Articles | Volume 17, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-3987-2017
© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-3987-2017
© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Research article
| 
24 Mar 2017
Research article |
| 24 Mar 2017
Satellite retrievals of dust aerosol over the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf (2005–2015)
Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research, Leipzig, Germany
Space and Atmospheric Physics Group, Imperial College London, London, UK
Helen E. Brindley
Space and Atmospheric Physics Group, and NERC National Centre for Earth Observation, Imperial College London, London, UK
Georgiy Stenchikov
Division of Physical Sciences and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
Kerstin Schepanski
Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research, Leipzig, Germany
Related authors
Jamie R. Banks, Bernd Heinold, and Kerstin Schepanski
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 11451–11475, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11451-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11451-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The Aralkum is a new desert in Central Asia formed by the desiccation of the Aral Sea. This has created a source of atmospheric dust, with implications for the balance of solar and thermal radiation. Simulating these effects using a dust transport model, we find that Aralkum dust adds radiative cooling effects to the surface and atmosphere on average but also adds heating events. Increases in surface pressure due to Aralkum dust strengthen the Siberian High and weaken the summer Asian heat low.
Jamie R. Banks, Anja Hünerbein, Bernd Heinold, Helen E. Brindley, Hartwig Deneke, and Kerstin Schepanski
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 6893–6911, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-6893-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-6893-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Saharan dust storms may be observed over the desert using false-colour infrared satellite imagery; in one widely used scheme dust displays characteristic pink colours. Simulating satellite imagery using a dust transport model, we confirm that water vapour is a major control on the apparent colour of dust in the false-colour imagery and that dust displays its deepest colours when it is at a high altitude and when the atmosphere is dry. Water vapour can obscure the presence of low-altitude dust.
Jamie R. Banks, Kerstin Schepanski, Bernd Heinold, Anja Hünerbein, and Helen E. Brindley
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 9681–9703, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-9681-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-9681-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Satellite observations are used to visualize dust storms over the Sahara, and specific infrared channel combinations can highlight dust with distinctive pink colours. Using output from a dust-atmosphere model to simulate satellite imagery, we explore the consequences of particle size, shape, and refractive index for the colour of dust in the imagery. Particles with a radius of ~ 1.5 microns perturb the colour the most and an assumption of spherical dust appears to be insufficient.
Ewa M. Bednarz, Amy H. Butler, Xinyue Wang, Zhihong Zhuo, Wandi Yu, Georgiy Stenchikov, Matthew Toohey, and Yunqian Zhu
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1970, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1970, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Injection of sulfur and water vapour by the Hunga volcanic eruption significantly altered chemical composition and radiative budget of the stratosphere. Yet, whether the eruption could also affect surface climate, especially via indirect pathways, remains poorly understood. Here we investigate these effects using large ensembles of simulations with the CESM2(WACCM6) Earth system model.
Zhihong Zhuo, Xinyue Wang, Yunqian Zhu, Ewa M. Bednarz, Eric Fleming, Peter R. Colarco, Shingo Watanabe, David Plummer, Georgiy Stenchikov, William Randel, Adam Bourassa, Valentina Aquila, Takashi Sekiya, Mark R. Schoeberl, Simone Tilmes, Wandi Yu, Jun Zhang, Paul J. Kushner, and Francesco S. R. Pausata
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1505, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1505, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The 2022 Hunga eruption caused unprecedented stratospheric water injection, triggering unique atmospheric impacts. This study combines observations and model simulations, projecting a stratospheric water vapor anomaly lasting 4–7 years, with significant temperature variations and ozone depletion in the upper atmosphere lasting 7–10 years. These findings offer critical insights into the role of stratospheric water vapor in shaping climate and atmospheric chemistry.
Sanjeevani Panditharatne, Helen Brindley, Caroline Cox, Rui Song, Richard Siddans, Richard Bantges, Jonathan Murray, Stuart Fox, and Cathryn Fox
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-647, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-647, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Upwelling radiation with wavelengths between 15 and 100 microns is theorised to be highly sensitive to the properties of ice clouds, particularly the shape of the ice crystals. We exploit this sensitivity and perform the first retrieval of ice cloud properties using these wavelengths from an observation taken on an aircraft and evaluate it against measurements of the cloud’s properties.
Agnesh Panta, Konrad Kandler, Kerstin Schepanski, Andres Alastuey, Pavla Dagsson Waldhauserova, Sylvain Dupont, Melanie Eknayan, Cristina González-Flórez, Adolfo González-Romero, Martina Klose, Mara Montag, Xavier Querol, Jesús Yus-Díez, and Carlos Pérez García-Pando
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-494, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-494, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Iceland is among the most active dust source areas in the world. Dust properties are influenced by particle size, mineralogy, shape, and mixing state. This work characterizes freshly emitted individual aerosol particles of Icelandic dust using electron microscopy. Our study provides insights into critical particle-specific information will contribute to better constraining climate models that consider mineralogical variations in their representation of the dust cycle.
Sanjeevani Panditharatne, Helen Brindley, Caroline Cox, Richard Siddans, Jonathan Murray, Laura Warwick, and Stuart Fox
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 717–735, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-717-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-717-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Observations from the upcoming European Space Agency’s Far-Infrared Outgoing Radiation Understanding and Monitoring (FORUM) satellite are theorised to be highly sensitive to distributions of water vapour within Earth’s atmosphere. We exploit this sensitivity and extend the Infrared Microwave Sounding retrieval scheme for use on observations from FORUM. This scheme is evaluated on both simulated and observed measurements and shows good agreement with references of the atmospheric state.
Sofía Gómez Maqueo Anaya, Dietrich Althausen, Julian Hofer, Moritz Haarig, Ulla Wandinger, Bernd Heinold, Ina Tegen, Matthias Faust, Holger Baars, Albert Ansmann, Ronny Engelmann, Annett Skupin, Birgit Heese, and Kerstin Schepanski
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3159, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3159, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study investigates how hematite (an iron oxide mineral) in the Saharan Desert dust affects how dust particles interact with radiation. Using lidar data from Cabo Verde (2021–2022) and hematite content from atmospheric model simulations, the results show that higher hematite fraction leads to stronger particle backscattering at specific wavelengths. These findings can improve the representaiton of mineral dust in climate models, particularly regarding their radiative effect.
Jamie R. Banks, Bernd Heinold, and Kerstin Schepanski
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 11451–11475, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11451-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11451-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The Aralkum is a new desert in Central Asia formed by the desiccation of the Aral Sea. This has created a source of atmospheric dust, with implications for the balance of solar and thermal radiation. Simulating these effects using a dust transport model, we find that Aralkum dust adds radiative cooling effects to the surface and atmosphere on average but also adds heating events. Increases in surface pressure due to Aralkum dust strengthen the Siberian High and weaken the summer Asian heat low.
Jacqueline E. Russell, Richard J. Bantges, Helen E. Brindley, and Alejandro Bodas-Salcedo
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 4243–4266, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-4243-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-4243-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We present a dataset of top-of-atmosphere diurnally resolved reflected solar and emitted thermal energy for Earth system model evaluation. The multi-year, monthly hourly dataset, derived from observations made by the Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget instrument, covers the range 60° N–60° S, 60° E–60° W at 1° resolution. Comparison with two versions of the Hadley Centre Global Environmental Model highlight how the data can be used to assess updates to key model parameterizations.
Laura Warwick, Jonathan E. Murray, and Helen Brindley
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4777–4787, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4777-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4777-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We describe a method for measuring the emissivity of natural surfaces using data from the new Far-INfrarEd Spectrometer for Surface Emissivity (FINESSE) instrument. We demonstrate our method by making measurements of the emissivity of water. We then compare our results to the emissivity predicted using a model and find good agreement. The observations from FINESSE are novel because they allow us to determine surface emissivity at longer wavelengths than have been routinely measured before.
Jonathan E. Murray, Laura Warwick, Helen Brindley, Alan Last, Patrick Quigley, Andy Rochester, Alexander Dewar, and Daniel Cummins
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4757–4775, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4757-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4757-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The Far INfrarEd Spectrometer for Surface Emissivity, FINESSE, is designed to measure the ability of natural surfaces to emit infrared radiation. FINESSE combines a commercial instrument with custom-built optics to view a surface from different angles with complementary views of the sky. Its choice of internal components means it can cover a wide range of wavelengths, extending into the far-infrared. We characterize FINESSE’s uncertainty budget and provide examples of its measurement capability.
Anton Lopatin, Oleg Dubovik, Georgiy Stenchikov, Ellsworth J. Welton, Illia Shevchenko, David Fuertes, Marcos Herreras-Giralda, Tatsiana Lapyonok, and Alexander Smirnov
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4445–4470, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4445-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4445-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We compare aerosol properties over the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology campus using Generalized Retrieval of Aerosol and Surface Properties (GRASP) and the Micro-Pulse Lidar Network (MPLNET). We focus on the impact of different aerosol retrieval assumptions on daytime and nighttime retrievals and analyze seasonal variability in aerosol properties, aiding in understanding aerosol behavior and improving retrieval. Our work has implications for climate and public health.
Cyrille Flamant, Jean-Pierre Chaboureau, Marco Gaetani, Kerstin Schepanski, and Paola Formenti
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 4265–4288, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4265-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4265-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
In the austral dry season, the atmospheric composition over southern Africa is dominated by biomass burning aerosols and terrigenous aerosols (so-called mineral dust). This study suggests that the radiative effect of biomass burning aerosols needs to be taken into account to properly forecast dust emissions in Namibia.
Sofía Gómez Maqueo Anaya, Dietrich Althausen, Matthias Faust, Holger Baars, Bernd Heinold, Julian Hofer, Ina Tegen, Albert Ansmann, Ronny Engelmann, Annett Skupin, Birgit Heese, and Kerstin Schepanski
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 1271–1295, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-1271-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-1271-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Mineral dust aerosol particles vary greatly in their composition depending on source region, which leads to different physicochemical properties. Most atmosphere–aerosol models consider mineral dust aerosols to be compositionally homogeneous, which ultimately increases model uncertainty. Here, we present an approach to explicitly consider the heterogeneity of the mineralogical composition for simulations of the Saharan atmospheric dust cycle with regard to dust transport towards the Atlantic.
Mohamed Abdelkader, Georgiy Stenchikov, Andrea Pozzer, Holger Tost, and Jos Lelieveld
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 471–500, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-471-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-471-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We study the effect of injected volcanic ash, water vapor, and SO2 on the development of the volcanic cloud and the stratospheric aerosol optical depth (AOD). Both are sensitive to the initial injection height and to the aging of the volcanic ash shaped by heterogeneous chemistry coupled with the ozone cycle. The paper explains the large differences in AOD for different injection scenarios, which could improve the estimate of the radiative forcing of volcanic eruptions.
Bernd Heinold, Holger Baars, Boris Barja, Matthew Christensen, Anne Kubin, Kevin Ohneiser, Kerstin Schepanski, Nick Schutgens, Fabian Senf, Roland Schrödner, Diego Villanueva, and Ina Tegen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 9969–9985, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9969-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9969-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The extreme 2019–2020 Australian wildfires produced massive smoke plumes lofted into the lower stratosphere by pyrocumulonimbus convection. Most climate models do not adequately simulate the injection height of such intense fires. By combining aerosol-climate modeling with prescribed pyroconvective smoke injection and lidar observations, this study shows the importance of the representation of the most extreme wildfire events for estimating the atmospheric energy budget.
