo, Boucher, Olivier, Chevallier, Frédéric, Huneeus, Nicolás
• Other Authors: Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (UMR 8539) (LMD), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-École polytechnique (X)-École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Département des Géosciences - ENS Paris, École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL), Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement Gif-sur-Yvette (LSCE), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Direction de Recherche Fondamentale (CEA) (DRF (CEA)), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA), Modélisation INVerse pour les mesures atmosphériques et SATellitaires (SATINV), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Direction de Recherche Fondamentale (CEA) (DRF (CEA)), Universidad de Chile = University of Chile Santiago (UCHILE)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2016
• Subjects: [SDU.STU.GP]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Geophysics [physics.geo-ph]; Aerosol Robotic Network
• Online Access: https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-01366496; https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-01366496/document; https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-01366496/file/Escribano_2016_Subregional.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JD025020

International audience The emission of mineral dust aerosols in arid and semiarid regions is a complex process whose representation in atmospheric models remains crude, due to insufficient knowledge about the aerosol lifting process itself, the lack of global data on soil characteristics, and the impossibility for the models to resolve the fine-scale variability in the wind field that drives some of the dust events. As a result, there are large uncertainties in the total emission flux of mineral dust, its natural variability at various timescales, and the possible contribution from anthropogenic land use changes. This work aims for estimating dust emissions and reduces their uncertainty over the Sahara desert and the Arabian Peninsula—the largest dust source region of the globe. We use a data assimilation approach to constrain dust emission fluxes at a monthly resolution for 18 subregions. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer satellite-derived aerosol optical depth is assimilated in a regional configuration of a general circulation model coupled to an aerosol model. We describe this data assimilation system and apply it for 1 year, resulting in a total mineral dust emissions flux estimate of 2900 Tg yr −1 over the Sahara desert and the Arabian Peninsula for the year 2006. The analysis field of aerosol optical depth shows an improved fit relative to independent Aerosol Robotic Network measurements as compared to the model prior field.