Environmental Characterization of Global Sources of Atmospheric Soil Dust Identified With the Nimbus 7 Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (Toms) Absorbing Aerosol Product

Prospero, Joseph M.; Ginoux, Paul; Torres, Omar; Nicholson, Sharon E.; Gill, Thomas E.

doi:10.1029/2000rg000095

Cited by 2,698 publications

(2,866 citation statements)

References 138 publications

Supporting

136

Mentioning

2,702

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…The TOMS project has produced the longest available global record of aerosol observations in terms of AI, and a number of studies have demonstrated its feasibility and success (e.g., Torres et al 1998;Chiappello et al 1999;Hsu et al 1999;Cakmur et al 2001;Prospero et al 2002;Duncan et al 2003). Monthly data on a 1.25°ϫ 1°grid are available on the TOMS Web site (http://toms.gsfc.nasa.gov/aerosols/aerosols_v8.html).…”

Section: Data and Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The continuance of the westerly flow in spring across Afghanistan and Pakistan contributes to the piling up of aerosols in May. Indeed, during the premonsoon season, air masses carry the dry dust particles from the Middle East and the western Thar Desert (where dust activity peaks in late spring to early summer; see, e.g., Prospero et al 2002) to the IGP where they accumulate and interact with the large flux of regional pollutants from fossil fuels (typically invariant through the season) and biomass burning (predominant in spring; e.g., Dey et al 2004;Habib et al 2006).…”

Section: Toms Aerosol Index Variability Over the Indian Subcontinentmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Absorbing Aerosols and Summer Monsoon Evolution over South Asia: An Observational Portrayal

2008

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The South Asian haze builds up from December to May, is mostly of anthropogenic origin, and absorbs part of the solar radiation. The influence of interannual variations of absorbing aerosols over the IndoGangetic Plain in May on the Indian summer monsoon is characterized by means of an observational analysis. Insight into how the aerosol impact is generated is also provided.It is shown that anomalous aerosol loading in late spring leads to remarkable and large-scale variations in the monsoon evolution. Excessive aerosols in May lead to reduced cloud amount and precipitation, increased surface shortwave radiation, and land surface warming. The June (and July) monsoon anomaly associated with excessive May aerosols is of opposite sign over much of the subcontinent (although with a different pattern) with respect to May. The monsoon strengthens in June (and July).The analysis suggests that the significant large-scale aerosol influence on monsoon circulation and hydroclimate is mediated by the heating of the land surface, pursuant to reduced cloudiness and precipitation in May. The finding of the significant role of the land surface in the realization of the aerosol impact is somewhat novel.

show abstract

Section: Data and Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Toms Aerosol Index Variability Over the Indian Subcontinentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Absorbing Aerosols and Summer Monsoon Evolution over South Asia: An Observational Portrayal

2008

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Many of the papers published to date that provide information on health-related particulate matter (PM) research have focussed on the impact of anthropogenically generated PM (such as PM generated by combustion engines) (Bousquet et al 2003;Bruce et al 2000;Ezzati 2005;Romieu et al 2002) while relatively little work has looked at the impact of naturally generated PM (such as PM emanating from dust storms). Winds from the nine principal desert sources transport large amounts of dust around the world (Prospero et al 2002;Tanaka and Chiba 2006). Overall, studies estimate that the global dust emission varies by a factor of slightly more than two, although extreme values from 1,018 Tg year −1 (Miller et al 2004) to 3,000 Tg year −1 (Tegen and Fung 1994) have been established over the last two decades (Engelstaedter et al 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Desert dust impacts on human health: an alarming worldwide reality and a need for studies in West Africa

et al. 2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

High desert dust concentrations raise concerns about adverse health effects on human populations. Based on a systematic literature review, this paper aims to learn more about the relationship between desert dust and human health in the world and to analyse the place of West Africa as a study area of interest. Papers focussing on the potential relationship between dust and health and showing quantitative analyses, published between January 1999 and September 2011, were identified using the ISI Web of Knowledge database (N050). A number of adverse health effects, including respiratory, cardiovascular and cardiopulmonary diseases, are associated with dust. This survey highlights obvious dust impacts on human health independently of the study area, health outcomes and method. Moreover, it reveals an imbalance between the areas most exposed to dust and the areas most studied in terms of health effects. None of these studies has been conducted in West Africa, despite the proximity of the Sahara, which produces about half of the yearly global mineral dust. In view of the alarming results in many parts of the world (Asia, Europe, America), this paper concludes by stressing the importance of carrying out impact studies of Saharan dust in West Africa, where dust events are more frequent and intense than anywhere else.

