Back-trajectory model of the Saharan dust flux and particle mass distribution in West Africa

Sunnu, Albert K.; Resch, F.; Afeti, George

doi:10.1016/j.aeolia.2013.02.005

Cited by 12 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Saharan dust could be carried thousands of kilometers to the Mediterranean [44], Europe [45,46], the Middle East [9,47], the Americas [48], and even the Arctic [49]. The above trajectories can be seen during specific times of the year, with the intensity varying annually [50]. Overall, 60% of total Saharan dust particles are blown southwards across the West African states [51][52][53] into the Gulf of Guinea [54] and across the Atlantic [55] to the Central Americas [56], where their health implications have been explored in such countries as Trinidad, Barbados, Grenada, and Puerto Rico.…”

Section: Geographical Distribution Of Studies Addressing Health Effecmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Systematic Review of Global Desert Dust and Associated Human Health Effects

et al. 2016

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Dust storms and sandy dust events originating in arid and semi-arid areas can transport particulate material, pollutants, and potential transport long distances from their sources. Exposure to desert dust particles is generally acknowledged to endanger human health. However, most studies have examined anthropogenic particulate sources, with few studies considering contributions from natural desert dust. A systematic literature review was undertaken using the ISI Web of Knowledge and PubMed databases with the objective of identifying all studies presenting results on the potential health impact from desert dust particles across the world. This review reveals an imbalance between the areas most exposed to dust and the areas most studied in terms of health effects. Among the human health effects of dust storms are mortality and morbidity, arising from respiratory system, circulatory system, and other diseases. We summarize the quantitative results of current scientific health research and possible pathological mechanisms, and describe some of the many challenges related to understanding health effects from exposures to desert dust particles. Overall, for respiratory and circulatory mortality, both positive and negative associations have been reported for PM 10 of desert dust, but only a positive relationship was reported between PM 2.5-10 and mortality, and a positive relationship was also reported between PM 2.5 and human mortality. Future pathological studies should continue to focus on those mechanisms causing the most harmful effect of desert dust on respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. More attention should also be paid to the association between desert dust and the morbidity of other diseases, such as those affecting the reproductive system and nervous system.

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Section: Geographical Distribution Of Studies Addressing Health Effecmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Systematic Review of Global Desert Dust and Associated Human Health Effects

et al. 2016

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“…The Lake Chad Basin is a major dust “hot spot” within northern Africa: remote sensing imagery and back trajectory modeling confirm that it supplies a significant quantity of dust to West Africa, including our study area, during the winter Harmattan season [e.g., Sunnu et al ., ]. Paleogeographical changes in the basin have been a major control on dust export during the Holocene.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Holocene dust records from the West African Sahel and their implications for changes in climate and land surface conditions

et al. 2014

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We reconstructed aeolian dust accumulation during the Holocene from two radiocarbon-dated lake-sediment sequences from the Manga Grasslands in northeastern Nigeria in order to investigate long-term changes in the Harmattan dust system over West Africa and evaluate their possible causes. Flux values were low in the early Holocene, decreasing further to a minimum at around 6.2 kyr B.P. after which time they increased, steadily until around 2 kyr B.P. and then more sharply after this time. The long-term variations in dust flux agree broadly with changes in the exposed area of the Lake Chad Basin to the northeast of the study sites, which vary inversely with the volume of Paleolake Megachad. More proximal sources of dust, including the fine fraction of local dune sand and floodplains of nearby rivers, have also made a contribution to the total dust load during times of enhanced dune and fluvial activity. Sharp rises in dust flux over the past century may be related to human activity. Broad patterns of change in dust flux during the Holocene agree with other reconstructions over the same period. However, we see no evidence for a stepped rise during the middle Holocene, as seen at some sites from the northeastern tropical Atlantic, suggesting that controls on the Harmattan dust system have differed from those affecting dust deposition elsewhere across northern Africa.

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“…The development of the technique can be traced back to Petterssen (1940), with one of the first applications to the understanding of airmass origins and associated implications for identifying pollution sources attributable to Fox and Ludwick (1976). Although not without its problems and caveats (Draxler and Taylor 1982;Kahl 1993;Seibert 1993;Stohl 1998;Polissar et al 1999;Hondula et al 2010;Fleming et al 2012), back trajectory analysis has been frequently applied in both meteorological and climatological analyses of environmental variables relevant to human health, such as air pollution (Riccio et al 2007;Suthawaree et al 2008;Karaca et al 2009;Makra et al 2011;He et al 2013), precipitation and temperature (Theoharatos et al 2010;Bednorz 2013;Hernandez-Ceballos et al 2013;Katarzyna 2013;Tosic and Unkasevic 2013), pollen (Stach et al 2007;Zemmer et al 2012), and dust (Engelstaedter et al 2009;Sunnu et al 2013). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Winter Mortality Variability in Five Regions of England Using Back Trajectory Analysis

et al. 2016

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Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. ABSTRACT: This paper aims to define atmospheric pathways related with the occurrence of daily winter low temperature episodes (LTE) in England, for the 26-yr period 1974-99, and to reveal possible associations with increased mortality rates. For this purpose, backward airmass trajectories, corresponding to LTE in five regions of England, were deployed. A statistically significant increase in mortality levels, at the 0.05 level, was found for LTE, compared to non-LTE days across all five regions. Seven categories of atmospheric trajectory patterns associated with LTE were identified: east, local, west, North Atlantic, Arctic, southwest, and Scandinavian. Consideration of the link between airmass trajectory patterns and mortality levels by region revealed a possible west-to-east split in the nature of air masses connected with elevated mortality. Specifically, for the West Midlands and northwest regions, relatively warm winter weather conditions from the west, most likely associated with the eastward progression of low pressure systems, are allied with the highest daily average mortality counts, whereas, for the northeast, Humberside/York, and southeast regions, cold continental air advection from northern or eastern Europe, which lasts for several days and is linked with either a blocking pattern over the western margins of Europe or an intense high pressure anomaly over eastern or northern Europe, appears important in mortality terms. This finding confirms that winter weather health associations are complex, such that climate setting and airmass climatology need to be taken into account when considering climate and health relationships.

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Back-trajectory model of the Saharan dust flux and particle mass distribution in West Africa

Cited by 12 publications

References 33 publications

A Systematic Review of Global Desert Dust and Associated Human Health Effects

A Systematic Review of Global Desert Dust and Associated Human Health Effects

Holocene dust records from the West African Sahel and their implications for changes in climate and land surface conditions

Exploring Winter Mortality Variability in Five Regions of England Using Back Trajectory Analysis

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