Synoptic analysis of a rare event of Saharan dust reaching the Arctic region

Barkan, J.; Alpert, Pinhas

doi:10.1002/wea.503

Cited by 46 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Barkan and Alpert (2010); and indicated the importance of these high-pressure systems on the dust cases. In addition, two troughs over the western coast of the Red Sea and the western Arabian Peninsula are embedded inside this series of ridges.…”

Section: Wintermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These two systems interacted to form a high-pressure gradient over the Arabian Peninsula and the eastern Mediterranean, forming the Shamal wind over the Arabian Peninsula and representing the main cause of dust emission (Yu et al, 2016), and similar to the wind mechanisms of the dust storms over the Sistan region (Kaskaoutis et al, 2015). Notably, the influence of the high-pressure gradient on the effective dust area was a common synoptic feature that accompanied the dust transition (Barkan et al, 2004;Barkan and Alpert, 2010;Alharbi et al, 2013;Awad and Mashat, 2014;Kaskaoutis et al, 2014;Kaskaoutis et al, 2015).…”

Section: Summermentioning

confidence: 99%

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Seasonal variability and synoptic characteristics of dust cases over southwestern Saudi Arabia

Mashat

Alamoudi

Awad

et al. 2017

Intl Journal of Climatology

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ABSTRACT:The synoptic characteristics and statistical variability of seasonal dust over southwestern Saudi Arabia are studied for the period from 1979 to 2006 using the aerosol index (AI) from the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) satellite, dust observations from surface stations, and meteorological data from the National Center for Environmental Prediction and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) reanalysis data set.The seasonal AI distribution indicates that approximately 80% of each year was dusty and that most of the dust occurred during hot months. In addition, the surface observations of the dust types show that the stations with the largest number of dust observations throughout the year were close to the desert, except during the summer, when the stations near the Red Sea had the largest number of dust observations.The synoptic forces that influenced the dust cases were the relative positions of high-pressure systems (Azores or Siberian) and low-pressure systems (Sudan or Indian), alongside their interactions. The relative positions of the atmospheric systems are highly pronounced at a pressure level of 850 hPa; at this pressure, the systems are oriented from north (anticyclonic system) to south (cyclonic system), turn anticlockwise to become oriented from west (anticyclonic system) to east (cyclonic system) during the summer, and then turn clockwise during the winter. Moreover, the interaction of the atmospheric systems influences the wind pattern of the seasonal composition over the southern Arabian Peninsula, which produces an anticyclonic wind pattern during winter, a cyclonic wind pattern during spring, a northerly/northwesterly wind pattern during summer and an anticyclonic wind pattern during autumn.The dust sources changed because of the relative positions of these atmospheric systems, in which the 'Toker Gap' Sudan was the summer/autumn dust source, and the 'central and eastern' Arabian Peninsula was the winter/spring dust source.

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Section: Wintermentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Summermentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal variability and synoptic characteristics of dust cases over southwestern Saudi Arabia

Mashat

Alamoudi

Awad

et al. 2017

Intl Journal of Climatology

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“…Asian dust may reach North America and Europe via the Pacific [43]. Saharan dust could be carried thousands of kilometers to the Mediterranean [44], Europe [45,46], the Middle East [9,47], the Americas [48], and even the Arctic [49]. The above trajectories can be seen during specific times of the year, with the intensity varying annually [50].…”

Section: Geographical Distribution Of Studies Addressing Health Effecmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Systematic Review of Global Desert Dust and Associated Human Health Effects

et al. 2016

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Dust storms and sandy dust events originating in arid and semi-arid areas can transport particulate material, pollutants, and potential transport long distances from their sources. Exposure to desert dust particles is generally acknowledged to endanger human health. However, most studies have examined anthropogenic particulate sources, with few studies considering contributions from natural desert dust. A systematic literature review was undertaken using the ISI Web of Knowledge and PubMed databases with the objective of identifying all studies presenting results on the potential health impact from desert dust particles across the world. This review reveals an imbalance between the areas most exposed to dust and the areas most studied in terms of health effects. Among the human health effects of dust storms are mortality and morbidity, arising from respiratory system, circulatory system, and other diseases. We summarize the quantitative results of current scientific health research and possible pathological mechanisms, and describe some of the many challenges related to understanding health effects from exposures to desert dust particles. Overall, for respiratory and circulatory mortality, both positive and negative associations have been reported for PM 10 of desert dust, but only a positive relationship was reported between PM 2.5-10 and mortality, and a positive relationship was also reported between PM 2.5 and human mortality. Future pathological studies should continue to focus on those mechanisms causing the most harmful effect of desert dust on respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. More attention should also be paid to the association between desert dust and the morbidity of other diseases, such as those affecting the reproductive system and nervous system.

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“…The transportation of Saharan dust towards Europe through the Mediterranean Sea is associated with different synoptic meteorological situations (Barkan et al, 2005;Engelstaedter et al, 2006;Stuut et al, 2009;Barkan and Alpert, 2010;Israelevich et al, 2012;Varga et al, 2013Varga et al, , 2014, usually caused by intense cyclones passing the Northern African coast from west to east (Barkan et al, 2005;Meloni et al, 2008) or convective injection of dust in north Africa coupled with anticyclonic conditions at upper atmospheric levels (e.g., Pey et al, 2013). The intensity and frequency of these disturbances are strongly affected by the penetration depth of cold air from higher latitudes southward (Dayan et al, 1991;Conte et al, 1996;Moulin et al, 1997;Barkan et al, 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%