Meteorological characteristics of dust storm events in the eastern Great Basin of Utah, U.S.A.

Hahnenberger, Maura; Nicoll, Kathleen

doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2012.06.029

Cited by 84 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…This region includes sources from the arid Southwest (e.g., the Mojave, Great Basin, Sonoran, and Chihuahuan Deserts) and gives rise to some of the highest aeolian dust concentrations in the United States [ Prospero et al ., ]. The Southwest has been the focus of many local and regional studies to characterize dust concentrations that peak in spring and early summer due to synoptic‐scale meteorological patterns that transport dust across the region and continent [e.g., Brazel and Nickling , ; Stout and Lee , ; Novlan et al ., ; Park et al ., ; Lee et al ., ; Rivera Rivera et al ., ; Hahnenberger and Nicoll , ; Tong et al ., ; Lei and Wang , ; Reynolds et al ., ]. Fewer studies have reported dust concentrations in the central and northern Great Plains regions [e.g., Hand et al ., , ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial and seasonal variability in fine mineral dust and coarse aerosol mass at remote sites across the United States

2017

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Understanding the spatial and temporal variability in fine mineral dust (FD, mineral aerosols with diameters less than 2.5 µm) and coarse aerosol mass (CM, mass of aerosols with diameters between 2.5 and 10 µm) is important for accurately characterizing and perhaps mitigating their environmental and climate impacts. The spatial and seasonal variability of ambient FD and CM was characterized at rural and remote sites across the United States for 2011–2014 using concentration and elemental chemistry data from the Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments (IMPROVE) aerosol monitoring network. FD concentrations were highest (and had ≥50% contributions to PM2.5 mass) in the southwestern United States in spring and across the central and southeastern United States in summer (20–30% of PM2.5 mass). CM was highest across the Southwest and southern Great Plains in spring and central United States in spring, summer, and fall (≥70% contributions to PM10 mass). Similar FD and CM seasonal variability was observed near source regions in the Southwest, but a seasonal decoupling was observed in most other regions, suggesting the contribution of nonlocal sources of FD or perhaps non‐dust‐related CM. The seasonal and spatial variability in FD elemental ratios (calcium, iron, and aluminum) was fairly uniform across the West; however, in the eastern United States a shift in summer elemental composition indicated contributions from nonlocal source regions (e.g., North Africa). Finally, long‐term trend analyses (2000–2014) indicated increased FD concentrations during spring at sites across the Southwest and during summer and fall in the southeastern and central United States.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial and seasonal variability in fine mineral dust and coarse aerosol mass at remote sites across the United States

2017

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“…Local sources in arid southwestern (SW) North America, including the Mojave, Great Basin, Sonoran, and Chihuahuan deserts and Southern Great Plains, give rise to the highest aeolian dust concentrations in the United States [ Prospero et al , ]. Concentrations peak in spring and early summer due to synoptic‐scale meteorological patterns that transport dust across the region and continent [ Brazel and Nickling , ; Novlan et al , ; Park et al , ; Rivera Rivera et al , ; Hahnenberger and Nicoll , ]. Dust in this region has several important environmental implications, such as its contribution to visibility degradation [e.g., Kavouras et al , ; Hand et al , , ; Ashley et al , ], respiratory health impacts [e.g., Grineski et al , ], heterogeneous chemistry in the atmosphere [e.g., Krueger et al , ], influence on the hydrologic cycle in the Intermountain West [e.g., Painter et al , ], transport of bioaerosols [e.g., Hallar et al , ], removal and transport of topsoil, and influence on ecosystem dynamics [ Field et al , ], as well as direct and indirect climate effects [e.g., Arimoto , ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Earlier onset of the spring fine dust season in the southwestern United States

Hand

White

Gebhart

et al. 2016

Geophysical Research Letters

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Particulate matter (PM)2.5 dust concentrations (mineral particles with aerodynamic diameters less than 2.5 µm) typically peak in spring and early summer at rural and remote sites across the southwestern United States. Trend analyses indicate that springtime regional mean PM2.5 dust concentrations have increased from 1995 to 2014, especially in March (5.4% yr−1, p < 0.01). This increase reflects an earlier onset of the spring dust season across the Southwest by 1 to 2 weeks over the 20 year time period. March dust concentrations were strongly correlated with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation index (r = −0.65, p < 0.01), which was mostly in its negative phase from 2007 to 2014, during which the region was drier, windier, and less vegetated. The positive spring trend and its association with large‐scale climate variability have several important implications for visibility, particulate matter, health effects, and the hydrologic cycle in the region.

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“…Indeed, a series of studies using different observations has been done to examine the particular characteristics of dust storms (Prasad and Singh et al, 2007;Hahnenberger and Nicoll, 2012). For instance, the characteristics of dust storm events have previously been examined using stationary aerosol concentration data from the IMPROVE network (Bell et al, 2007;Tong et al, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Observed characteristics of dust storm events over the western United States using meteorological, satellite, and air quality measurements

Lei

Wang

2014

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

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Abstract. To improve dust storm identification over the western United States, historical dust events measured by air quality and satellite observations are analyzed based on their characteristics in data sets of regular meteorology, satellitebased aerosol optical depth (AOD), and air quality measurements. Based on the prevailing weather conditions associated with dust emission, dust storm events are classified into the following four typical types:(1) The key feature of cold front-induced dust storms is their rapid process with strong dust emissions.(2) Events caused by meso-to small-scale weather systems have the highest levels of emissions.(3) Dust storms caused by tropical disturbances show a stronger air concentration of dust and last longer than those in (1) and (2).(4) Dust storms triggered by cyclogenesis last the longest.In this paper, sample events of each type are selected and examined to explore characteristics observed from in situ and remote-sensing measurements. These characteristics include the lasting period, surface wind speeds, areas affected, average loading on ground-based optical and/or air quality measurements, peak loading on ground-based optical and/or air quality measurements, and loading on satellite-based aerosol optical depth. Based on these analyses, we compare the characteristics of the same dust events captured in different data sets in order to define the dust identification criteria. The analyses show that the variability in mass concentrations captured by in situ measurements is consistent with the variability in AOD from stationary and satellite observations. Our analyses also find that different data sets are capable of identifying certain common characteristics, while each data set also provides specific information about a dust storm event.For example, the meteorological data are good at identifying the lasting period and area impacted by a dust event; the ground-based air quality and optical measurements can capture the peak strength well; aerosol optical depth (AOD) from satellite data sets allows us to better identify dust-stormaffected areas and the spatial extent of dust. The current study also indicates that the combination of in situ and satellite observations is a better method to fill gaps in dust storm recordings.

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Meteorological characteristics of dust storm events in the eastern Great Basin of Utah, U.S.A.

Cited by 84 publications

References 53 publications

Spatial and seasonal variability in fine mineral dust and coarse aerosol mass at remote sites across the United States

Spatial and seasonal variability in fine mineral dust and coarse aerosol mass at remote sites across the United States

Earlier onset of the spring fine dust season in the southwestern United States

Observed characteristics of dust storm events over the western United States using meteorological, satellite, and air quality measurements

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