A massive cloud of dust looms over Phoenix, Arizona during a
dust storm in July 2012 [natl geo news, 2013] Toward enhanced
capability of detecting and predicting dust events in the western
US Min Huang (GMU/NOAA, [email protected]) D. Tong, P. Lee, L. Pan,
I. Stajner AQAST 9 meeting | St. Louis, MO | June 3, 2015
Contribute to: ROSES-National Climate Assessment Also support NOAA
NAQFC Users & Collaborators: USDA (soil conservation) EPA CMAQ,
NASA GOCART, NOAA HYSPLIT (modeling) National, state and county AQ
agencies (AQ management) Center for Disease Control &
Prevention (public health)
Slide 2
North American dust: a short-lived climate forcer North America
contributes to 0.1-5% of the worlds dust emissions. Important
emitters include the four major deserts in the western US Many dust
storms in North America last for 2-21 hours; mechanisms and
compositions vary Miller et al., 2004; Tanaka and Chiba, 2006; Lei
and Wang, 2014; Ginoux et al., 2004; Zender et al., 2003 2
Slide 3
Dust affects human life, ecosystems, and the climate Ecosystems
Nourishes forests Neutralizes acid rain Climate Absorbs sunlight
Reduces the planetary albedo over bright surfaces Deposition on
snow/ice & accelerate their melting Modifies monsoon Human life
May be associated with certain human diseases such as the valley
fever Degrades visibility and prevents normal outdoor activities
and transportation The 1930s dust bowl Recent dust storm in Las
Vegas (Apr 15, 2015) Goudie, 2013; Panikkath et al., 2013 Carslaw
et al., 2010; Brahney et al., 2013; Zhao et al., 2012 3
Slide 4
Dust temporal changes in the WUS Long-term observations
revealed intensified dust activities in the WUS with weaker
extra-regions impacts Need to extend and better understand the
temporal changes of dust activities using diverse observations
Important to improve daily dust forecasting skills as well as its
future projection under the changing climate Brahney et al., 2013
Non-US contributions:1.2 g/m 3 (