Sagar P. Parajuli, Georgiy L. Stenchikov, Alexander Ukhov, Suleiman Mostamandi, Paul A. Kucera, Duncan Axisa, William I. Gustafson Jr., and Yannian Zhu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 8659–8682, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-8659-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-8659-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Rainfall affects the distribution of surface- and groundwater resources, which are constantly declining over the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) due to overexploitation. Here, we explored the effects of dust on rainfall using WRF-Chem model simulations. Although dust is considered a nuisance from an air quality perspective, our results highlight the positive fundamental role of dust particles in modulating rainfall formation and distribution, which has implications for cloud seeding.
Maya Ben-Yami, Hilke Oetjen, Helen Brindley, William Cossich, Dulce Lajas, Tiziano Maestri, Davide Magurno, Piera Raspollini, Luca Sgheri, and Laura Warwick
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 1755–1777, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1755-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1755-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Spectral emissivity is a key property of the Earth's surface. Few measurements exist in the far-infrared, despite recent work showing that its contribution is important for accurate modelling of global climate. In preparation for ESA’s EE9 FORUM mission (launch in 2026), this study takes the first steps towards the development of an operational emissivity retrieval for FORUM by investigating the sensitivity of the emissivity product to different physical and operational parameters.
Mark Hennen, Adrian Chappell, Nicholas Webb, Kerstin Schepanski, Matthew Baddock, Frank Eckardt, Tarek Kandakji, Jeff Lee, Mohamad Nobakht, and Johanna von Holdt
Geosci. Model Dev. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2021-423, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2021-423, 2022
Revised manuscript not accepted
Short summary
Short summary
We use 90,000 dust point source observations (DPS), identified in satellite imagery across 9 global dryland environments to develop a novel dust emission model performance assessment. We evaluate the albedo-based dust emission model (AEM), which agrees with dust emission observations, or lack of emission 71 % of the time. Modelled dust occurs 27 % of the time with no observation, caused mostly by the incorrect assumption of infinite sediment supply and lack of dynamic dust entrainment thresholds.
Adrian Chappell, Nicholas Webb, Mark Hennen, Charles Zender, Philippe Ciais, Kerstin Schepanski, Brandon Edwards, Nancy Ziegler, Sandra Jones, Yves Balkanski, Daniel Tong, John Leys, Stephan Heidenreich, Robert Hynes, David Fuchs, Zhenzhong Zeng, Marie Ekström, Matthew Baddock, Jeffrey Lee, and Tarek Kandakji
Geosci. Model Dev. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2021-337, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2021-337, 2021
Revised manuscript not accepted
Short summary
Short summary
Dust emissions influence global climate while simultaneously reducing the productive potential and resilience of landscapes to climate stressors, together impacting food security and human health. Our results indicate that tuning dust emission models to dust in the atmosphere has hidden dust emission modelling weaknesses and its poor performance. Our new approach will reduce uncertainty and driven by prognostic albedo improve Earth System Models of aerosol effects on future environmental change.
Matthias Faust, Ralf Wolke, Steffen Münch, Roger Funk, and Kerstin Schepanski
Geosci. Model Dev., 14, 2205–2220, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-2205-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-2205-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Trajectory dispersion models are powerful and intuitive tools for tracing air pollution through the atmosphere. But the turbulent nature of the atmospheric boundary layer makes it challenging to provide accurate predictions near the surface. To overcome this, we propose an approach using wind and turbulence information at high temporal resolution. Finally, we demonstrate the strength of our approach in a case study on dust emissions from agriculture.
Anton Lopatin, Oleg Dubovik, David Fuertes, Georgiy Stenchikov, Tatyana Lapyonok, Igor Veselovskii, Frank G. Wienhold, Illia Shevchenko, Qiaoyun Hu, and Sagar Parajuli
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 2575–2614, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2575-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2575-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The article presents novelties in characterizing fine particles suspended in the air by means of combining various measurements that observe light propagation in atmosphere. Several non-coincident observations (some of which require sunlight, while others work only at night) could be united under the assumption that aerosol properties do not change drastically at nighttime. It also proposes how to describe particles' composition in a simplified manner that uses new types of observations.
Alexander Ukhov, Ravan Ahmadov, Georg Grell, and Georgiy Stenchikov
Geosci. Model Dev., 14, 473–493, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-473-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-473-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We discuss and evaluate the effects of inconsistencies found in the WRF-Chem code when using the GOCART module. First, PM surface concentrations were miscalculated. Second, dust optical depth was underestimated by 25 %–30 %. Third, an inconsistency in the process of gravitational settling led to the overestimation of dust column loadings by 4 %–6 %, PM10 by 2 %–4 %, and the rate of gravitational dust settling by 5 %–10 %. We also presented diagnostics that can be used to estimate these effects.
Sagar P. Parajuli, Georgiy L. Stenchikov, Alexander Ukhov, Illia Shevchenko, Oleg Dubovik, and Anton Lopatin
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 16089–16116, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-16089-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-16089-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Both natural (dust, sea salt) and anthropogenic (sulfate, organic and black carbon) aerosols are common over the Red Sea coastal plains. King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), located on the eastern coast of the Red Sea, hosts the only operating lidar system in the Arabian Peninsula, which measures atmospheric aerosols day and night. We use these lidar data and high-resolution WRF-Chem model simulations to study the potential effect of dust aerosols on Red Sea environment.
Klaus Klingmüller, Vlassis A. Karydis, Sara Bacer, Georgiy L. Stenchikov, and Jos Lelieveld
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 15285–15295, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-15285-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-15285-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Particulate air pollution cools the climate and partially masks the greenhouse warming by reflecting sunlight and enhancing the reflection by clouds. The intensity of this cooling depends on interactions between pollution and desert dust within the atmosphere. Our simulations with a global atmospheric chemistry-climate model indicate that these interactions significantly weaken the cooling.
Sophie Vandenbussche, Sieglinde Callewaert, Kerstin Schepanski, and Martine De Mazière
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 15127–15146, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-15127-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-15127-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Mineral dust aerosols blown mostly from desert areas are a key player in the climate system. We use a new desert dust aerosol low-altitude concentration data set as well as additional information on the surface state and low-altitude winds to infer desert dust emission and source maps over North Africa. With 9 years of data, we observe a full seasonal cycle of dust emissions, differentiating morning and afternoon/evening emissions and providing a first glance at long-term changes.
Richard J. Bantges, Helen E. Brindley, Jonathan E. Murray, Alan E. Last, Jacqueline E. Russell, Cathryn Fox, Stuart Fox, Chawn Harlow, Sebastian J. O'Shea, Keith N. Bower, Bryan A. Baum, Ping Yang, Hilke Oetjen, and Juliet C. Pickering
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 12889–12903, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-12889-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-12889-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Understanding how ice clouds influence the Earth's energy balance remains a key challenge for predicting the future climate. These clouds are ubiquitous and are composed of ice crystals that have complex shapes that are incredibly difficult to model. This work exploits new measurements of the Earth's emitted thermal energy made from instruments flown on board an aircraft to test how well the latest ice cloud models can represent these clouds. Results indicate further developments are required.
Alexander Ukhov, Suleiman Mostamandi, Arlindo da Silva, Johannes Flemming, Yasser Alshehri, Illia Shevchenko, and Georgiy Stenchikov
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 9281–9310, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-9281-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-9281-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
The data assimilation products MERRA2 and CAMS are tested over the Middle East (ME) against in situ and satellite observations. For the first time, we compared the new MODIS aerosol optical depth (AOD) retrieval, MAIAC, with the Deep Blue and Dark Target MODIS AOD. We conducted 2-year high-resolution WRF-Chem simulations with the most accurate OMI-HTAP SO2 emissions to estimate the contribution of natural and anthropogenic aerosols to the PM pollution in the ME.
Christophe Bellisario, Helen E. Brindley, Simon F. B. Tett, Rolando Rizzi, Gianluca Di Natale, Luca Palchetti, and Giovanni Bianchini
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 7927–7937, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-7927-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-7927-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
We explore the possibility of inferring far-infrared downwelling radiances from mid-infrared observations to better constrain radiation schemes in climate models. Our results imply that while it is feasible to use this type of approach, the quality of the extension will be strongly dependent on the noise characteristics of the observations and on the accurate characterisation of the atmospheric state.
Klaus Klingmüller, Jos Lelieveld, Vlassis A. Karydis, and Georgiy L. Stenchikov
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 7397–7408, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-7397-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-7397-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Within the atmosphere, desert dust and anthropogenic pollution are mixed and interact, which affects the abundance and optical properties of the particulate matter. This results in an anthropogenic climate forcing associated with mineral dust notwithstanding the natural origin of most aeolian dust. With a global chemistry–climate model, we estimate this forcing to represent a considerable fraction of the total dust forcing.
Jamie R. Banks, Anja Hünerbein, Bernd Heinold, Helen E. Brindley, Hartwig Deneke, and Kerstin Schepanski
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 6893–6911, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-6893-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-6893-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Saharan dust storms may be observed over the desert using false-colour infrared satellite imagery; in one widely used scheme dust displays characteristic pink colours. Simulating satellite imagery using a dust transport model, we confirm that water vapour is a major control on the apparent colour of dust in the false-colour imagery and that dust displays its deepest colours when it is at a high altitude and when the atmosphere is dry. Water vapour can obscure the presence of low-altitude dust.
Robert Wagner, Michael Jähn, and Kerstin Schepanski
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 11863–11884, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-11863-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-11863-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Wildfires can disturb the lower tropospheric wind conditions and are able to mobilize and inject mineral dust particles into the atmosphere. This study presents a conceptual model of fire-driven dust emissions using large-eddy simulations and evaluates how efficiently wildfires are able to modify the near-surface winds. The results show that typical threshold velocities necessary for dust emission are frequently exceeded and wildfires should be considered a source of airborne mineral dust.
Jamie R. Banks, Kerstin Schepanski, Bernd Heinold, Anja Hünerbein, and Helen E. Brindley
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 9681–9703, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-9681-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-9681-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Satellite observations are used to visualize dust storms over the Sahara, and specific infrared channel combinations can highlight dust with distinctive pink colours. Using output from a dust-atmosphere model to simulate satellite imagery, we explore the consequences of particle size, shape, and refractive index for the colour of dust in the imagery. Particles with a radius of ~ 1.5 microns perturb the colour the most and an assumption of spherical dust appears to be insufficient.
Jake J. Gristey, J. Christine Chiu, Robert J. Gurney, Cyril J. Morcrette, Peter G. Hill, Jacqueline E. Russell, and Helen E. Brindley
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 5129–5145, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-5129-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-5129-2018, 2018
Klaus Klingmüller, Swen Metzger, Mohamed Abdelkader, Vlassis A. Karydis, Georgiy L. Stenchikov, Andrea Pozzer, and Jos Lelieveld
Geosci. Model Dev., 11, 989–1008, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-989-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-989-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
More than 1 billion tons of mineral dust particles are raised into the atmosphere every year, which has a significant impact on climate, society and ecosystems. The location, time and amount of dust emissions depend on surface and wind conditions. In the atmospheric chemistry–climate model EMAC, we have updated the relevant surface data and equations. Our validation shows that the updates substantially improve the agreement of model results and observations.
Anna Mackie, Paul I. Palmer, and Helen Brindley
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 15095–15119, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-15095-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-15095-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
We compare the balance of solar and thermal radiation at the surface and the top of the atmosphere from a forecasting model to observations at a site in Niamey, Niger, in the Sahel. To interpret the energy budgets we examine other factors, such as cloud properties, water vapour and aerosols, which we use to understand the differences between the observation and model. We find that some differences are linked to lack of ice in clouds, underestimated aerosol loading and surface temperatures.
