The Dust Storm Index (DSI): A method for monitoring broadscale wind erosion using meteorological records

O'Loingsigh, Tadhg; McTainsh, Grant Harvey; Tews, E.K.; Strong, Craig; Leys, John; Shinkfield, Phillip; Tapper, Nigel

doi:10.1016/j.aeolia.2013.10.004

Cited by 93 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…However, the month of June 2011 was relatively wet in the Nullarbor Plain, temperatures were about average for winter, and wind speeds in the days before HIPPO-4 RF06 were unremarkable. Furthermore, observations of suspended dust are routinely reported at Australian Bureau of Meteorology from a number of sites in the Nullarbor (O'Loingsigh et al, 2014), and there were no reports of any suspended dust in the week before the flight (T. O'Loingsigh, personal communication, 2015).…”

Section: What About Mineral Dust?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Observations of high droplet number concentrations in Southern Ocean boundary layer clouds

Chubb

Huang

Jensen³

et al. 2016

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

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Abstract. Cloud physics data collected during the NSF/NCAR High-performance Instrumented Airborne Platform for Environmental Research (HIAPER) Pole-toPole Observations (HIPPO) campaigns provide a snapshot of unusual wintertime microphysical conditions in the boundary layer over the Southern Ocean. On 29 June 2011, the HIAPER sampled the boundary layer in a region of prefrontal warm air advection between 58 and 48 • S to the south of Tasmania. Cloud droplet number concentrations were consistent with climatological values in the northernmost profiles but were exceptionally high for wintertime in the Southern Ocean at 100-200 cm −3 in the southernmost profiles. Sub-micron (0.06 < D < 1 µm) aerosol concentrations for the southern profiles were up to 400 cm −3 .Analysis of back trajectories and atmospheric chemistry observations revealed that while conditions in the troposphere were more typical of a clean remote ocean airmass, there was some evidence of continental or anthropogenic influence. However, the hypothesis of long-range transport of continental aerosol fails to explain the magnitude of the aerosol and cloud droplet concentration in the boundary layer. Instead, the gale force surface winds in this case (wind speed at 167 m above sea level was > 25 m s −1 ) were most likely responsible for production of sea spray aerosol which influenced the microphysical properties of the boundary layer clouds. The smaller size and higher number concentration of cloud droplets is inferred to increase the albedo of these clouds, and these conditions occur regularly, and are expected to increase in frequency, over windy parts of the Southern Ocean.

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Section: What About Mineral Dust?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Observations of high droplet number concentrations in Southern Ocean boundary layer clouds

Chubb

Huang

Jensen³

et al. 2016

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

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“…Further analysis of computed dust climatology with other meteorological parameters shows that these meteorological codes can represent dust storm activities on a climate scale. More comprehensive methods, e.g., calculation of the dust storm index, have been developed for characterizing the dust climatology [8,14] to better use the information on dust strength defined in the weather codes. The index is based on different weights and contributions from these dust weather codes, as shown in the following equation [8]:…”

Section: Meteorological Records For Dust Weather Conditionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since there is no specifically designed observing network for dust storms, recent research and developmental efforts have focused on construction of systematic records for historical dust storms based on available observations of multiple networks [5,7,8]. These observations include regular meteorological observations, air quality observations, stationary optical observations, and satellite dataset [9••].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping the Global Dust Storm Records: Review of Dust Data Sources in Supporting Modeling/Climate Study

Wang

2015

Curr Pollution Rep

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Dust storms, as extreme environmental events, are one of the Earth's major natural hazards. Their impact on socio-economics can range from local urban to (trans-) continental and from minutes to decades, such as the dust bowl of the 1930s in the United States. Research on dust storms can be traced back for several decades as a meteorological extension. Latest technology developments have enabled comprehensive studies on dust storms, including sampling improvement, analytic studies, and numerical modeling. However, inhomogeneity of the data has hampered and sometimes even misguided research on comprehensive understanding of dust storms and exploring their feedbacks with climate. This review will focus on currently available observations of dust activities, which include routine meteorological records, in situ air chemistry observations, and satellite remote sensing. The aim is to show data sources and the status of their usage in a common framework for global dust regions. Emphasis is placed on data continuity and the spatial and temporal coverage of dust storms, since it is anticipated that this brief summary of dust data will benefit modeling and climate studies. Therefore, it must be noted that field campaign data are outside of the scope of the current review, although they play an important role in research and understanding.

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“…Based on these studies, it is easy to infer that DSI has a close relationship with frequency, duration, and visibility of dust storms. Thus, some studies provide comprehensive measures of the intensity of dust storm (McTainsh et al, 2011;O'Loingsigh et al, 2014). For example, McTainsh et al (2011) provide a composite measure of the intensity of dust storm, using the World Meteorological Organization's (WMO) SYNOP codes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the relationship between vegetation and dust-storm intensity (DSI) in China

Tan

2016

J. Geogr. Sci.

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It is difficult to estimate the effects of vegetation on dust-storm intensity (DSI) since land surface data are often recorded aerially while DSI is recorded as point data by weather stations. Based on combining both types of data, this paper analyzed the relationship between vegetation and DSI, using a panel data-analysis method that examined six years of data from 186 observation stations in China. The multiple regression results showed that the relationship between changes in vegetation and variance in DSI became weaker from the sub-humid temperate zone (SHTZ) to dry temperate zone (DTZ), as the average normalized difference vegetation index decreased in the four zones in the study area. In the SHTZ and DTZ zones, the regression model could account for approximately 24.9% and 8.6% of the DSI variance, respectively. Lastly, this study provides some policy implications for combating dust storms.

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The Dust Storm Index (DSI): A method for monitoring broadscale wind erosion using meteorological records

Cited by 93 publications

References 31 publications

Observations of high droplet number concentrations in Southern Ocean boundary layer clouds

Observations of high droplet number concentrations in Southern Ocean boundary layer clouds

Mapping the Global Dust Storm Records: Review of Dust Data Sources in Supporting Modeling/Climate Study

Exploring the relationship between vegetation and dust-storm intensity (DSI) in China

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