Atmospheric Dynamics from Synoptic to Local Scale During an Intense Frontal Dust Storm over the Sistan Basin in Winter 2019

Kaskaoutis, Dimitris G.; Francis, Diana; Rashki, Alireza; Chaboureau, Jean‐Pierre; Dumka, U. C.

doi:10.3390/geosciences9100453

Cited by 33 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 99 publications

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“…The secondary peak seen in February (mid-winter) is associated with dust storms generated over the Arbaian Peninsula by southward propagating baroclinic systems from the mid-latitudes (e.g. Abdi Vishkaee et al, 2012;Kaskaoutis et al, 2019;Notaro et al, 2013). As highlighted in Yu et al (2016), even though the winter Shamal is stronger than its summer counterpart, with near-surface wind speeds in the Arabian Gulf of up to 20 m s -1 , the summer Shamal occurs more frequently, and is closely related to dust concentrations in the Gulf region.…”

Section: Accepted Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The peak in aerosol loading is in the summer, more precisely in July‐August (Figure 8), when the extinction coefficient exceeds 0.2 km −1 in the lowest 2–3 km of the atmosphere. The secondary peak seen in February (mid‐winter) is associated with dust storms generated over the Arabian Peninsula by southward propagating baroclinic systems from the mid‐latitudes (Abdi Vishkaee et al., 2012; Kaskaoutis et al., 2019; Notaro et al., 2013). As highlighted in Yu et al.…”

Section: Annual Diurnal Seasonal and Interannual Variability Of Aodmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Characteristics of Atmospheric Aerosols Over the UAE Inferred From CALIPSO and Sun Photometer Aerosol Optical Depth

Fissehaye

Francis

Fonseca

et al. 2021

Earth and Space Science

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This study provides insights on the composition and variability of atmospheric aerosols over the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by analyzing the atmospheric conditions together with 14-years (2006-2019) of aerosol optical depth (AOD) retrieved from CALIPSO (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation) satellite, and 7 years of AOD measured from the ground-based Aerosol Robotic Network.We found that mineral dust is the most prevailing aerosol subtype. In addition, polluted dust and polluted continental aerosols are observed mostly in the cold season. The AOD is higher in spring and summer, when the atmospheric conditions are more favourable to the occurrence of dust events. Moreover, there is another peak in winter associated with dust storms triggered by mid-latitude baroclinic systems. In summer's daytime, extinction coefficients in excess of 0.2 km -1 are observed up to 3-4 km above the surface, as a result of the warmer and windier conditions. In the cold season and at night, the dust layers are confined to the lower atmosphere below 2 km. On a climatological time scale, we found that the AOD over the UAE has been decreasing since 2009, possibly due to the increasing trend in precipitation and changes in land use.This study highlights the large contribution of dust aerosols to the total aerosol load over the UAE and stresses on the need to account for mineral dust aerosols in climate-air pollution related studies as well as weather and air quality forecasts.

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Section: Accepted Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Annual Diurnal Seasonal and Interannual Variability Of Aodmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characteristics of Atmospheric Aerosols Over the UAE Inferred From CALIPSO and Sun Photometer Aerosol Optical Depth

Fissehaye

Francis

Fonseca

et al. 2021

Earth and Space Science

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“…Poor visibility and sand encroachment, as a result of SDS, increase incidence of road accidents and aviation hazards, and disrupt supply chain infrastructures, communication, and transportation [25]. Overall, the SDSs affect the whole climate system and can cause changes in the earth's radiation balance and drought intensification [26][27][28][29].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-Term Variability of Dust Events in Southwestern Iran and Its Relationship with the Drought