Johann P. Engelbrecht, Georgiy Stenchikov, P. Jish Prakash, Traci Lersch, Anatolii Anisimov, and Illia Shevchenko
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 11467–11490, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-11467-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-11467-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
Desert dust has a profound impact on peoples health, visibility, damage to equipment, and global climate. This research is on dust from the Arabian Peninsula and aims at collecting and analyzing mineralogical, physical, and chemical composition of dust deposits from the atmosphere at the KAUST campus along the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia. The results will be used to assess the input of nutrients to the Red Sea, and will support dust modeling in the Middle East.
Kerstin Schepanski, Bernd Heinold, and Ina Tegen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 10223–10243, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-10223-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-10223-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
This study illustrates the complexity of the interaction among the three major circulation regimes stimulating the North African dust outflow: harmattan, Saharan heat low, and monsoon circulation. We analyse fields from model simulations and satellite observations in concert in order to link atmospheric circulation and dust source activation as well as to characterize their impact on the variability of the dust outflow towards the Atlantic.
Mohamed Abdelkader, Swen Metzger, Benedikt Steil, Klaus Klingmüller, Holger Tost, Andrea Pozzer, Georgiy Stenchikov, Leonard Barrie, and Jos Lelieveld
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 3799–3821, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-3799-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-3799-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
We present a modeling study on the impacts of the key processes (dust emission flux, convection and dust aging parameterizations) that control the transatlantic dust transport using an advanced version of the EMAC atmospheric chemistry general circulation model. We define the
direct effect of dust agingas an increase in the AOD as a result of hygroscopic growth. We define the
indirect effectas a reduction in the dust AOD due to the higher removal of the aged dust particles.
Anatolii Anisimov, Weichun Tao, Georgiy Stenchikov, Stoitchko Kalenderski, P. Jish Prakash, Zong-Liang Yang, and Mingjie Shi
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 993–1015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-993-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-993-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
This study is aimed at quantifying the fine-scale structure of dust emission from the western coastal plain of the Arabian Peninsula. Using the high-resolution modeling tools and up-to-date satellite inventories, we simulate and analyze the spatial and temporal variability of dust generation. The estimate of total dust emission from the coastal plain is 7.5 ± 0.5 Mt per year. We show that the study area is a stable dust generation zone and a potential source of mineral nutrients for the Red Sea.
Kerstin Schepanski, Marc Mallet, Bernd Heinold, and Max Ulrich
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 14147–14168, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-14147-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-14147-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
EOF analysis is used to link the north African atmospheric dust cycle, particularly active dust source regions, dust emission fluxes, dust transport pathways towards the Mediterranean Sea and Europe as well as dust deposition rates with atmospheric circulation regimes, such as position and strength of the subtropical ridge and the Saharan heat low.
P. Jish Prakash, Georgiy Stenchikov, Weichun Tao, Tahir Yapici, Bashir Warsama, and Johann P. Engelbrecht
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 11991–12004, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-11991-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-11991-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
The study is on the mineralogical, chemical and physical properties of surface soil samples from the Arabian Red Sea coastal plain. The sampled sites were previously identified to be potential source areas for windblown mineral dust. Results from this study will improve dust transport and other types of modeling, and also provide a better assessment of the impact of coastal dust on the Red Sea.
María José Granados-Muñoz, Francisco Navas-Guzmán, Juan Luis Guerrero-Rascado, Juan Antonio Bravo-Aranda, Ioannis Binietoglou, Sergio Nepomuceno Pereira, Sara Basart, José María Baldasano, Livio Belegante, Anatoli Chaikovsky, Adolfo Comerón, Giuseppe D'Amico, Oleg Dubovik, Luka Ilic, Panos Kokkalis, Constantino Muñoz-Porcar, Slobodan Nickovic, Doina Nicolae, Francisco José Olmo, Alexander Papayannis, Gelsomina Pappalardo, Alejandro Rodríguez, Kerstin Schepanski, Michaël Sicard, Ana Vukovic, Ulla Wandinger, François Dulac, and Lucas Alados-Arboledas
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 7043–7066, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-7043-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-7043-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
This study provides a detailed overview of the Mediterranean region regarding aerosol microphysical properties during the ChArMEx/EMEP campaign in July 2012. An in-depth analysis of the horizontal, vertical, and temporal dimensions is performed using LIRIC, proving the algorithm's ability in automated retrieval of microphysical property profiles within a network. A validation of four dust models is included, obtaining fair good agreement, especially for the vertical distribution of the aerosol.
Jean-Pierre Chaboureau, Cyrille Flamant, Thibaut Dauhut, Cécile Kocha, Jean-Philippe Lafore, Chistophe Lavaysse, Fabien Marnas, Mohamed Mokhtari, Jacques Pelon, Irene Reinares Martínez, Kerstin Schepanski, and Pierre Tulet
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 6977–6995, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-6977-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-6977-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
The Fennec field campaign conducted in June 2011 led to the first observational data set ever obtained that documents the Saharan atmospheric boundary layer under the influence of the heat low. In addition to the aircraft operation, four dust forecasts were run at low and high resolutions with convection-parameterizing and convection-permitting models, respectively. The unique airborne and ground-based data sets allowed the first ever intercomparison of dust forecasts over the western Sahara.
Klaus Klingmüller, Andrea Pozzer, Swen Metzger, Georgiy L. Stenchikov, and Jos Lelieveld
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 5063–5073, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-5063-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-5063-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
During the last decade, the Middle East experienced the strongest increase in atmospheric aerosol concentrations worldwide. Based on satellite observations, the present study corroborates this trend and reveals correlations with soil moisture and precipitation in and surrounding the Fertile Crescent. This suggests that the increasing drought conditions in this region have enhanced dust emissions, a tendency which is expected to be intensified by climate change.
John H. Marsham, Douglas J. Parker, Martin C. Todd, Jamie R. Banks, Helen E. Brindley, Luis Garcia-Carreras, Alexander J. Roberts, and Claire L. Ryder
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 3563–3575, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-3563-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-3563-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
The roles of water, clouds and airborne dust in controlling the heating of the Sahara are uncertain, which has major implications for the West African monsoon. Observations from the Fennec project, with satellite data, show that total atmospheric water content provides a far stronger control on total radiative heating than dust does, but dust provides the stronger control on surface heating. Therefore major heating errors in global models are likely due to known errors in water transport.
Bernd Heinold, Ina Tegen, Kerstin Schepanski, and Jamie R. Banks
Geosci. Model Dev., 9, 765–777, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-9-765-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-9-765-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
In the aerosol-climate model ECHAM6-HAM2, dust source activation (DSA) observations from MSG satellite are used to replace the current Saharan source map. The new setup provides more realistically distributed, up to 20 % higher annual Saharan emissions. Modeled dust AOT is partly improved in the Sahara-Sahel region, as is the spatial variability. As a comparison to sub-daily MSG DSAs and a regional model shows, the representation of meteorological drivers of dust uplift remains a critical issue.
M. Mallet, F. Dulac, P. Formenti, P. Nabat, J. Sciare, G. Roberts, J. Pelon, G. Ancellet, D. Tanré, F. Parol, C. Denjean, G. Brogniez, A. di Sarra, L. Alados-Arboledas, J. Arndt, F. Auriol, L. Blarel, T. Bourrianne, P. Chazette, S. Chevaillier, M. Claeys, B. D'Anna, Y. Derimian, K. Desboeufs, T. Di Iorio, J.-F. Doussin, P. Durand, A. Féron, E. Freney, C. Gaimoz, P. Goloub, J. L. Gómez-Amo, M. J. Granados-Muñoz, N. Grand, E. Hamonou, I. Jankowiak, M. Jeannot, J.-F. Léon, M. Maillé, S. Mailler, D. Meloni, L. Menut, G. Momboisse, J. Nicolas, T. Podvin, V. Pont, G. Rea, J.-B. Renard, L. Roblou, K. Schepanski, A. Schwarzenboeck, K. Sellegri, M. Sicard, F. Solmon, S. Somot, B Torres, J. Totems, S. Triquet, N. Verdier, C. Verwaerde, F. Waquet, J. Wenger, and P. Zapf
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 455–504, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-455-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-455-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
The aim of this article is to present an experimental campaign over the Mediterranean focused on aerosol-radiation measurements and modeling. Results indicate an important atmospheric loading associated with a moderate absorbing ability of mineral dust. Observations suggest a complex vertical structure and size distributions characterized by large aerosols within dust plumes. The radiative effect is highly variable, with negative forcing over the Mediterranean and positive over northern Africa.
S. Groß, V. Freudenthaler, K. Schepanski, C. Toledano, A. Schäfler, A. Ansmann, and B. Weinzierl
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 11067–11080, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-11067-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-11067-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
In June and July 2013 dual-wavelength lidar measurements were performed in Barbados to study long-range transported Saharan dust across the Atlantic Ocean and investigate transport-induced changes. The focus of our measurements is the intensive optical properties, the lidar ratio and the particle linear depolarization ratio. While the lidar ratio shows no differences compared to the values of fresh Saharan dust, the particle linear depolarization ratio shows slight differences.
S. Osipov, G. Stenchikov, H. Brindley, and J. Banks
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 9537–9553, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-9537-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-9537-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
The radiative effect of dust over the Arabian Peninsula for different surfaces and for a range of optical depths is calculated and tested using satellite and ground-based observations.
C. L. Ryder, J. B. McQuaid, C. Flamant, P. D. Rosenberg, R. Washington, H. E. Brindley, E. J. Highwood, J. H. Marsham, D. J. Parker, M. C. Todd, J. R. Banks, J. K. Brooke, S. Engelstaedter, V. Estelles, P. Formenti, L. Garcia-Carreras, C. Kocha, F. Marenco, H. Sodemann, C. J. T. Allen, A. Bourdon, M. Bart, C. Cavazos-Guerra, S. Chevaillier, J. Crosier, E. Darbyshire, A. R. Dean, J. R. Dorsey, J. Kent, D. O'Sullivan, K. Schepanski, K. Szpek, J. Trembath, and A. Woolley
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 8479–8520, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-8479-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-8479-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
Measurements of the Saharan atmosphere and of atmospheric mineral dust are lacking but are vital to our understanding of the climate of this region and their impacts further afield. Novel observations were made by the Fennec climate programme during June 2011 and 2012 using ground-based, remote sensing and airborne platforms. Here we describe the airborne observations and the contributions they have made to furthering our understanding of the Saharan climate system.
P. Jish Prakash, G. Stenchikov, S. Kalenderski, S. Osipov, and H. Bangalath
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 199–222, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-199-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-199-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
This study aims to quantify the effect of severe dust events on radiation fluxes and regional climate characteristics over the Arabian Peninsula. We simulated the storm that occurred from 18 to 20 March 2012 and swept over a remarkably large area affecting the entire Middle East, North-Eastern Africa, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. We estimate that this storm generated over 94 Mt of dust and deposited approximately 1.2 Mt of dust into the Red Sea, bringing nutrients to marine ecosystems.
