Long-term variability of dust events in Iceland (1949–2011)

Dagsson-Waldhauserová, Pavla; Arnalds, Ólafur; Ólafsson, Haraldur

doi:10.5194/acp-14-13411-2014

Cited by 66 publications

(100 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Here the concentrations exceeded 400 µ g·m −3 for PM10 and 100 µ g·m −3 for PM1. The long-term frequency of dust events in Iceland reports about one dust day annually for the capital of Reykjavik [23]. This number of dust storms is highly underestimated judging from our own observations as well as the measurements provided by the EAI.…”

Section: Dust Concentrations and Visibilitymentioning

confidence: 83%

“…Here the concentrations exceeded 400 µg¨m´3 for PM 10 and 100 µg¨m´3 for PM 1 . The long-term frequency of dust events in Iceland reports about one dust day annually for the capital of Reykjavik [23]. This number of dust storms is highly underestimated judging from our own observations as well as the measurements provided by The dust front of Storm 1 approaching to the town Hveragerði, population of 2300, which is near the town Selfoss, the eighth largest community in Iceland, with about 6500 inhabitants.…”

Section: Dust Concentrations and Visibilitymentioning

confidence: 89%

“…The mean PM 15 concentrations inside the dust plume 1 varied from 162 µg¨m´3 to 1260 µg¨m´3 (PM 10 = 158-583 µg¨m´3), and from 10 µg¨m´3 to 1600 µg¨m´3 (PM 10 = 7-486 µg¨m´3) inside dust plume 2, respectively. These numbers represent rather low concentrations for an ongoing dust storm compared to the long term PM measurements provided by the Environmental Agency of Iceland (EAI) [23,[26][27][28]. This was partly caused by moderate winds not exceeding 16 m¨s´1 (Figures 2 and 3).…”

Section: Dust Concentrations and Visibilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The middle photo shows the visibility was about 3.5 km, corresponding to the PM 10 of 70 µg¨m´3, while the photo on the right shows visibility was about 1 km, corresponding to PM 10 of 100 µg¨m´3. The PM 10 concentrations for the middle and right picture at the location of the camera can, therefore, only be retrieved using the visibility-dust formula given by Dagsson-Waldhauserova et al [23]. This formula is based on the long-term observations of PM 10 and visibility in Iceland.…”

Section: Dust Concentrations and Visibilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Applying the formula to the visibility estimations from the camera, the PM10 concentrations are calculated as <190 µ g·m −3 for the left photo, 370 µ g·m −3 for the middle photo, and >780 µ g·m −3 for the photo on the right. [23]. The images are from a web camera from the Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration.…”

Section: Dust Concentrations and Visibilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Spatial Variation of Dust Particulate Matter Concentrations during Two Icelandic Dust Storms in 2015

Dagsson-Waldhauserová

Magnúsdóttir

Ólafsson

2016

Atmosphere

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Particulate matter mass concentrations and size fractions of PM 1 , PM 2.5 , PM 4 , PM 10 , and PM 15 measured in transversal horizontal profile of two dust storms in southwestern Iceland are presented. Images from a camera network were used to estimate the visibility and spatial extent of measured dust events. Numerical simulations were used to calculate the total dust flux from the sources as 180,000 and 280,000 tons for each storm. The mean PM 15 concentrations inside of the dust plumes varied from 10 to 1600 µg¨m´3 (PM 10 = 7 to 583 µg¨m´3). The mean PM 1 concentrations were 97-241 µg¨m´3 with a maximum of 261 µg¨m´3 for the first storm. The PM 1 /PM 2.5 ratios of >0.9 and PM 1 /PM 10 ratios of 0.34-0.63 show that suspension of volcanic materials in Iceland causes air pollution with extremely high PM 1 concentrations, similar to polluted urban areas in Europe or Asia. Icelandic volcanic dust consists of a higher proportion of submicron particles compared to crustal dust. Both dust storms occurred in relatively densely inhabited areas of Iceland. First results on size partitioning of Icelandic dust presented here should challenge health authorities to enhance research in relation to dust and shows the need for public dust warning systems.

