Interdecadal shift in the impact of winter land–sea thermal contrasts on following spring transcontinental dust transport pathways in North Africa

Wen, Qi; Li, Yan; Du, Mengying; Song, Wenjun; Wei, Linbo; Wang, Zhilan; Li, Xu

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-10853-2025

Articles | Volume 25, issue 18

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-10853-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-10853-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 25, issue 18

Research article

|

22 Sep 2025

Research article |

| 22 Sep 2025

Interdecadal shift in the impact of winter land–sea thermal contrasts on following spring transcontinental dust transport pathways in North Africa

Qi Wen, Yan Li, Mengying Du, Wenjun Song, Linbo Wei, Zhilan Wang, and Xu Li

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-10853-2025-supplement

Data sets

MERRA-2 tavgM\_2d\_adg\_Nx: 2d,Monthly mean,Time averaged,Single Level,Assimilation,Aerosol Diagnostics (extended) V5.12.4 Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) https://doi.org/10.5067/RZIK2TV7PP38

MERRA-2 inst3\_3d\_aer\_Nv: 3d,3 Hourly, Instantaneous, Model Level,Assimilation,Aerosol Mixing Ratio V5.12.4 Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) https://doi.org/10.5067/LTVB4GPCOTK2

MERRA-2 instM\_3d\_ana\_Np: 3d, Monthly mean,Instantaneo Monthly mean, Instantaneous,Pressureus, Pressure--Level,Analysis,Analyzed Meteorological Fields V5.12.4 Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) https://doi.org/10.5067/V92O8XZ30XBI

MERRA-2 2 instM\_2d\_asm\_Nx: 2d,instM_2d_asm_Nx: 2d, Monthly mean,SingleMonthly mean,Single-Level,Assimilation,SingleLevel,Assimilation,Single--Level Diagnostics V5.12.4 Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO) https://doi.org/10.5067/5ESKGQTZG7FO

GEDI L4B Gridded Aboveground Biomass Density, Version 2.1 R. O. Dubayah et al. https://doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/2299

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Short summary

We find that, through an interdecadal coupling of sea–land thermal forcing, the North Atlantic Oscillation, and the westerly jet, springtime dust from North Africa has been more likely to be transported eastward (extending into North America) since the late 1990s, whereas before that time, westward transport paths were more frequent. Under the influence of thermal forcing, wind speed and drought contribute to dust emissions in the two periods, respectively.