S. Fiedler, K. Schepanski, P. Knippertz, B. Heinold, and I. Tegen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 8983–9000, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-8983-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-8983-2014, 2014
N. Niedermeier, A. Held, T. Müller, B. Heinold, K. Schepanski, I. Tegen, K. Kandler, M. Ebert, S. Weinbruch, K. Read, J. Lee, K. W. Fomba, K. Müller, H. Herrmann, and A. Wiedensohler
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 2245–2266, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-2245-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-2245-2014, 2014
I. Tegen, K. Schepanski, and B. Heinold
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 2381–2390, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-2381-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-2381-2013, 2013
S. Kalenderski, G. Stenchikov, and C. Zhao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 1999–2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-1999-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-1999-2013, 2013
C. L. Ryder, E. J. Highwood, P. D. Rosenberg, J. Trembath, J. K. Brooke, M. Bart, A. Dean, J. Crosier, J. Dorsey, H. Brindley, J. Banks, J. H. Marsham, J. B. McQuaid, H. Sodemann, and R. Washington
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 303–325, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-303-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-303-2013, 2013
Related subject area
Subject: Aerosols | Research Activity: Remote Sensing | Altitude Range: Troposphere | Science Focus: Physics (physical properties and processes)
Retrieval of microphysical properties of dust aerosols from extinction, backscattering and depolarization lidar measurements using various particle scattering models
Fluorescence spectra of atmospheric aerosols
Invisible aerosol layers: improved lidar detection capabilities by means of laser-induced aerosol fluorescence
Wildfires heat the middle troposphere over the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau during the peak of fire season
Characterization of aerosol optical depth (AOD) anomalies in September and October 2022 over Skukuza in South Africa
Technical note: Evolution of convective boundary layer height estimated by Ka-band continuous millimeter wave radar at Wuhan in central China
Discussion of the spectral slope of the lidar ratio between 355 nm and 1064 nm from multiwavelength Raman lidar observations
Fluorescence properties of long-range-transported smoke: insights from five-channel lidar observations over Moscow during the 2023 wildfire season
Lidar estimates of birch pollen number, mass, and CCN-related concentrations
Distinct effects of fine and coarse aerosols on microphysical processes of shallow-precipitation systems in summer over southern China
Increased number concentrations of small particles explain perceived stagnation in air quality over Korea
Atmospheric processing and aerosol aging responsible for observed increase in absorptivity of long-range transported smoke over the southeast Atlantic
Remote-sensing detectability of airborne Arctic dust
Analysis of a saline dust storm from the Aralkum Desert – Part 1: Consistency of multisensor satellite aerosol products
Regional transport of aerosols from Northern India and its impact on boundary layer dynamics and air quality over Chennai, a coastal megacity in Southern India
Investigating the link between mineral dust hematite content and intensive optical properties by means of lidar measurements and aerosol modelling
The role of refractive indices in measuring mineral dust with high-spectral-resolution infrared satellite sounders: application to the Gobi Desert
Influence of covariance of aerosol and meteorology on co-located precipitating and non-precipitating clouds over the Indo-Gangetic Plain
Light-absorbing black carbon and brown carbon components of smoke aerosol from DSCOVR EPIC measurements over North America and central Africa
Observational Constraints Suggest a Smaller Effective Radiative Forcing from Aerosol-Cloud Interactions
The emission, transport, and impacts of the extreme Saharan dust storm of 2015
California wildfire smoke contributes to a positive atmospheric temperature anomaly over the western United States
Dust storms from the Taklamakan Desert significantly darken snow surface on surrounding mountains
Opposite effects of aerosols and meteorological parameters on warm clouds in two contrasting regions over eastern China
Effect of wind speed on marine aerosol optical properties over remote oceans with use of spaceborne lidar observations
Assessment of smoke plume height products derived from multisource satellite observations using lidar-derived height metrics for wildfires in the western US
A remote sensing algorithm for vertically resolved cloud condensation nuclei number concentrations from airborne and spaceborne lidar observations
Opinion: Aerosol remote sensing over the next 20 years
Monitoring biomass burning aerosol transport using CALIOP observations and reanalysis models: a Canadian wildfire event in 2019
Thermal infrared observations of a western United States biomass burning aerosol plume
A new look into the impacts of dust radiative effects on the energetics of tropical easterly waves
Wind-driven emissions of coarse-mode particles in an urban environment
Measurement report: Dust and anthropogenic aerosols' vertical distributions over northern China dense aerosols gathered at the top of the mixing layer
Climatological assessment of the vertically resolved optical and microphysical aerosol properties by lidar measurements, sun photometer, and in situ observations over 17 years at Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) Barcelona
Aerosol optical depth climatology from the high-resolution MAIAC product over Europe: differences between major European cities and their surrounding environments
Impact of assimilating NOAA VIIRS aerosol optical depth (AOD) observations on global AOD analysis from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS)
Spectral dependence of birch and pine pollen optical properties using a synergy of lidar instruments
Validation activities of Aeolus wind products on the southeastern Iberian Peninsula
Thermal infrared dust optical depth and coarse-mode effective diameter over oceans retrieved from collocated MODIS and CALIOP observations
A comprehensive reappraisal of long-term aerosol characteristics, trends, and variability in Asia
Satellite (GOSAT-2 CAI-2) retrieval and surface (ARFINET) observations of aerosol black carbon over India
Spatiotemporal variation characteristics of global fires and their emissions
The (mis)identification of high-latitude dust events using remote sensing methods in the Yukon, Canada: a sub-daily variability analysis
Comparison of dust optical depth from multi-sensor products and MONARCH (Multiscale Online Non-hydrostatic AtmospheRe CHemistry) dust reanalysis over North Africa, the Middle East, and Europe
Understanding day–night differences in dust aerosols over the dust belt of North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia
Satellite observations of smoke–cloud–radiation interactions over the Amazon rainforest
Single-scattering properties of ellipsoidal dust aerosols constrained by measured dust shape distributions
Validation of the TROPOMI/S5P aerosol layer height using EARLINET lidars
Vertical characterization of fine and coarse dust particles during an intense Saharan dust outbreak over the Iberian Peninsula in springtime 2021
Aerosol optical depth regime over megacities of the world
Yuyang Chang, Qiaoyun Hu, Philippe Goloub, Thierry Podvin, Igor Veselovskii, Fabrice Ducos, Gaël Dubois, Masanori Saito, Anton Lopatin, Oleg Dubovik, and Cheng Chen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 6787–6821, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6787-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6787-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Our study retrieved dust aerosol microphysical properties from lidar measurements using different scattering models. Numeric simulations and real data applications revealed the importance of considering depolarization measurements and the superiority of the irregular–hexahedral model in the retrieval of dust aerosols from lidar measurements.
Jens Reichardt, Felix Lauermann, and Oliver Behrendt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 5857–5892, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5857-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5857-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Optical remote sensing systems, so-called lidars, are used to learn more about aerosols, which play an important role in atmospheric processes. The present study demonstrates that lidars, which measure the backscattering behavior of aerosols over the entire visible wavelength range, can increase our knowledge of the spatial and temporal occurrence of aerosol layers, the type of aerosol, and their interaction with clouds. The focus of the publication is on wildfire aerosol and Saharan dust.
Benedikt Gast, Cristofer Jimenez, Albert Ansmann, Moritz Haarig, Ronny Engelmann, Felix Fritzsch, Athena A. Floutsi, Hannes Griesche, Kevin Ohneiser, Julian Hofer, Martin Radenz, Holger Baars, Patric Seifert, and Ulla Wandinger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 3995–4011, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3995-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3995-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, we discuss the enhanced detection capabilities of a fluorescence lidar in the case of optically thin aerosol layers in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) region. Our results suggest that such thin aerosol layers are not so rare in the UTLS and can potentially trigger and impact cirrus cloud formation through heterogeneous ice nucleation. By altering the microphysical cloud properties, this could affect clouds' evolution and lifetime and thus their climate effect.
Qiaomin Pei, Chuanfeng Zhao, Yikun Yang, Annan Chen, Zhiyuan Cong, Xin Wan, Haotian Zhang, and Guangming Wu
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1172, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1172, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study investigates smoke's impact on atmospheric warming over the Himalayan and Tibetan Plateau (HTP) using MODIS fire data, ground-based and satellite aerosol observations, and model simulations. It finds that smoke aerosols – predominantly concentrated between 6 and 8 km in the mid-troposphere over southern HTP – likely alter regional atmospheric stability by modifying the vertical temperature profile, as indicated by a reduced lapse rate.
Marion Ranaivombola, Nelson Bègue, Lucas Vaz Peres, Farahnaz Fazel-Rastgar, Venkataraman Sivakumar, Gisèle Krysztofiak, Gwenaël Berthet, Fabrice Jegou, Stuart Piketh, and Hassan Bencherif
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 3519–3540, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3519-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3519-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
From September to October 2022, the Biomass Burning Aerosol Campaign (BiBAC) in Kruger National Park revealed a significant aerosol loading linked to biomass burning activity, with southeastward transport over southern Africa and the southwestern Indian Ocean (SWIO) basin. The study revealed a predominance of biomass burning aerosols and two distinct transport mechanisms of aerosol plumes and CO, underscoring the importance of east-coast observations in understanding atmospheric dynamics.
Zirui Zhang, Kaiming Huang, Fan Yi, Wei Cheng, Fuchao Liu, Jian Zhang, and Yue Jia
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 3347–3361, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3347-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3347-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The height of the convective boundary layer (CBLH) is related to our health due to its crucial role in pollutant dispersion. The variance of vertical velocity from millimeter wave cloud radar (MMCR) can accurately capture the diurnal evolution of the CBLH, due to a small blind range and less impact by the residual layer. The CBLH is affected by radiation, humidity, cloud, and precipitation; thus, the MMCR is suitable for monitoring the CBLH, owing to its observation capability in various weather conditions.
Moritz Haarig, Ronny Engelmann, Holger Baars, Benedikt Gast, Dietrich Althausen, and Albert Ansmann
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-449, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-449, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The lidar ratio is an important quantity in aerosol typing. Its spectral slope contains further information about source region or transport paths of the observed aerosol. The extension until 1064 nm is a recent development led by our institute. We gathered previous observations and add new ones to provide the spectral slope for the most important aerosol types such as marine and continental aerosol, dust, smoke and sulfate and compared it the assumptions used for spaceborne backscatter lidars.
Igor Veselovskii, Mikhail Korenskiy, Nikita Kasianik, Boris Barchunov, Qiaoyun Hu, Philippe Goloub, and Thierry Podvin
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1603–1615, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1603-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1603-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
A fluorescence lidar was used to study transported Canadian smoke in May–September 2023. The fluorescence measurements were taken at five wavelengths. The results revealed that fluorescence capacity increases with altitude, suggesting a higher concentration of organic compounds in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere than in the lower troposphere. The fluorescence spectra peaked in the 513 and 560 nm channels in smoke layers but decreased with wavelength in urban aerosols.
Maria Filioglou, Petri Tiitta, Xiaoxia Shang, Ari Leskinen, Pasi Ahola, Sanna Pätsi, Annika Saarto, Ville Vakkari, Uula Isopahkala, and Mika Komppula
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1639–1657, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1639-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1639-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Every year a vast number of people experience allergic reactions due to exposure to airborne pollen. These symptoms are concentration dependent; thus accurate information about the pollen load in the atmosphere is essential. Moreover, pollen grains and fragments of it are likely to contribute to cloud processes and suppress precipitation. Here, we estimate the concentration and cloud-relevant parameters of birch pollen in the atmosphere using observations from a PollyXT and a CL61 ceilometer.
Fengjiao Chen, Yuanjian Yang, Lu Yu, Yang Li, Weiguang Liu, Yan Liu, and Simone Lolli
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1587–1601, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1587-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1587-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The microphysical mechanisms of precipitation responsible for the varied impacts of aerosol particles on shallow precipitation remain unclear. This study reveals that coarse aerosol particles invigorate shallow rainfall through enhanced coalescence processes, whereas fine aerosol particles suppress shallow rainfall through intensified microphysical breaks. These impacts are independent of thermodynamic environments but are more significant in low-humidity conditions.
