The role of aeolian dust in ecosystems

McTainsh, Grant Harvey; Strong, Craig

doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2006.07.028

Cited by 160 publications

(90 citation statements)

References 73 publications

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“…They can affect the temperature structure of the atmosphere (Hansen et al, 1997;Lohmann and Feichter, 2005) and may have consequences for the hydrological cycle (Lohmann and Feichter, 1997). Dust aerosols may transport nutrients for the biosphere over long distances (Vink and Measures, 2001;McTainsh and Strong, 2007;Maher et al, 2010;Lequy et al, 2012) and anthropogenic aerosols can pose health hazards for humans (Dockery et al, 1993;Brunekreef and Holgate, 2002;Ezzati et al, 2002;Smith et al, 2009;Beelen et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The importance of temporal collocation for the evaluation of aerosol models with observations

2016

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Abstract. It is often implicitly assumed that over suitably long periods the mean of observations and models should be comparable, even if they have different temporal sampling. We assess the errors incurred due to ignoring temporal sampling and show that they are of similar magnitude as (but smaller than) actual model errors (20-60 %).Using temporal sampling from remote-sensing data sets, the satellite imager MODIS (MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) and the ground-based sun photometer network AERONET (AErosol Robotic NETwork), and three different global aerosol models, we compare annual and monthly averages of full model data to sampled model data. Our results show that sampling errors as large as 100 % in AOT (aerosol optical thickness), 0.4 in AE (Ångström Exponent) and 0.05 in SSA (single scattering albedo) are possible. Even in daily averages, sampling errors can be significant. Moreover these sampling errors are often correlated over long distances giving rise to artificial contrasts between pristine and polluted events and regions. Additionally, we provide evidence that suggests that models will underestimate these errors. To prevent sampling errors, model data should be temporally collocated to the observations before any analysis is made.We also discuss how this work has consequences for in situ measurements (e.g. aircraft campaigns or surface measurements) in model evaluation.Although this study is framed in the context of model evaluation, it has a clear and direct relevance to climatologies derived from observational data sets.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The importance of temporal collocation for the evaluation of aerosol models with observations

2016

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“…Eolian dust, moreover, is implicated in a wide range of environmental processes, including soil formation (McTainsh and Strong, 2007), fertilization of continental environments such as forests and lake systems (McTainsh and Strong, 2007), coral contamination (Shinn et al, 2000), and human health problems (Prospero et al, 2005), among others (see Field et al, 2010 for a review). In addition to being a driver of climate and ecological change, eolian dust that accumulates in different environments such as loess/paleosol sequences (Ding et al, 2002), ice cores (Bory et al, 2003), and marine sediments (Yamazaki and Ioka, 1997;Bailey et al, 2011;Roberts et al, 2011) provides an opportunity to study past climate variations and atmospheric dynamics.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Source-to-sink magnetic properties of NE Saharan dust in Eastern Mediterranean marine sediments: review and paleoenvironmental implications

et al. 2015

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“…Aeolian sand transport is a serious problem in many arid regions in the world, and it is considered to be the significant part of global biogeochemical cycles (Liu 2009;McTainsh and Strong 2007). Saltation plays a key role in aeolian sand transport studies because saltating grains account for about 50-75 % of the total aeolian transport (Bagnold 1941;Chepil 1945).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diurnal variations of saltation activity at Tazhong: the hinterland of Taklimakan Desert

Yang

Mamtimin

et al. 2012

Meteorol Atmos Phys

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The Taklimakan Desert of China is a region of frequent sandstorms and, thus, is a major sand and dust source area. Tazhong, a small mining village, is located near the center of the Taklimakan Desert at a distance of 220 km from the desert margins. Near Tazhong, we conducted a 2-year field investigation designed to monitor the diurnal variation of saltation activity using fast-responding piezoelectric saltation sensors (Sensits). Results suggest that saltation activity tends to occur more frequently during daytime in all seasons, relatively high levels of saltation activity are maintained from around 11:30 to around 16:30 local standard time (LST), because of stronger wind speed, higher soil temperature and lower relative humidity. During the spring and summer seasons, the saltation activity can occur at any time of the day, while there are some periods with zero saltation seconds at night and in the early morning during autumn and winter seasons. The results confirm that sandstorms tend to occur more frequently during daylight hours, so it may be helpful to forecast and guard against the occurrence of blowing sand or sandstorms in the Taklimakan Desert.

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The role of aeolian dust in ecosystems

Cited by 160 publications

References 73 publications

The importance of temporal collocation for the evaluation of aerosol models with observations

The importance of temporal collocation for the evaluation of aerosol models with observations

Source-to-sink magnetic properties of NE Saharan dust in Eastern Mediterranean marine sediments: review and paleoenvironmental implications

Diurnal variations of saltation activity at Tazhong: the hinterland of Taklimakan Desert

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