Articles | Volume 22, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4047-2022
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4047-2022
Research article
 | 
28 Mar 2022
Research article |  | 28 Mar 2022

Development and evolution of an anomalous Asian dust event across Europe in March 2020

Laura Tositti, Erika Brattich, Claudio Cassardo, Pietro Morozzi, Alessandro Bracci, Angela Marinoni, Silvana Di Sabatino, Federico Porcù, and Alessandro Zappi

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Cited articles

Abell, J. T., Winckler, G., Anderson, R. F., and Herbert, T. D.: Poleward and weakened westerlies during Pliocene warmth, Nature, 589, 70–75, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-03062-1, 2021. 
Adebiyi, A. A. and Kok, J. F.: Climate models miss most of the coarse dust in the atmosphere, Sci. Adv., 6, 15, https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaz9507, 2020. 
Agenzia regionale per la prevenzione, l'ambiente e l'energia dell'Emilia-Romagna (ARPAE): ARPAE, Sistema nazionale di prevenzione dell'ambiente (SNPA), https://dati.arpae.it/, last access: 25 March 2022. 
Bangert, M., Nenes, A., Vogel, B., Vogel, H., Barahona, D., Karydis, V. A., Kumar, P., Kottmeier, C., and Blahak, U.: Saharan dust event impacts on cloud formation and radiation over Western Europe, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 12, 4045–4063, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-12-4045-2012, 2012. 
Barkan, J. and Alpert, P.: Synoptic analysis of a rare event of Saharan dust reaching the Arctic region, Weather, 65, 208–211, https://doi.org/10.1002/wea.503, 2010. 
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Short summary
We present a thorough investigation of an anomalous transport of mineral dust over a region renowned for excess airborne particulate matter, the Italian Po Valley, which occurred in late March 2021. Both the origin of this dust outbreak, which was localized in central Asia (i.e., the so-called Aralkum Desert), and the upstream synoptic conditions, investigated here in extreme detail using multiple integrated observations including in situ measurements and remote sensing, were atypical.
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