Sohee Joo, Juseon Shin, Matthias Tesche, Naghmeh Dehkhoda, Taegyeong Kim, and Youngmin Noh
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1023–1036, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1023-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1023-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
In our study, we investigated why, in northeast Asia, visibility has not improved even though air pollution levels have decreased. By examining trends in Seoul and Ulsan, we found that the particles in the air are getting smaller, which scatters light more effectively and reduces how far we can see. Our findings suggest that changes in particle properties adversely affected public perception of air quality improvement even though the PM2.5 mass concentration is continuously decreasing.
Abdulamid A. Fakoya, Jens Redemann, Pablo E. Saide, Lan Gao, Logan T. Mitchell, Calvin Howes, Amie Dobracki, Ian Chang, Gonzalo A. Ferrada, Kristina Pistone, Samuel E. Leblanc, Michal Segal-Rozenhaimer, Arthur J. Sedlacek III, Thomas Eck, Brent Holben, Pawan Gupta, Elena Lind, Paquita Zuidema, Gregory Carmichael, and Connor J. Flynn
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3197, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3197, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Tiny atmospheric particles from wildfire smoke impact climate by interacting with sunlight and clouds, the extent of which is uncertain due to gaps in understanding how smoke changes over time. We developed a new method using remote sensing instruments to track how these particles evolve during atmospheric transport. Our results show that the ability of these particles to absorb sunlight increased as they travel. This discovery could help improve predictions of future climate scenarios.
Norman T. O'Neill, Keyvan Ranjbar, Liviu Ivănescu, Yann Blanchard, Seyed Ali Sayedain, and Yasmin AboEl-Fetouh
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 27–44, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-27-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-27-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Dust from mid-latitude deserts or from local drainage basins is a weak component of atmospheric aerosols in the Arctic. Satellite-based dust estimates are often overestimated because dust and cloud measurements can be confused. Illustrations are given with an emphasis on the flawed claim that a classic indicator of dust (negative brightness temperature differences) is proof of the presence of airborne Arctic dust. Low-altitude warm-water plumes are the likely source of such negative values.
Xin Xi, Jun Wang, Zhendong Lu, Andrew Sayer, Jaehwa Lee, Robert Levy, Yujie Wang, Alexei Lyapustin, Hongqing Liu, Istvan Laszlo, Changwoo Ahn, Omar Torres, Sabur Abdullaev, and Ralph Kahn
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3416, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3416, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Currently there are a number of satellite aerosol products available for dust research. The consistency between them is generally poor understood. This paper reveals significant inconsistency between different satellite sensors and techniques in observing the wind-blown saline dust from the Aralkum Desert, and demonstrates the potential of a multisensor approach for robust characterization of airborne dust over desert areas.
Saleem Ali, Chandan Sarangi, and Sanjay Kumar Mehta
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3093, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3093, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The pollutants over Northern India are transported towards South India under the influence of the prevalent wind system, especially during winter. This long-range transport induces a widespread haziness over southern India, lasting for days. We evaluated the occurrence of such transport episodes over south India using observational methods and found that it suppresses the boundary layer height by ~38 % compared to the clear days while exacerbating the surface pollution by ~30–35 %.
Sofía Gómez Maqueo Anaya, Dietrich Althausen, Julian Hofer, Moritz Haarig, Ulla Wandinger, Bernd Heinold, Ina Tegen, Matthias Faust, Holger Baars, Albert Ansmann, Ronny Engelmann, Annett Skupin, Birgit Heese, and Kerstin Schepanski
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3159, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3159, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study investigates how hematite (an iron oxide mineral) in the Saharan Desert dust affects how dust particles interact with radiation. Using lidar data from Cabo Verde (2021–2022) and hematite content from atmospheric model simulations, the results show that higher hematite fraction leads to stronger particle backscattering at specific wavelengths. These findings can improve the representaiton of mineral dust in climate models, particularly regarding their radiative effect.
Perla Alalam, Fabrice Ducos, and Hervé Herbin
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 12277–12294, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12277-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12277-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study dives into the impact of mineral dust laboratory complex refractive indices (CRIs) on quantifying the dust microphysical properties using satellite infrared remote sensing. Results show that using CRIs obtained by advanced realistic techniques can improve the accuracy of these measurements, emphasizing the importance of choosing the suitable CRI in atmospheric models. This improvement is crucial for better predicting the dust radiative effect and impact on the climate.
Nabia Gulistan, Khan Alam, and Yangang Liu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 11333–11349, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11333-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11333-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study looks at the influence of aerosol and meteorology on precipitating and non-precipitating clouds over the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP). A major finding of this study was that the high loading of aerosols led to a high occurrence of precipitating clouds under unstable conditions in summer. The study has the potential to open a new avenue for the scientific community to further explore and understand the complications of aerosol–cloud–precipitation over the complex topography of the IGP.
Myungje Choi, Alexei Lyapustin, Gregory L. Schuster, Sujung Go, Yujie Wang, Sergey Korkin, Ralph Kahn, Jeffrey S. Reid, Edward J. Hyer, Thomas F. Eck, Mian Chin, David J. Diner, Olga Kalashnikova, Oleg Dubovik, Jhoon Kim, and Hans Moosmüller
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 10543–10565, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10543-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10543-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This paper introduces a retrieval algorithm to estimate two key absorbing components in smoke (black carbon and brown carbon) using DSCOVR EPIC measurements. Our analysis reveals distinct smoke properties, including spectral absorption, layer height, and black carbon and brown carbon, over North America and central Africa. The retrieved smoke properties offer valuable observational constraints for modeling radiative forcing and informing health-related studies.
Chanyoung Park, Brian J. Soden, Ryan J. Kramer, Tristan S. L’Ecuyer, and Haozhe He
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2547, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2547, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study addresses the challenge of quantifying the impact of aerosol-cloud interactions. By analyzing satellite data and reanalysis, we examine cloud responses to aerosols by incorporating aerosol-to-cloud droplet activation rates. Our "perfect-model" validation reveals a smaller, less uncertain impact of aerosol-cloud interactions than previously estimated. This breakthrough suggests a reduced role of aerosol-cloud interactions in determining climate sensitivity.
Brian Harr, Bing Pu, and Qinjian Jin
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 8625–8651, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8625-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8625-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We found that the formation of the extreme trans-Atlantic African dust event in June 2015 was associated with a brief surge in dust emissions over western North Africa and extreme circulation patterns, including intensified easterly jets, which facilitated the westward transport of dust. The dust plume modified radiative flux along its transport pathway but had minor impacts on air quality in the US due to the record-high Caribbean low-level jet advecting part of the plume to the Pacific.
James L. Gomez, Robert J. Allen, and King-Fai Li
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 6937–6963, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6937-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6937-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Wildfires in California (CA) have grown very large during the past 20 years. These fires emit sunlight-absorbing aerosols. Analyzing observational data, our study finds that aerosols emitted from large fires in northern CA spread throughout CA and Nevada and heat the atmosphere. This heating is consistent with larger-than-normal temperatures and dry conditions. Further study is needed to determine how much the aerosols heat the atmosphere and whether they are drying the atmosphere as well.
Yuxuan Xing, Yang Chen, Shirui Yan, Xiaoyi Cao, Yong Zhou, Xueying Zhang, Tenglong Shi, Xiaoying Niu, Dongyou Wu, Jiecan Cui, Yue Zhou, Xin Wang, and Wei Pu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 5199–5219, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5199-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5199-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study investigated the impact of dust storms from the Taklamakan Desert on surrounding high mountains and regional radiation balance. Using satellite data and simulations, researchers found that dust storms significantly darken the snow surface in the Tien Shan, Kunlun, and Qilian mountains, reaching mountains up to 1000 km away. This darkening occurs not only in spring but also during summer and autumn, leading to increased absorption of solar radiation.
Yuqin Liu, Tao Lin, Jiahua Zhang, Fu Wang, Yiyi Huang, Xian Wu, Hong Ye, Guoqin Zhang, Xin Cao, and Gerrit de Leeuw
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 4651–4673, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4651-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4651-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
A new method, the geographical detector method (GDM), has been applied to satellite data, in addition to commonly used statistical methods, to study the sensitivity of cloud properties to aerosol over China. Different constraints for aerosol and cloud liquid water path apply over polluted and clean areas. The GDM shows that cloud parameters are more sensitive to combinations of parameters than to individual parameters, but confounding effects due to co-variation of parameters cannot be excluded.
Kangwen Sun, Guangyao Dai, Songhua Wu, Oliver Reitebuch, Holger Baars, Jiqiao Liu, and Suping Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 4389–4409, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4389-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4389-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This paper investigates the correlation between marine aerosol optical properties and wind speeds over remote oceans using the spaceborne lidars ALADIN and CALIOP. Three remote ocean areas are selected. Pure marine aerosol optical properties at 355 nm are derived from ALADIN. The relationships between marine aerosol optical properties and wind speeds are analyzed within and above the marine atmospheric boundary layer, revealing the effect of wind speed on marine aerosols over remote oceans.
Jingting Huang, S. Marcela Loría-Salazar, Min Deng, Jaehwa Lee, and Heather A. Holmes
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 3673–3698, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3673-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3673-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Increased wildfire intensity has resulted in taller wildfire smoke plumes. We investigate the vertical structure of wildfire smoke plumes using aircraft lidar data and establish two effective smoke plume height metrics. Four novel satellite-based plume height products are evaluated for wildfires in the western US. Our results provide guidance on the strengths and limitations of these satellite products and set the stage for improved plume rise estimates by leveraging satellite products.
Piyushkumar N. Patel, Jonathan H. Jiang, Ritesh Gautam, Harish Gadhavi, Olga Kalashnikova, Michael J. Garay, Lan Gao, Feng Xu, and Ali Omar
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 2861–2883, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2861-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2861-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Global measurements of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) are essential for understanding aerosol–cloud interactions and predicting climate change. To address this gap, we introduced a remote sensing algorithm that retrieves vertically resolved CCN number concentrations from airborne and spaceborne lidar systems. This innovation offers a global distribution of CCN concentrations from space, facilitating model evaluation and precise quantification of aerosol climate forcing.
Lorraine A. Remer, Robert C. Levy, and J. Vanderlei Martins
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 2113–2127, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2113-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2113-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Aerosols are small liquid or solid particles suspended in the atmosphere, including smoke, particulate pollution, dust, and sea salt. Today, we rely on satellites viewing Earth's atmosphere to learn about these particles. Here, we speculate on the future to imagine how satellite viewing of aerosols will change. We expect more public and private satellites with greater capabilities, better ways to infer information from satellites, and merging of data with models.
Xiaoxia Shang, Antti Lipponen, Maria Filioglou, Anu-Maija Sundström, Mark Parrington, Virginie Buchard, Anton S. Darmenov, Ellsworth J. Welton, Eleni Marinou, Vassilis Amiridis, Michael Sicard, Alejandro Rodríguez-Gómez, Mika Komppula, and Tero Mielonen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 1329–1344, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1329-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1329-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
In June 2019, smoke particles from a Canadian wildfire event were transported to Europe. The long-range-transported smoke plumes were monitored with a spaceborne lidar and reanalysis models. Based on the aerosol mass concentrations estimated from the observations, the reanalysis models had difficulties in reproducing the amount and location of the smoke aerosols during the transport event. Consequently, more spaceborne lidar missions are needed for reliable monitoring of aerosol plumes.