et al. 2021

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Dust storms represent a major environmental challenge in the Middle East. The southwest part of Iran is highly affected by dust events transported from neighboring desert regions, mostly from the Iraqi plains and Saudi Arabia, as well as from local dust storms. This study analyzes the spatio-temporal distribution of dust days at five meteorological stations located in southwestern Iran covering a period of 22 years (from 1997 to 2018). Dust codes (06, 07, 30 to 35) from meteorological observations are analyzed at each station, indicating that 84% of the dust events are not of local origin. The average number of dust days maximizes in June and July (188 and 193, respectively), while the dust activity weakens after August. The dust events exhibit large inter-annual variability, with statistically significant increasing trends in all of five stations. Spatial distributions of the aerosol optical depth (AOD), dust loading, and surface dust concentrations from a moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA-2) retrievals reveal high dust accumulation over southwest Iran and surrounding regions. Furthermore, the spatial distribution of the (MODIS)-AOD trend (%) over southwest Iran indicates a large spatial heterogeneity during 2000–2018 with trends ranging mostly between −9% and 9% (not statistically significant). 2009 was the most active dust year, followed by 2011 and 2008, due to prolonged drought conditions in the fertile crescent and the enhanced dust emissions in the Iraqi plains during this period. In these years, the AOD was much higher than the 19-year average (2000 to 2018), while July 2009 was the dustiest month with about 25–30 dust days in each station. The years with highest dust activity were associated with less precipitation, negative anomalies of the vegetation health index (VHI) and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) over the Iraqi plains and southwest Iran, and favorable meteorological dynamics triggering stronger winds.

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“…Additionally, the dust activity can be higher during summer due to 1) increased gustiness arising from the development of local convection and resulting cold pools (e.g., Bou Karam et al, 2014;Francis et al, 2019); 2) northward propagation of the ITD and associated near-surface turbulent mixing (Bou Karam et al, 2008; 3) development of dry cyclones from cut-off lows over the Arabian Peninsula (Francis et al, 2019) and strong convergence along the ITD (Francis et al, 2020). The secondary peak in February, associated with the intrusion of cold fronts from mid-latitudes (Kaskaoutis et al, 2019) reported by Nelli et al (2021b), is not seen at the location of Barakah. Instead, there is a steady increase in AOD throughout the winter season at a rate of roughly 0.2 months −1 consistent with the strengthening of the winds (Figures 4A,B), and the gradual drying of the surface.…”

Section: Aerosol Statisticsmentioning

confidence: 76%

Characterization of the atmospheric circulation near the Empty Quarter Desert during major weather events

Nelli

Francis²,

Fonseca³

et al. 2022

Front. Environ. Sci.

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In this study, we characterize the meteorological conditions and planetary boundary layer dynamics in western United Arab Emirates based on 2012–2020 in-situ measurements. This multi-year analysis is then complemented by an intensive field-campaign in winter 2021 from which we address the main patterns of the atmospheric circulation and the boundary layer structure during typical weather events identified in the long-term analysis. We found that, 10-m and 60-m wind speeds are generally below 5 m s−1 and 8 m s−1, respectively, blowing predominantly from a northerly direction. They peak in intensity at around 12–18 Local Time (LT) and 02–09 LT in association with the sea-breeze and the downward mixing of momentum from the nighttime low-level jet, respectively. The wind is stronger in the cold season, varying mostly in response to mid-latitude baroclinic systems, while the proximity of the site to the core of the Arabian Heat Low leads to more quiescent conditions in the summer. Radiation fog is a regular occurrence mostly from December to February owing to the colder nights and weaker wind speeds, with a peak fog occurrence around local sunrise. Sea fog, which develops when the hotter desert air is transported over the cooler Arabian Gulf waters, is advected to the site in the summer. Deep and very deep convective clouds are more common in March-April in association with organized convective systems, with generally reduced cloud cover from May to October. The region of interest exhibits a monthly-mean aerosol optical depth ranging from ∼0.3 in December-January to ∼1.2 in July due to its increased exposure to dust storms in the summer season. Dust activity is also found to peak during winter and spring associated with the intrusion of cold fronts from mid-latitudes.

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Atmospheric Dynamics from Synoptic to Local Scale During an Intense Frontal Dust Storm over the Sistan Basin in Winter 2019

Cited by 33 publications

References 99 publications

Characteristics of Atmospheric Aerosols Over the UAE Inferred From CALIPSO and Sun Photometer Aerosol Optical Depth

Characteristics of Atmospheric Aerosols Over the UAE Inferred From CALIPSO and Sun Photometer Aerosol Optical Depth

Long-Term Variability of Dust Events in Southwestern Iran and Its Relationship with the Drought

Characterization of the atmospheric circulation near the Empty Quarter Desert during major weather events

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