Analysis of a saline dust storm from the Aralkum Desert – Part 1: Consistency between multisensor satellite aerosol products

Xi, Xin; Wang, Jun; Lu, Zhendong; Sayer, Andrew M.; Lee, Jaehwa; Levy, Robert C.; Wang, Yujie; Lyapustin, Alexei; Liu, Hongqing; Laszlo, Istvan; Ahn, Changwoo; Torres, Omar; Abdullaev, Sabur; Limbacher, James; Kahn, Ralph A.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-7403-2025

Articles | Volume 25, issue 13

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-7403-2025

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

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-7403-2025

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

Articles | Volume 25, issue 13

Research article

|

14 Jul 2025

Research article |

| 14 Jul 2025

Analysis of a saline dust storm from the Aralkum Desert – Part 1: Consistency between multisensor satellite aerosol products

Xin Xi, Jun Wang, Zhendong Lu, Andrew M. Sayer, Jaehwa Lee, Robert C. Levy, Yujie Wang, Alexei Lyapustin, Hongqing Liu, Istvan Laszlo, Changwoo Ahn, Omar Torres, Sabur Abdullaev, James Limbacher, and Ralph A. Kahn

Data sets

Data from "Analysis of a saline dust storm from the Aralkum Desert - Part 1: Consistency between multisensor satellite aerosol products" Xin Xi https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13994593

OMPS-NPP L2 NM Aerosol Index swath orbital V2 O. Torres https://doi.org/10.5067/40L92G8144IV

DSCOVR EPIC Level 2 UV Aerosol Version 3 O. Torres https://doi.org/10.5067/EPIC/DSCOVR/L2_AER_03

TROPOMI/Sentinel-5P Near UV Aerosol Optical Depth and Single Scattering Albedo L2 1-Orbit Snapshot 7.5 km x 3 km O. Torres https://doi.org/10.5067/MEASURES/AER/DATA204

TROPOMI Level 2 Ultraviolet Aerosol Index products Version 02 ESA https://doi.org/10.5270/S5P-3dgz66p

MODIS Atmosphere L2 Aerosol Product R. C. Levy and N. C. Hsu https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MYD04_L2.006

MODIS Atmosphere L2 Aerosol Product R. C. Levy and N. C. Hsu https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD04_3K.061

VIIRS/NOAA20 Dark Target Aerosol 6-Min L2 Swath 6 km R. C. Levy et al. https://doi.org/10.5067/VIIRS/AERDT_L2_VIIRS_NOAA20.002

MODIS/Terra+Aqua Land Aerosol Optical Depth Daily L2G Global 1km SIN Grid V061 A. Lyapustin and Y. Wang https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MCD19A2.061

VIIRS/NOAA20 Deep Blue Aerosol L2 6-Min Swath 6 km C. Hsu https://doi.org/10.5067/VIIRS/AERDB_L2_VIIRS_NOAA20.002

NOAA JPSS Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Aerosol Optical Depth and Aerosol Particle Size Distribution Environmental Data Record (EDR) from NDE S. Kondragunta et al. https://doi.org/10.7289/V5319T4H

MISR Level 2 Aerosol parameters V003 ASDC https://doi.org/10.5067/TERRA/MISR/MIL2ASAE_L2.003

Aerosol properties gridded data from 1995 to present derived from satellite observation C3S CDS https://doi.org/10.24381/cds.239d815c

CALIPSO Lidar Level 2 Aerosol Profile, V4-51 ASDC https://doi.org/10.5067/CALIOP/CALIPSO/CAL_LID_L2_05kmAPro-Standard-V4-51

DSCOVR EPIC Aerosol Optical Centroid Height Version 1 ASDC https://doi.org/10.5067/EPIC/DSCOVR/L2_AOCH.001

Short summary

The Aralkum Desert is challenging for aerosol retrieval due to its bright, heterogeneous, and dynamic surfaces and the lack of in situ constraints on aerosol properties. The performance and consistency of satellite algorithms in observing Aralkum-generated saline dust remain unknown. This study compares multisensor UVAI (ultraviolet aerosol index), AOD (aerosol optical depth), and ALH (aerosol layer height) products and reveals inconsistencies and potential biases over the Aral Sea basin.