Cooler sea surface west of the Sahara Desert correlated to dust events
Atmospheric particles scatter incoming solar radiation and cause regional cooling for areas in which they increase the net backscattering. Stratospheric aerosols have been widely observed to have this cooling effect on the Earth's surface following major volcanic eruptions. A smaller effect is...
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Online Access: | https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/gsofacpubs/1912 https://doi.org/10.1029/98GL52591 |
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ftunivrhodeislan:oai:digitalcommons.uri.edu:gsofacpubs-2881 2024-02-04T10:02:43+01:00 Cooler sea surface west of the Sahara Desert correlated to dust events Schollaert, Stephanie E. Merrill, John T. 1998-09-15T07:00:00Z https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/gsofacpubs/1912 https://doi.org/10.1029/98GL52591 unknown DigitalCommons@URI https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/gsofacpubs/1912 doi:10.1029/98GL52591 https://doi.org/10.1029/98GL52591 Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications text 1998 ftunivrhodeislan https://doi.org/10.1029/98GL52591 2024-01-08T19:09:55Z Atmospheric particles scatter incoming solar radiation and cause regional cooling for areas in which they increase the net backscattering. Stratospheric aerosols have been widely observed to have this cooling effect on the Earth's surface following major volcanic eruptions. A smaller effect is expected to result from the regular entrainment of aerosols in the troposphere from natural and anthropogenic surface sources. Over long time scales, even a small cooling by tropospheric aerosols could be significant in offsetting warming caused by greenhouse gases. We looked for indications of this effect at the ocean's surface, when the albedo is raised in the presence of tropospheric aerosols. To test whether a correlation exists between tropospheric aerosol outbreaks and a cooler ocean surface, we compared satelalite-derived aerosol optical depth (AOD) measurements to in situ sea surface temperatures (SSTs) over a four year period. We seolected a subtropical North Atlantic region where the upwind mobilization of desert dust results in an aerosol signal large enough to outweigh other factors which cause cooling of the sea surface. In this location, the differing seasonal variations of aerosol amount, mixed layer depth, and cloudiness permit a glimpse of the causal relationship between aerosols and temperature changes at the sea surface. Although we were limited by in situ SST coverage, we found temperature perturbations correlated to large aerosol outbreaks from the Sahara Desert. Text North Atlantic University of Rhode Island: DigitalCommons@URI Geophysical Research Letters 25 18 3529 3532 |
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Open Polar |
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University of Rhode Island: DigitalCommons@URI |
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ftunivrhodeislan |
language |
unknown |
description |
Atmospheric particles scatter incoming solar radiation and cause regional cooling for areas in which they increase the net backscattering. Stratospheric aerosols have been widely observed to have this cooling effect on the Earth's surface following major volcanic eruptions. A smaller effect is expected to result from the regular entrainment of aerosols in the troposphere from natural and anthropogenic surface sources. Over long time scales, even a small cooling by tropospheric aerosols could be significant in offsetting warming caused by greenhouse gases. We looked for indications of this effect at the ocean's surface, when the albedo is raised in the presence of tropospheric aerosols. To test whether a correlation exists between tropospheric aerosol outbreaks and a cooler ocean surface, we compared satelalite-derived aerosol optical depth (AOD) measurements to in situ sea surface temperatures (SSTs) over a four year period. We seolected a subtropical North Atlantic region where the upwind mobilization of desert dust results in an aerosol signal large enough to outweigh other factors which cause cooling of the sea surface. In this location, the differing seasonal variations of aerosol amount, mixed layer depth, and cloudiness permit a glimpse of the causal relationship between aerosols and temperature changes at the sea surface. Although we were limited by in situ SST coverage, we found temperature perturbations correlated to large aerosol outbreaks from the Sahara Desert. |
format |
Text |
author |
Schollaert, Stephanie E. Merrill, John T. |
spellingShingle |
Schollaert, Stephanie E. Merrill, John T. Cooler sea surface west of the Sahara Desert correlated to dust events |
author_facet |
Schollaert, Stephanie E. Merrill, John T. |
author_sort |
Schollaert, Stephanie E. |
title |
Cooler sea surface west of the Sahara Desert correlated to dust events |
title_short |
Cooler sea surface west of the Sahara Desert correlated to dust events |
title_full |
Cooler sea surface west of the Sahara Desert correlated to dust events |
title_fullStr |
Cooler sea surface west of the Sahara Desert correlated to dust events |
title_full_unstemmed |
Cooler sea surface west of the Sahara Desert correlated to dust events |
title_sort |
cooler sea surface west of the sahara desert correlated to dust events |
publisher |
DigitalCommons@URI |
publishDate |
1998 |
url |
https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/gsofacpubs/1912 https://doi.org/10.1029/98GL52591 |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications |
op_relation |
https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/gsofacpubs/1912 doi:10.1029/98GL52591 https://doi.org/10.1029/98GL52591 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/98GL52591 |
container_title |
Geophysical Research Letters |
container_volume |
25 |
container_issue |
18 |
container_start_page |
3529 |
op_container_end_page |
3532 |
_version_ |
1789969611964284928 |