Articles | Volume 26, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-983-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-983-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
21 Jan 2026
Research article |
| 21 Jan 2026
| 21 Jan 2026
Transported African Dust in the Lower Marine Atmospheric Boundary Layer is Internally Mixed with Sea Salt Contributing to Increased Hygroscopicity and a Lower Lidar Depolarization Ratio
Sujan Shrestha
Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
Robert E. Holz
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC), University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
Willem J. Marais
Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC), University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
Zachary Buckholtz
Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC), University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
Ilya Razenkov
Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC), University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
Edwin Eloranta
Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC), University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
Jeffrey S. Reid
U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Monterey, CA, USA
Hope E. Elliott
Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
now at: Department of Biological & Environmental Sciences, Wittenberg University, Springfield, OH, USA
Nurun Nahar Lata
Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA
Zezhen Cheng
Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA
Swarup China
Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, USA
Edmund Blades
Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
Albert D. Ortiz
Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
Rebecca Chewitt-Lucas
Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology, St. James, Barbados
Alyson Allen
Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
Devon Blades
Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
Ria Agrawal
Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
Elizabeth A. Reid
U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Monterey, CA, USA
Jesus Ruiz-Plancarte
Department of Meteorology, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA, USA
Anthony Bucholtz
Department of Meteorology, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA, USA
Ryan Yamaguchi
Department of Meteorology, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA, USA
Qing Wang
Department of Meteorology, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA, USA
Thomas Eck
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
Elena Lind
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA
Mira L. Pöhlker
Atmospheric Microphysics Department, Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research, Leipzig, Germany
Andrew P. Ault
Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
Data sets
Bulk Dust and Sea Salt mass concentration, and CCSEM/EDX Particle Types Data from Barbados during MAGPIE 2023 Sujan Shrestha et al. https://doi.org/10.17604/1427-0558
Short summary
Coordinated observations from MAGPIE 2023 show that Saharan dust in the marine atmospheric boundary layer becomes internally mixed with sea spray. This mixing increases particle sphericity and hygroscopicity, likely leading to suppressed lidar linear depolarization ratios despite high dust concentrations. The findings have key implications for interpreting lidar-derived dust retrievals, estimating surface dust from satellite products, and improving dust representation in models.
Coordinated observations from MAGPIE 2023 show that Saharan dust in the marine atmospheric...
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