show abstract

“…The lake basins probably act as temporary sediment sinks during humid periods and then release sediment as the lakes dry out. At the present day, dry lake beds in the Sahara appear to be major sources of atmospheric mineral dust (Prospero et al 2002, Engelstaedter et al 2006) and in the case of the Bodélé Depression in Chad, which is the single largest source of atmospheric mineral dust on Earth (Washington et al 2003), wind erosion appears to have scoured out a deep basin (Washington et al 2006) providing a source of sand as well as dust.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dune ages in the sand deserts of the southern Sahara and Sahel

Bristow

Armitage

2016

Quaternary International

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this paper we aim to document the history of aeolian processes within the southern Sahara as part of the INQUA Dune Atlas. We review available luminescence ages for sand dunes across the southern Sahara to develop an improved understanding of the dune chronology on a regional basis and attempt to correlate periods of sand accumulation. This was achieved by analysing dune age by country, as well as by latitude and longitude. The results show a very patchy spatial distribution of dune ages with large gaps that encompass some of the largest sand seas. Despite these gaps, some related patterns in dune morphology and stratigraphy appear to be consistent between northern Nigeria and southern Mali where older linear dunes are distinct from younger Late Holocene transverse and barchanoid dunes. Elsewhere in Mauretania linear dunes with different orientations appear to have accumulated at different times, most likely in response to changes in atmospheric circulation. Regional climatic changes are identified where dunes are transgressed by lake deposits within endorehic basins. We identify four locations where dune accumulation is terminated by lacustrine transgressions, two of which, in Lake Chad and the Bodélé Depression, occur shortly after the last glacial maximum (LGM). The third example at Gobiero in Niger occurred later, in the early Holocene, around 8.4 ka and a fourth marks a later transgression of Palaeolake MegaChad after 4.7 ka. Larger-scale latitudinal and longitudinal distributions in dune ages across the southern Sahara do not show any consistent patterns, though this may be due to the small sample size relative to the study area. In addition, local variations in external controls such as wind regime, rainfall, vegetation and sand supply need to be considered, sometimes on a site by site basis. Limiting the analysis to dune ages determined using the single-aliquot regenerative-dose (SAR) protocol indicates a lack of dune preservation during the LGM and the Younger Dryas, times associated with increased dust input to the oceans which is assumed to indicate increased aeolian activity. The SAR dune dates suggest that preservation of dunes at the onset of succeeding humid intervals is an important component of the dune record. The most striking examples of this phenomenon occur where dunes are preserved within endorehic basins by lacustrine transgressions.

show abstract

Environmental Characterization of Global Sources of Atmospheric Soil Dust Identified With the Nimbus 7 Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (Toms) Absorbing Aerosol Product

Abstract: Citation: J. M. Prospero, P. Ginoux, O. Torres, S. E. Nicholson, and T. E. Gill, Environmental characterization of global sou7rces of atmospheric soil dust identified with the nimbus 7 total ozone mapping spectrometer (TOMS) absorbing aerosol product, Rev. Geophys.,

Cited by 2,698 publications

References 138 publications

Absorbing Aerosols and Summer Monsoon Evolution over South Asia: An Observational Portrayal

Absorbing Aerosols and Summer Monsoon Evolution over South Asia: An Observational Portrayal

Desert dust impacts on human health: an alarming worldwide reality and a need for studies in West Africa

Dune ages in the sand deserts of the southern Sahara and Sahel

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About