Blake T. Sorenson, Jeffrey S. Reid, Jianglong Zhang, Robert E. Holz, William L. Smith Sr., and Amanda Gumber
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 1231–1248, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1231-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1231-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Smoke particles are typically submicron in size and assumed to have negligible impacts at the thermal infrared spectrum. However, we show that infrared signatures can be observed over dense smoke plumes from satellites. We found that giant particles are unlikely to be the dominant cause. Rather, co-transported water vapor injected to the middle to upper troposphere and surface cooling beneath the plume due to shadowing are significant, with the surface cooling effect being the most dominant.
Farnaz Hosseinpour and Eric M. Wilcox
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 707–724, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-707-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-707-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study shows mechanistic relationships between the radiative effect of dust aerosols in the Saharan air layer and the kinetic energy of the African easterly waves across the tropical Atlantic Ocean using 22 years of daily satellite observations and reanalysis data based on satellite assimilation. Our findings suggest that dust aerosols not merely are transported by these waves but also contribute to the growth of waves through the enhancement of diabatic heating induced by dust.
Markus D. Petters, Tyas Pujiastuti, Ajmal Rasheeda Satheesh, Sabin Kasparoglu, Bethany Sutherland, and Nicholas Meskhidze
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 745–762, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-745-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-745-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This work introduces a new method that uses remote sensing techniques to obtain surface number emissions of particles with a diameter greater than 500 nm. The technique was applied to study particle emissions at an urban site near Houston, TX, USA. The emissions followed a diurnal pattern and peaked near noon local time. The daily averaged emissions correlated with wind speed. The source is likely due to wind-driven erosion of material situated on asphalted and other hard surfaces.
Zhuang Wang, Chune Shi, Hao Zhang, Yujia Chen, Xiyuan Chi, Congzi Xia, Suyao Wang, Yizhi Zhu, Kaidi Zhang, Xintong Chen, Chengzhi Xing, and Cheng Liu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 14271–14292, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14271-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14271-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The annual cycle of dust and anthropogenic aerosols' vertical distributions was revealed by polarization Raman lidar in Beijing. Anthropogenic aerosols typically accumulate at the top of the mixing layer (ML) due to the hygroscopic growth of atmospheric particles, and this is most significant in summer. There is no significant relationship between bottom dust mass concentration and ML height, while the dust in the upper air tends to be distributed near the mixing layer.
Simone Lolli, Michaël Sicard, Francesco Amato, Adolfo Comeron, Cristina Gíl-Diaz, Tony C. Landi, Constantino Munoz-Porcar, Daniel Oliveira, Federico Dios Otin, Francesc Rocadenbosch, Alejandro Rodriguez-Gomez, Andrés Alastuey, Xavier Querol, and Cristina Reche
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 12887–12906, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-12887-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-12887-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We evaluated the long-term trends and seasonal variability of the vertically resolved aerosol properties over the past 17 years in Barcelona. Results shows that air quality is improved, with a consistent drop in PM concentrations at the surface, as well as the column aerosol optical depth. The results also show that natural dust outbreaks are more likely in summer, with aerosols reaching an altitude of 5 km, while in winter, aerosols decay as an exponential with a scale height of 600 m.
Ludovico Di Antonio, Claudia Di Biagio, Gilles Foret, Paola Formenti, Guillaume Siour, Jean-François Doussin, and Matthias Beekmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 12455–12475, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-12455-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-12455-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Long-term (2000–2021) 1 km resolution satellite data have been used to investigate the climatological aerosol optical depth (AOD) variability and trends at different scales in Europe. Average enhancements of the local-to-regional AOD ratio at 550 nm of 57 %, 55 %, 39 % and 32 % are found for large metropolitan areas such as Barcelona, Lisbon, Paris and Athens, respectively, suggesting a non-negligible enhancement of the aerosol burden through local emissions.
Sebastien Garrigues, Melanie Ades, Samuel Remy, Johannes Flemming, Zak Kipling, Istvan Laszlo, Mark Parrington, Antje Inness, Roberto Ribas, Luke Jones, Richard Engelen, and Vincent-Henri Peuch
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 10473–10487, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10473-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10473-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) provides global monitoring of aerosols using the ECMWF forecast model constrained by the assimilation of satellite aerosol optical depth (AOD). This work aims at evaluating the assimilation of the NOAA VIIRS AOD product in the ECMWF model. It shows that the introduction of VIIRS in the CAMS data assimilation system enhances the accuracy of the aerosol analysis, particularly over Europe and desert and maritime sites.
Maria Filioglou, Ari Leskinen, Ville Vakkari, Ewan O'Connor, Minttu Tuononen, Pekko Tuominen, Samuli Laukkanen, Linnea Toiviainen, Annika Saarto, Xiaoxia Shang, Petri Tiitta, and Mika Komppula
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 9009–9021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9009-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9009-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Pollen impacts climate and public health, and it can be detected in the atmosphere by lidars which measure the linear particle depolarization ratio (PDR), a shape-relevant optical parameter. As aerosols also cause depolarization, surface aerosol and pollen observations were combined with measurements from ground-based lidars operating at different wavelengths to determine the optical properties of birch and pine pollen and quantify their relative contribution to the PDR.
Jesús Abril-Gago, Pablo Ortiz-Amezcua, Diego Bermejo-Pantaleón, Juana Andújar-Maqueda, Juan Antonio Bravo-Aranda, María José Granados-Muñoz, Francisco Navas-Guzmán, Lucas Alados-Arboledas, Inmaculada Foyo-Moreno, and Juan Luis Guerrero-Rascado
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 8453–8471, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8453-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8453-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Validation activities of Aeolus wind products were performed in Granada with different upward-probing instrumentation (Doppler lidar system and radiosondes) and spatiotemporal collocation criteria. Specific advantages and disadvantages of each instrument were identified, and an optimal comparison criterion is proposed. Aeolus was proven to provide reliable wind products, and the upward-probing instruments were proven to be useful for Aeolus wind product validation activities.
Jianyu Zheng, Zhibo Zhang, Hongbin Yu, Anne Garnier, Qianqian Song, Chenxi Wang, Claudia Di Biagio, Jasper F. Kok, Yevgeny Derimian, and Claire Ryder
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 8271–8304, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8271-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8271-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We developed a multi-year satellite-based retrieval of dust optical depth at 10 µm and the coarse-mode dust effective diameter over global oceans. It reveals climatological coarse-mode dust transport patterns and regional differences over the North Atlantic, the Indian Ocean and the North Pacific.
Shikuan Jin, Yingying Ma, Zhongwei Huang, Jianping Huang, Wei Gong, Boming Liu, Weiyan Wang, Ruonan Fan, and Hui Li
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 8187–8210, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8187-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8187-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
To better understand the Asian aerosol environment, we studied distributions and trends of aerosol with different sizes and types. Over the past 2 decades, dust, sulfate, and sea salt aerosol decreased by 5.51 %, 3.07 %, and 9.80 %, whereas organic carbon and black carbon aerosol increased by 17.09 % and 6.23 %, respectively. The increase in carbonaceous aerosols was a feature of Asia. An exception is found in East Asia, where the carbonaceous aerosols reduced, owing largely to China's efforts.
Mukunda M. Gogoi, S. Suresh Babu, Ryoichi Imasu, and Makiko Hashimoto
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 8059–8079, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8059-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8059-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Considering the climate warming potential of atmospheric black carbon (BC), satellite-based retrieval is a novel idea. This study highlights the regional distribution of BC based on observations by the Cloud and Aerosol Imager-2 on board the GOSAT-2 satellite and near-surface measurements of BC in ARFINET. The satellite retrieval fairly depicts the regional and seasonal features of BC over the Indian region, which are similar to those recorded by surface observations.
Hao Fan, Xingchuan Yang, Chuanfeng Zhao, Yikun Yang, and Zhenyao Shen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 7781–7798, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7781-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7781-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Using 20-year multi-source data, this study shows pronounced regional and seasonal variations in fire activities and emissions. Seasonal variability of fires is larger with increasing latitude. The increase in temperature in the Northern Hemisphere's middle- and high-latitude forest regions was primarily responsible for the increase in fires and emissions, while the changes in fire occurrence in tropical regions were more influenced by the decrease in precipitation and relative humidity.
Rosemary Huck, Robert G. Bryant, and James King
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 6299–6318, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-6299-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-6299-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This study shows that mineral aerosol (dust) emission events in high-latitude areas are under-represented in both ground- and space-based detecting methods. This is done through a suite of ground-based data to prove that dust emissions from the proglacial area, Lhù’ààn Mân, occur almost daily but are not always recorded at different timescales. Dust has multiple effects on atmospheric processes; therefore, accurate quantification is important in the calibration and validation of climate models.
Michail Mytilinaios, Sara Basart, Sergio Ciamprone, Juan Cuesta, Claudio Dema, Enza Di Tomaso, Paola Formenti, Antonis Gkikas, Oriol Jorba, Ralph Kahn, Carlos Pérez García-Pando, Serena Trippetta, and Lucia Mona
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 5487–5516, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5487-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5487-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Multiscale Online Non-hydrostatic AtmospheRe CHemistry model (MONARCH) dust reanalysis provides a high-resolution 3D reconstruction of past dust conditions, allowing better quantification of climate and socioeconomic dust impacts. We assess the performance of the reanalysis needed to reproduce dust optical depth using dust-related products retrieved from satellite and ground-based observations and show that it reproduces the spatial distribution and seasonal variability of atmospheric dust well.
Jacob Z. Tindan, Qinjian Jin, and Bing Pu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 5435–5466, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5435-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5435-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We use the Infrared Atmospheric Sounder Interferometer (IASI) retrievals of dust variables (dust optical depth and dust layer height) and surface observations to understand the day- and nighttime variations in dust aerosols over the dust belt. Our results show that daytime dust aerosols are significantly different from nighttime, and such day–night variations are influenced by meteorological factors such as wind speed, precipitation, and turbulent motions within the atmospheric boundary layer.
Ross Herbert and Philip Stier
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 4595–4616, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-4595-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-4595-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We provide robust evidence from multiple sources showing that smoke from fires in the Amazon rainforest significantly modifies the diurnal cycle of convection and cools the climate. Low to moderate amounts of smoke increase deep convective clouds and rain, whilst beyond a threshold amount, the smoke starts to suppress the convection and rain. We are currently at this threshold, suggesting increases in fires from agricultural practices or droughts will reduce cloudiness and rain over the region.
Yue Huang, Jasper F. Kok, Masanori Saito, and Olga Muñoz
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 2557–2577, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2557-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2557-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Global aerosol models and remote sensing retrievals use dust optical models with inconsistent and inaccurate dust shape approximations. Here, we present a new dust optical model constrained by measured dust shape distributions. This new dust optical model is an improvement on the current dust optical models used in models and retrieval algorithms, as quantified by comparisons against laboratory and field observations of dust optics.
Konstantinos Michailidis, Maria-Elissavet Koukouli, Dimitris Balis, J. Pepijn Veefkind, Martin de Graaf, Lucia Mona, Nikolaos Papagianopoulos, Gesolmina Pappalardo, Ioanna Tsikoudi, Vassilis Amiridis, Eleni Marinou, Anna Gialitaki, Rodanthi-Elisavet Mamouri, Argyro Nisantzi, Daniele Bortoli, Maria João Costa, Vanda Salgueiro, Alexandros Papayannis, Maria Mylonaki, Lucas Alados-Arboledas, Salvatore Romano, Maria Rita Perrone, and Holger Baars
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 1919–1940, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-1919-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-1919-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Comparisons with ground-based correlative lidar measurements constitute a key component in the validation of satellite aerosol products. This paper presents the validation of the TROPOMI aerosol layer height (ALH) product, using archived quality assured ground-based data from lidar stations that belong to the EARLINET network. Comparisons between the TROPOMI ALH and co-located EARLINET measurements show good agreement over the ocean.