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Section: Dust Concentrations and Visibilitymentioning

confidence: 83%

Section: Dust Concentrations and Visibilitymentioning

confidence: 89%

Section: Dust Concentrations and Visibilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Dust Concentrations and Visibilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Dust Concentrations and Visibilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Spatial Variation of Dust Particulate Matter Concentrations during Two Icelandic Dust Storms in 2015

Dagsson-Waldhauserová

Magnúsdóttir

Ólafsson

2016

Atmosphere

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Interdecadal Trichodesmium variability in cold North Atlantic waters

Rivero‐Calle

Castillo

Gnanadesikan

et al. 2016

Global Biogeochemical Cycles

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Studies of the nitrogen cycle in the ocean generally assume that the distribution of the marine diazotroph, Trichodesmium, is restricted to warm, tropical, and subtropical oligotrophic waters. Here we show evidence that Trichodesmium are widely distributed in the North Atlantic. We report an approximately fivefold increase during the 1980s and 1990s in Trichodesmium presence near the British Isles with respect to the average over the last 50 years. A potential explanation is an increase in the Saharan dust source starting in the 1980s, coupled with changes in North Atlantic winds that opened a pathway for dust transport.Results from a coarse-resolution model in which winds vary but iron deposition is climatologically fixed suggest frequent nitrogen limitation in the region and reversals of the Portugal current, but it does not simulate the observed changes in Trichodesmium. Our results suggest that Trichodesmium may be capable of growth at temperatures below 20°C and challenge assumptions about their latitudinal distribution. Therefore, we need to reevaluate assumptions about the temperature limitations of Trichodesmium and the dinitrogen (N 2 ) fixation capabilities of extratropical strains, which may have important implications for the global nitrogen budget.

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Substantial contribution of northern high‐latitude sources to mineral dust in the Arctic

et al. 2016

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In the Arctic, impurities in the atmosphere and cryosphere can strongly affect the atmospheric radiation and surface energy balance. While black carbon has hence received much attention, mineral dust has been in the background. Mineral dust is not only transported into the Arctic from remote regions but also, possibly increasingly, generated in the region itself. Here we study mineral dust in the Arctic based on global transport model simulations. For this, we have developed a dust mobilization scheme in combination with the Lagrangian particle dispersion model FLEXPART. A model evaluation, based on measurements of surface concentrations and annual deposition at a number of stations and aircraft vertical profiles, shows the suitability of this model to study global dust transport. Simulations indicate that about 3% of global dust emission originates from high‐latitude dust sources in the Arctic. Due to limited convection and enhanced efficiency of removal, dust emitted in these source regions is mostly deposited closer to the source than dust from for instance Asia or Africa. This leads to dominant contributions of local dust sources to total surface dust concentrations (~85%) and dust deposition (~90%) in the Arctic region. Dust deposition from local sources peaks in autumn, while dust deposition from remote sources occurs mainly in spring in the Arctic. With increasing altitude, remote sources become more important for dust concentrations as well as deposition. Therefore, total atmospheric dust loads in the Arctic are strongly influenced by Asian (~38%) and African (~32%) dust, whereas local dust contributes only 27%. Dust loads are thus largest in spring when remote dust is efficiently transported into the Arctic. Overall, our study shows that contributions of local dust sources are more important in the Arctic than previously thought, particularly with respect to surface concentrations and dust deposition.

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Long-term variability of dust events in Iceland (1949–2011)

Cited by 66 publications

References 25 publications

The Spatial Variation of Dust Particulate Matter Concentrations during Two Icelandic Dust Storms in 2015

The Spatial Variation of Dust Particulate Matter Concentrations during Two Icelandic Dust Storms in 2015

Interdecadal Trichodesmium variability in cold North Atlantic waters

Substantial contribution of northern high‐latitude sources to mineral dust in the Arctic

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