In situ measurements of desert dust particles above the western Mediterranean Sea with the balloon-borne Light Optical Aerosol Counter/sizer (LOAC) during the ChArMEx campaign of summer 2013

Abstract

Abstract. Mineral . Such large particles were lifted several days 39 before and their persistence after transport over long distances is in conflict with calculations of dust 40 sedimentation. We did not observe any significant evolution of the size distribution during the 41 transport from quasi-Lagrangian flights, even for the longest ones (~1 day). Finally, the presence of 42 charged particles is inferred from the LOAC measurements and we speculate that electrical forces 43 might counteract gravitational settling of the coarse particles. 44 45 46

Mixed-phase regime cloud thinning could help restore sea ice

“…Over the Southern Ocean, the average dust concentrations vary around 10 1 l −1 (Maloney et al 2022). In the Northern Hemisphere, dust concentrations vary from about 10 3 l −1 during non-dusty conditions over the Arctic Ocean (Kupiszewski et al 2013, Dagsson-Waldhauserova et al 2019 to 10 5 l −1 for dust-dominated conditions such as inside the Saharan Air Layer over the subtropical Atlantic (Renard et al 2018). Concentrations of 10 7 l −1 are unprecedented in the atmosphere and should therefore not be considered.…”