The aim of this research is to provide a detailed characterization of spatial patterns and temporal trends in the regional and local dust source areas within the desert of the Alashan Prefecture (Inner Mongolia, China). This problem was approached through multi‐scale remote sensing analysis of vegetation changes. The primary requirements for this regional analysis are high spatial and spectral resolution data, accurate spectral calibration and good temporal resolution with a suitable temporal baseline. Landsat analysis and field validation along with the low spatial resolution classifications from MODIS and AVHRR are combined to provide a reliable characterization of the different potential dust‐producing sources. The representation of intra‐annual and inter‐annual Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) trend to assess land cover discrimination for mapping potential dust source using MODIS and AVHRR at larger scale is enhanced by Landsat Spectral Mixing Analysis (SMA). The combined methodology is to determine the extent to which Landsat can distinguish important soils types in order to better understand how soil reflectance behaves at seasonal and inter‐annual timescales. As a final result mapping soil surface properties using SMA is representative of responses of different land and soil cover previously identified by NDVI trend. The results could be used in dust emission models even if they are not reflecting aggregate formation, soil stability or particle coatings showing to be critical for accurately represent dust source over different regional and local emitting areas. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

In this work the possibility to characterize the daily dust transport and associated thermal anomalies in the Mediterranean through circulation type classification (CTC) methods is explored. The dust loads are estimated through two different sources: the aerosol optical depth (AOD) simulated by the Goddard Chemistry Aerosol Radiation and Transport (GOCART) model in the period 2000–2007 and AOD remote sensed by the NASA Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) in the period 2001–2010. The dust transport from the Sahara is identified linking the AOD anomalies to the thermal anomalies into the Mediterranean, studying the covariance modes of AOD and air temperature at 850 hPa from the NASA Modern‐Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) dataset. The time series of the expansion coefficients associated to the first two modes, explaining around 90% of the total covariance, allow to describe the dust transport and thermal anomalies in the eastern, western and central Mediterranean sub‐basins. The circulation types are classified using the MERRA geopotential height at 700 hPa in the period 1979–2010. Two classification methods are tested, based on T‐mode and S‐mode principal component analysis (PCA), with 6, 10 and 14 classes. The performance of the CTC methods in the characterization of the dust and thermal anomalies is evaluated and the best method is selected. Results show that a T‐mode PCA method with 14 classes allows the characterization of dust transport and thermal anomalies in the eastern and western Mediterranean, while the variability in the central Mediterranean is well characterized by a S‐mode PCA method with 10 classes.

Comprehensive modelling of dust events requires a full physical representation of small‐scale emission mechanisms and description of long‐range transport dynamic. In this paper we propose a simulation system that integrates three different models in order to represent the whole dust cycle. The RAMS atmospheric model configuration has two nested grids, at 50 km and 10 km horizontal resolution, and is used to force both the dust emission model DUSTEM, and the transport model CAMx. The performance of the three‐model simulation system was evaluated using a major dust storm that occurred in March 2002 in the desert of the Alashan Prefecture (Inner Mongolia, China) and which had a significant impact over a large area in northern China. In order to identify potential active dust sources, a specific remote sensed analysis, calibrated through a field campaign in the Alashan Prefecture region, has been assimilated in the modelling system. Simulated dust storm features, from the higher resolution grid, are in good agreement with observed data: surface wind values discrepancies are less than 2 m/s in the Alashan area and less than 5 m/s along the dust storm track. In comparison to ground observations, the modelled dust surface concentration peaks in Beijing differ by only 2 mg/m3 although the timing of dust peaks is delayed in the model. As a consequence this integrated numerical model, along with the remote sensed land surface characterization, is suggested to be a practical and flexible tool for simulating and analysing the whole dust storm dynamics. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.