María Ángeles López-Cayuela, Carmen Córdoba-Jabonero, Diego Bermejo-Pantaleón, Michaël Sicard, Vanda Salgueiro, Francisco Molero, Clara Violeta Carvajal-Pérez, María José Granados-Muñoz, Adolfo Comerón, Flavio T. Couto, Rubén Barragán, María-Paz Zorzano, Juan Antonio Bravo-Aranda, Constantino Muñoz-Porcar, María João Costa, Begoña Artíñano, Alejandro Rodríguez-Gómez, Daniele Bortoli, Manuel Pujadas, Jesús Abril-Gago, Lucas Alados-Arboledas, and Juan Luis Guerrero-Rascado
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 143–161, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-143-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-143-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
An intense Saharan dust outbreak crossing the Iberian Peninsula in springtime was monitored to determinine the specific contribution of fine and coarse dust particles at five lidar stations, strategically covering its SW–central–NE pathway. Expected dust ageing along the transport started unappreciated. A different fine-dust impact on optical (~30 %) and mass (~10 %) properties was found. Use of polarized lidar measurements (mainly in elastic systems) for fine/coarse dust separation is crucial.
Kyriakoula Papachristopoulou, Ioannis-Panagiotis Raptis, Antonis Gkikas, Ilias Fountoulakis, Akriti Masoom, and Stelios Kazadzis
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 15703–15727, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15703-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15703-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Megacities' air quality is determined by atmospheric aerosols. We focus on changes over the last two decades in the 81 largest cities, using satellite data. European and American cities have lower aerosol compared to African and Asian cities. For European, North American and East Asian cities, aerosols are decreasing over time, especially in China and the US. In the remaining cities, aerosol loads are increasing, particularly in India.
Cited articles
Abdou, W. A., Diner, D. J., Martonchik, J. V., Bruegge, C. J., Kahn, R. A., Gaitley, B. J., and Crean, K. A.: Comparison of coincident Multiangle Imaging Spectroradiometer and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer aerosol optical depths over land and ocean scenes containing Aerosol Robotic Network sites, J. Geophys. Res., 110, D10S07, https://doi.org/10.1029/2004JD004693, 2005.
Abed, A. M., Al-Kuisi, M., and Khair, H. A.: Characterization of the Khamaseen (spring) dust in Jordan, Atmos. Environ., 43, 2868–2876, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2009.03.015, 2009.
Alpert, P. and Ziv, B.: The Sharav Cyclone: Observations and some theoretical considerations, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 94, 18495–18514, https://doi.org/10.1029/JD094iD15p18495, 1989.
Banks, J. R. and Brindley, H. E.: Evaluation of MSG-SEVIRI mineral dust retrieval products over North Africa and the Middle East, Remote Sens. Environ., 128, 58–73, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2012.07.017, 2013.
Banks, J. R., Brindley, H. E., Flamant, C., Garay, M. J., Hsu, N. C., Kalashnikova, O. V., Klüser, L., and Sayer, A. M.: Intercomparison of satellite dust retrieval products over the west African Sahara during the Fennec campaign in June 2011, Remote Sens. Environ., 136, 99–116, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2013.05.003, 2013.
Brindley, H., Osipov, S., Bantges, R., Smirnov, A., Banks, J., Levy, R., Jish Prakash, P., and Stenchikov, G.: An asessment of the quality of aerosol retrievals over the Red Sea and evaluation of the climatological cloud-free dust direct radiative effect in the region, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 120, 10862–10878, https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JD023282, 2015.
Brindley, H. E. and Ignatov, A.: Retrieval of mineral aerosol optical depth and size information from Meteosat Second Generation SEVIRI solar reflectance bands, Remote Sens. Environ., 102, 344–363, 2006.
Brindley, H. E. and Russell, J. E.: Improving GERB scene identification using SEVIRI: Infrared dust detection strategy, Remote Sens. Environ., 104, 426–446, 2006.
Cantin, N. E., Cohen, A. L., Karnauskas, K. B., Tarrant, A. M., and McCorkle, D. C.: Ocean Warming Slows Coral Growth in the Central Red Sea, Science, 329, 322–325, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1190182, 2010.
Carboni, E., Thomas, G. E., Sayer, A. M., Siddans, R., Poulsen, C. A., Grainger, R. G., Ahn, C., Antoine, D., Bevan, S., Braak, R., Brindley, H., DeSouza-Machado, S., Deuzé, J. L., Diner, D., Ducos, F., Grey, W., Hsu, C., Kalashnikova, O. V., Kahn, R., North, P. R. J., Salustro, C., Smith, A., Tanré, D., Torres, O., and Veihelmann, B.: Intercomparison of desert dust optical depth from satellite measurements, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 5, 1973–2002, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-5-1973-2012, 2012.
Cuevas, E., Camino, C., Benedetti, A., Basart, S., Terradellas, E., Baldasano, J. M., Morcrette, J. J., Marticorena, B., Goloub, P., Mortier, A., Berjón, A., Hernández, Y., Gil-Ojeda, M., and Schulz, M.: The MACC-II 2007–2008 reanalysis: atmospheric dust evaluation and characterization over northern Africa and the Middle East, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 3991–4024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-3991-2015, 2015.
De Paepe, B., Ignatov, A., Dewitte, S., and Ipe, A.: Aerosol retrieval over ocean from SEVIRI for the use in GERB Earth's radiation budget analyses, Remote Sens. Environ., 112, 2455–2468, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2007.11.005, 2008.
Diner, D. J., Braswell, B. H., Davies, R., Gobron, N., Hu, J., Jin, Y., Kahn, R. A., Knyazikhin, Y., Loeb, N., Muller, J.-P., Nolin, A. W., Pinty, B., Schaaf, C. B., Seiz, G., and Stroeve, J.: The value of multiangle measurements for retrieving structurally and radiatively consistent properties of clouds, aerosols, and surfaces, Remote Sens. Environ., 97, 495–518, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2005.06.006, 2005.
Dubovik, O., Holben, B., Eck, T. F., Smirnov, A., Kaufman, Y. J., King, M. D., Tanré, D., and Slutsker, I.: Variability of Absorption and Optical Properties of Key Aerosol Types Observed in Worldwide Locations, J. Atmos. Sci., 59, 590–608, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(2002)059<0590:VOAAOP>2.0.CO;2, 2002a.
Dubovik, O., Holben, B. N., Lapyonok, T., Sinyuk, A., Mishchenko, M. I., Yang, P., and Slutsker, I.: Non-spherical aerosol retrieval method employing light scattering by spheroids, Geophys. Res. Lett., 29, https://doi.org/10.1029/2001GL014506, 2002b.
EUMETSAT: Harries, J. E., Russell, J. E., Hanafin, J. A., Brindley, H. E., Futyan, J., Rufus, J., Kellock, S., Matthews, G., Wrigley, R., Last, A., Mueller, J., Mossavati, R., Ashmall, J., Sawyer, E., Parker, D. E., Caldwell, M., Allan, P. M., Smith, A., Bates, M. J., Coan, B., Stewart, B. C., Lepine, D. R., Cornwall, L. A., Corney, D. R., Ricketts, M. J., Drummond, D., Smart, D., Cutler, R., Dewitte, S., Clerbaux, N., Gonzalez, L., Ipe, A., Bertrand, C., Joukoff, A., Crommelynck, D., Nelms, N., Llewellyn-Jones, D. T., Butcher, G., Smith, G. L., Szewczyk, Z. P., Mlynczak, P. E., Slingo, A., Allan, R. P., and Ringer, M. A.: Solar and Thermal Radiation Data from the Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget (GERB) Experiment, NCAS British Atmospheric Data Centre, available at: http://catalogue.ceda.ac.uk/uuid/d8a5e58e59eb31620082dc4fd10158e2 (last access: 20 March 2017), 2002.
Farley Nicholls, J., Toumi, R., and Stenchikov, G.: Effects of unsteady mountain-gap winds on eddies in the Red Sea, Atmos. Sci. Lett., 16, 279–284, https://doi.org/10.1002/asl2.554, 2015.
Giannakopoulou, E. M. and Toumi, R.: The Persian Gulf summertime low-level jet over sloping terrain, Q. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 138, 145–157, https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.901, 2011.
Givehchi, R., Arhami, M., and Tajrishy, M.: Contribution of the Middle Eastern dust source areas to PM10 levels in urban receptors: Case study of Tehran, Iran, Atmos. Environ., 75, 287–295, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2013.04.039, 2013.
Haywood, J. M., Johnson, B. T., Osborne, S. R., Baran, A. J., Brooks, M., Milton, S. F., Mulcahy, J., Walters, D., Allan, R. P., Klaver, A., Formenti, P., Brindley, H. E., Christopher, S., and Gupta, P.: Motivation, rationale and key results from the GERBILS Saharan dust measurement campaign, Q. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 137, 1106–1116, https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.797, 2011.
Heintzenberg, J.: The SAMUM-1 experiment over Southern Morocco: overview and introduction, Tellus B, 61, 2–11, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0889.2008.00403.x, 2009.
Holben, B. N., Eck, T. F., Slutsker, I., Tanré, D., Buis, J. P., Setzer, A., Vermote, E., Reagan, J. A., Kaufman, Y. J., Nakajima, T., Lavenu, F., Jankowiak, I., and Smirnov, A.: AERONET – A Federated Instrument Network and Data Archive for Aerosol Characterization, Remote Sens. Environ., 66, 1–16, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0034-4257(98)00031-5, 1998 (data available at: http://aeronet.gsfc.nasa.gov/, last access: 20 March 2017).
Hsu, N. C., Tsay, S.-C., King, M. D., and Herman, J. R.: Aerosol Properties Over Bright-Reflecting Source Regions, IEEE T. Geosci. Remote, 42, 557–569, https://doi.org/10.1109/TGRS.2004.824067, 2004.
Hsu, N. C., Jeong, M.-J., Bettenhausen, C., Sayer, A. M., Hansell, R., Seftor, C. S., Huang, J., and Tsay, S.-C.: Enhanced Deep Blue aerosol retrieval algorithm: The second generation, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 118, 1–20, https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrd.50712, 2013.
Inness, A., Baier, F., Benedetti, A., Bouarar, I., Chabrillat, S., Clark, H., Clerbaux, C., Coheur, P., Engelen, R. J., Errera, Q., Flemming, J., George, M., Granier, C., Hadji-Lazaro, J., Huijnen, V., Hurtmans, D., Jones, L., Kaiser, J. W., Kapsomenakis, J., Lefever, K., Leitão, J., Razinger, M., Richter, A., Schultz, M. G., Simmons, A. J., Suttie, M., Stein, O., Thépaut, J.-N., Thouret, V., Vrekoussis, M., Zerefos, C., and the MACC team: The MACC reanalysis: an 8 yr data set of atmospheric composition, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 4073–4109, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-4073-2013, 2013 (data available at: http://apps.ecmwf.int/archive-catalogue/?class=mc, last access: 20 March 2017).
Ipe, A., Bertrand, C., Clerbaux, N., Dewitte, S., and Gonzalez, L.: Validation and homogenization of cloud optical depth and cloud fraction retrievals for GERB/SEVIRI scene identification using Meteosat-7 data, Atmos. Res., 72, 17–37, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2004.03.010, 2004.
