Saharan dust affects the climate by altering the radiation balance and by depositing minerals to the Atlantic Ocean. Both are dependent on particle size. We present aircraft measurements comprising 42 profiles of size distribution (0.1–300 µm), representing freshly uplifted dust, regional aged dust, and dust in the Saharan Air Layer (SAL) over the Canary Islands. The mean effective diameter of dust in SAL profiles is 4.5 µm smaller than that in freshly uplifted dust, while the vertical structure changes from a low shallow layer (0–1.5 km) to a well‐mixed deep Saharan dust layer (0–5 km). Size distributions show a loss of 60 to 90% of particles larger than 30 µm 12 h after uplift. The single scattering albedo (SSA) increases from 0.92 to 0.94 to 0.95 between fresh, aged, and SAL profiles: this is enough to alter heating rates by 26%. Some fresh dust close to the surface shows SSA as low as 0.85.

Due to the harshness and inaccessibility of desert regions, the uncertainties concerning the processes of dust mobilization at the surface, airborne transport, and sedimentation are still considerable, limiting the ability to perform model simulations. In June 2011, a comprehensive data set of ground-based and airborne in situ measurements and remote sensing observations was acquired within the Fennec/Lagrangian Dust Source Inversion Experiment (LADUNEX) field campaign in the western Sahara region. Here we evaluate the ability of the state-of-the-art Lagrangian particle dispersion model FLEXPART, newly fitted with a dust mobilization capability, to simulate dust transport in this region. We investigate a case where a large mesoscale convective system (MCS) triggered dust emissions in central Mali, which subsequently moved as a large cold pool dust front toward northern Mauritania. Specifying dust mobilization for this case is shown to be an important obstacle to simulating dust transport during this event, since neither the MCS nor the associated cold pool-causing dust emission is represented in the meteorological analysis. Obtaining a realistic dust transport simulation for this case therefore requires an inversion approach using a manual specification of the dust sources supported by satellite imagery. When compared to in situ and remote sensing data from two aircraft, the Lagrangian dust transport simulations represent the overall shape and evolution of the dust plume well. While accumulation and coarse mode dust are well represented in the simulation, giant mode particles are considerably underestimated. Our results re-emphasize that dust emission associated with deep moist convection remains a key issue for reliable dust model simulations in northern Africa.

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