Long-Range Transport of Saharan Dust to East Asia Observed with Lidars

Abstract

Dust layers in the free troposphere were observed with the lidars in Suwon, Gosan, and Tsukuba in March 7 9, 2005. The observed dust distributions were compared with the results of the regional and global dust transport models (CFORS, NRL NAAPS, and SPRINTARS). The results with the global models reproduced the dust layer qualitatively, but the regional model did not. This suggests the source of the dust layers is located outside of the modeled region of the regional model that includes Taklimakan Desert and Gobi Desert. The global models showed the plumes were from the Sahara Desert, and the both models showed there was no major dust emission in Taklimakan and Gobi Deserts during the observation period. The trajectory analysis using NOAA HYSPLIT showed that the dust originated in the Sahara Desert 5 10 days before.

Long‐Range Transport and Evolution of Saharan Dust Over East Asia From 2007 to 2020

“…In terms of time scale, studies on the eastward transport of Saharan dust are still insufficient in a climatological view. Moreover, dust over East Asia is still widely believed to come from the Taklimakan Desert and Gobi Desert (Bong Park et al., 2005; Kurosaki & Mikami, 2007; Yumimoto et al., 2010).…”

“…Only a few studies have noted its transport path eastward to East Asia. Ground‐based lidar observations combined with multi‐model simulations were used to verify that a dust event in East Asia in March 2005 was of Saharan origin (Bong Park et al., 2005). Combined multiple conventional observations with global aerosol transport model simulations, Tanaka et al.…”