Jiang, H., Farrar, J. T., Beardsley, R. C., Chen, R., and Chen, C.: Zonal surface wind jets across the Red Sea due to mountain gap forcing along both sides of the Red Sea, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L19605, https://doi.org/10.1029/2009GL040008, 2009.
Jish Prakash, P., Stenchikov, G., Kalenderski, S., Osipov, S., and Bangalath, H.: The impact of dust storms on the Arabian Peninsula and the Red Sea, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 199–222, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-199-2015, 2015.
Kahn, R. A., Nelson, D. L., Garay, M. J., Levy, R. C., Bull, M. A., Diner, D. J., Martonchik, J. V., Paradise, S. R., Hansen, E. G., and Remer, L. A.: MISR Aerosol Product Attributes and Statistical Comparisons With MODIS, IEEE T. Geosci. Remote, 47, 4095–4114, https://doi.org/10.1109/TGRS.2009.2023115, 2009 (data available at: https://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/project/misr/version/pge9, last access: 20 March 2017).
Kahn, R. A., Gaitley, B. J., Garay, M. J., Diner, D. J., Eck, T. F., Smirnov, A., and Holben, B. N.: Multiangle Imaging SpectroRadiometer global aerosol product assessment by comparison with the Aerosol Robotic Network, J. Geophys. Res., 115, D23209, https://doi.org/10.1029/2010JD014601, 2010.
Kalashnikova, O. V., Kahn, R., Sokolik, I. N., and Li, W.-H.: The ability of multi-angle remote sensing observations to identify and distinguish mineral dust types: Part 1. Optical models and retrievals of optically thick plumes, J. Geophys. Res., 110, D18S14, https://doi.org/10.1029/2004JD004550, 2005.
Kalenderski, S. and Stenchikov, G.: High-resolution regional modeling of summertime transport and impact of African dust over the Red Sea and Arabian Peninsula, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 121, 6435–6458, https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JD024480, 2016.
Kleidman, R. G., O'Neill, N. T., Remer, L. A., Kaufman, Y. J., Eck, T. F., Tanré, D., Dubovik, O., and Holben, B. N.: Comparison of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) remote-sensing retrievals of aerosol fine mode fraction over ocean, J. Geophys. Res., 110, D22205, https://doi.org/10.1029/2005JD005760, 2005.
Klingmüller, K., Pozzer, A., Metzger, S., Stenchikov, G. L., and Lelieveld, J.: Aerosol optical depth trend over the Middle East, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 5063–5073, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-5063-2016, 2016.
Koepke, P., Gasteiger, J., and Hess, M.: Technical Note: Optical properties of desert aerosol with non-spherical mineral particles: data incorporated to OPAC, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 5947–5956, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-5947-2015, 2015.
Levy, R. C., Remer, L. A., Tanré, D., Kaufman, Y. J., Ichoku, C., Holben, B. N., Livingston, J. M., Russell, P. B., and Maring, H.: Evaluation of the Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) retrievals of dust aerosol over the ocean during PRIDE, J. Geophys. Res., 108, 8594, https://doi.org/10.1029/2002JD002460, 2003.
Levy, R. C., Remer, L. A., Mattoo, S., Vermote, E. F., and Kaufman, Y. J.: Second-generation operational algorithm: Retrieval of aerosol properties over land from inversion of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer spectral reflectance, J. Geophys. Res., 112, D13211, https://doi.org/10.1029/2006JD007811, 2007.
Levy, R. C., Mattoo, S., Munchak, L. A., Remer, L. A., Sayer, A. M., Patadia, F., and Hsu, N. C.: The Collection 6 MODIS aerosol products over land and ocean, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, 2989–3034, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-2989-2013, 2013.
Levy, R., Hsu, C., et al.: MODIS Atmosphere L2 Aerosol Product, NASA MODIS Adaptive Processing System, Goddard Space Flight Center, USA, https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD04_L2.006 (last access: 20 March 2017), 2015.
MétéoFrance: Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document for “Cloud Products” (CMa-PGE01 v3.2, CT-PGE02 v2.2 & CTTH-PGE03 v2.2), Tech. Rep. SAF/NWC/CDOP/MFL/SCI/ATBD/01, MétéoFrance, Paris, France, 2013.
Notaro, M., Alkolibi, F., Fadda, E., and Bakhrjy, F.: Trajectory analysis of Saudi Arabian dust storms, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 118, 6028–6043, https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrd.50346, 2013.
Notaro, M., Yu, Y., and Kalashnikova, O. V.: Regime shift in Arabian dust activity, triggered by persistent Fertile Crescent drought, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 120, 10229–10249, https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JD023855, 2015.
O'Neill, N. T., Eck, T. F., Smirnov, A., Holben, B. N., and Thulasiraman, S.: Spectral discrimination of coarse and fine mode optical depth, J. Geophys. Res., 108, 4559, https://doi.org/10.1029/2002JD002975, 2003.
Osipov, S., Stenchikov, G., Brindley, H., and Banks, J.: Diurnal cycle of the dust instantaneous direct radiative forcing over the Arabian Peninsula, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 9537–9553, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-9537-2015, 2015.
Pandolfi, J. M., Sala, R. H. B. E., Hughes, T. P., Bjorndal, K. A., Cooke, R. G., McArdle, D., McClenachan, L., Newman, M. J. H., Paredes, G., Warner, R. R., and Jackson, J. B. C.: Global Trajectories of the Long-Term Decline of Coral Reef Ecosystems, Science, 301, 955–958, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1085706, 2003.
Patzert, W. C.: Wind-induced reversal in Red Sea circulation, Deep-Sea Res., 21, 109–121, https://doi.org/10.1016/0011-7471(74)90068-0, 1974.
Prospero, J. M., Ginoux, P., Torres, O., Nicholson, S. E., and Gill, T. E.: Environmental characteristics of global sources of atmospheric soil dust identified with the Nimbus 7 Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) Absorbing Aerosol Product, Rev. Geophys., 40, 1002, https://doi.org/10.1029/2000RG000095, 2002.
Redelsperger, J.-L., Thorncroft, C. D., Diedhiou, A., Lebel, T., Parker, D. J., and Polcher, J.: African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis: An International Research Project and Field Campaign, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 87, 1739–1746, https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-87-12-1739, 2006.
Remer, L. A., Kaufman, Y. J., Tanré, D., Mattoo, S., Chu, D. A., Martins, J. V., Li, R.-R., Ichoku, C., Levy, R. C., Kleidman, R. G., Eck, T. F., Vermote, E., and Holben, B. N.: The MODIS Aerosol Algorithm, Products, and Validation, J. Atmos. Sci., 62, 947–973, https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS3385.1, 2005.
Remer, L. A., Kleidman, R. G., Levy, R. C., Kaufman, Y. J., Tanré, D., Mattoo, S., Martins, J. V., Ichoku, C., Koren, I., Yu, H., and Holben, B. N.: Global aerosol climatology from the MODIS satellite sensors, J. Geophys. Res., 113, D14S07, https://doi.org/10.1029/2007JD009661, 2008.
Ryder, C. L., Highwood, E. J., Rosenberg, P. D., Trembath, J., Brooke, J. K., Bart, M., Dean, A., Crosier, J., Dorsey, J., Brindley, H., Banks, J., Marsham, J. H., McQuaid, J. B., Sodemann, H., and Washington, R.: Optical properties of Saharan dust aerosol and contribution from the coarse mode as measured during the Fennec 2011 aircraft campaign, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 303–325, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-303-2013, 2013.
Ryder, C. L., McQuaid, J. B., Flamant, C., Rosenberg, P. D., Washington, R., Brindley, H. E., Highwood, E. J., Marsham, J. H., Parker, D. J., Todd, M. C., Banks, J. R., Brooke, J. K., Engelstaedter, S., Estelles, V., Formenti, P., Garcia-Carreras, L., Kocha, C., Marenco, F., Sodemann, H., Allen, C. J. T., Bourdon, A., Bart, M., Cavazos-Guerra, C., Chevaillier, S., Crosier, J., Darbyshire, E., Dean, A. R., Dorsey, J. R., Kent, J., O'Sullivan, D., Schepanski, K., Szpek, K., Trembath, J., and Woolley, A.: Advances in understanding mineral dust and boundary layer processes over the Sahara from Fennec aircraft observations, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 8479–8520, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-8479-2015, 2015.
Sayer, A. M., Hsu, N. C., Bettenhausen, C., and Jeong, M.-J.: Validation and uncertainty estimates for MODIS Collection 6 Deep Blue aerosol data, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 118, 7864–7872, https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrd.50600, 2013.
Schepanski, K., Tegen, I., Laurent, B., Heinold, B., and Macke, A.: A new Saharan dust source activation frequency map derived from MSG-SEVIRI IR-channels, Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L18803, https://doi.org/10.1029/2007GL030168, 2007.
Schmetz, J., Pili, P., Tjemkes, S., Just, D., Kerkmann, J., Rota, S., and Ratier, A.: An introduction to Meteosat Second Generation (MSG), B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 83, 977–992, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0477(2002)083<0977:AITMSG>2.3.CO;2, 2002.
Smirnov, A., Holben, B. N., Eck, T. F., Dubovik, O., and Slutsker, I.: Cloud-Screening and Quality Control Algorithms for the AERONET Database, Remote Sens. Environ., 73, 337–349, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0034-4257(00)00109-7, 2000.
Smirnov, A., Holben, B. N., Dubovik, O., O'Neill, N. T., Eck, T. F., Westphal, D. L., Goroch, A. K., Pietras, C., and Slutsker, I.: Atmospheric Aerosol Optical Properties in the Persian Gulf, J. Atmos. Sci., 59, 620–634, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(2002)059<0620:AAOPIT>2.0.CO;2, 2002.
Smirnov, A., Holben, B. N., Slutsker, I., Giles, D. M., McClain, C. R., Eck, T. F., Sakerin, S. M., Macke, A., Croot, P., Zibordi, G., Quinn, P. K., Sciare, J., Kinne, S., Harvey, M., Smyth, T. J., Piketh, S., Zielinski, T., Proshutinsky, A., Goes, J. I., Nelson, N. B., Larouche, P., Radionov, V. F., Goloub, P., Moorthy, K. K., Matarrese, R., Robertson, E. J., and Jourdin, F.: Maritime Aerosol Network as a component of Aerosol Robotic Network, J. Geophys. Res., 114, D06204, https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JD011257, 2009 (data available at: http://aeronet.gsfc.nasa.gov/new_web/maritime_aerosol_network.html, last access: 20 March 2017).
Tanré, D., Kaufman, Y. J., Herman, M., and Mattoo, S.: Remote sensing of aerosol properties over oceans using the MODIS/EOS spectral radiances, J. Geophys. Res., 102, 16971–16988, 1997.
Wang, J., Liu, X., Christopher, S. A., Reid, J. S., Reid, E., and Maring, H.: The effects of non-sphericity on geostationary satellite retrievals of dust aerosols, Geophys. Res. Lett., 30, 2293, https://doi.org/10.1029/2003GL018697, 2003.
Short summary
From an 11-year analysis of satellite measurements of atmospheric dust presence over the Red Sea, it is clear that there is a strong north–south gradient in dust activity and a pronounced interannual variability in this activity. Analysing two commonly used satellite retrieval methods to quantify dust presence, we find that under the most extreme dust storm conditions the measured dust optical thicknesses can diverge strongly between the two methods.
From an 11-year analysis of satellite measurements of atmospheric dust presence over the Red...
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint