The Northern Path of Asian Dust Transport from the Gobi Desert to North America

Abstract

The aerosol index (AI) of the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) satellite data (1979−2001) was analyzed to reveal the climatological long-distance path of dust transport from Asia to North America. The AI in the west coast of the United States is highly correlated with that in the Gobi desert. Additionally, from the TOMS satellite images, it can be seen that very strong plumes advect from Asia to the west coast of North America in typical dust storm cases. When applying the sourcereceptor relationship to detect the northern dust transport path between the Gobi source region and the west coast of the United States receptor region, it is evident that the dust plume can be transported northward beyond 60°N from its source region and that it takes 5 to 6 days to reach the west coast of the United States. The cross correlation technique shown in this work is a useful tool that can be applied in other regions to give useful insights into relationships between major dust sources and downwind receptor locations by using remotely sensed dust observations.

Simulating the Impact of Long-Range-Transported Asian Mineral Dust on the Formation of Sulfate and Nitrate during the KORUS-AQ Campaign

“…Airborne dust particles originating from the Gobi Desert undergo long-range transport and eventually reach a remote region in East Asia and the west coast of North America. − Due to the rapid deposition rates of CCRS particles, the spatial distribution of dust mass is dominated by FCRS. Figure shows that the simulated mass ratio of FCRS to TCRS along the back trajectories ended at 0:00 UTC from May 27 to 30, 2016.…”

“…The sources of long-range-transported mineral dust for our study domain include two primary regions: the Gobi Desert (northern China and southern Mongolia) and the Taklimakan Desert (mid-West China). Dust particles from the Gobi Desert can be entrained to altitudes less than 3000 m. The Gobi Desert is one of the dominant sources of dust particles for East Asia and western North America. − To evaluate the spatiotemporal patterns of airmass transport, 3-day backward trajectories were computed every 24 h from May 25 to 30, 2016, using the HYSPLIT trajectory model developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) (Figure ). The meteorology input for the calculation of trajectories was the global data assimilation system (GDAS), which has a resolution of 0.5° × 0.5°.…”

Spring 2018 Asian Dust Events: Sources, Transportation, and Potential Biogeochemical Implications

“…The The second step in the investigation involved the analysis of the spatial distribution of CHL-a anomalies with a lag of 14 days after the onset of the dust event. CHL-a anomalies (∆CHL-a) assumed to represent the CHL-a response to dust events were defined as ∆CHL-a (2018) = CHL-a (2018) − CHL-a (mean) , where CHL-a (2018) is the CHL concentration for 2018 defined as the composite over a 13-day period (17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29), beginning with a lag of 14 days after the onset of the Asian dust event on 3 April 2018; CHL-a (mean) is the mean CHL-a concentration averaged over the same period between 2012 and 2017. Figure 7c shows that the spatial distribution of positive CHL-a anomalies (i.e., ∆CHL-a > 0) in 2018 appeared generally consistent with the overall distribution of AI values > 1.7 (Figure 3).…”

“…Asian dust, which mainly originates from the Gobi and Taklimakan deserts in central Asia, accounts for approximately 25% of total aeolian dust emissions, and is the second largest dust source of mineral dust to the oceans [12,13]. The North Pacific Ocean (Figure 1), where OPP is co-limited by nitrogen and iron [14][15][16], is located downwind from the source regions of Asian dust [17][18][19], and is therefore an ideal location for determining the response of open waters to these events. Modeling and observational studies reveal that the supply of Asian dust to the North Pacific Ocean occurs primarily in spring (March-May) by westerly winds [17,20,21].…”

Dust Transport from Inland Australia and Its Impact on Air Quality and Health on the Eastern Coast of Australia during the February 2019 Dust Storm

“…Occasionally, the affected downwind areas are populated or urban regions [2][3][4]. Dust storms, such as those from the Sahara [5] or Gobi deserts [6], often can carry dust on a global scale, from one continent to another crossing over the oceans. Dust deposited over the ocean also promoted phytoplankton growth due to the presence of aeolian iron in the dust [7][8][9][10][11].…”