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JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 93, NO. D11, PAGES 14,233–14,242, 1988

Modeling dust emission caused by wind erosion

Dale A. Gillette

Geophysical Monitoring for Climatic Change, Air Resources Laboratories, NOAA, Boulder, Colorado


Ranjit Passi

Cooperative Institute for Research in the Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder


Abstract

A model for the estimation of total dust production for the United States is discussed. Its primary use will be in the investory of alkaline elements for use in acid/base balance studies of atmospheric precipitation by the National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program (NAPAP). The model is a summation of the expected dust production caused by wind erosion for individual sampling units of the detailed soil and land use inventory of the National Resources Inventory, compiled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The model is based on a dust emission function derived theoretically and verified by experiment. An extremely important parameter is the threshold velocity for dust production; this parameter is dependent on effects of vegetative residue, roughness of the soil, live standing plants, soil texture and the effect of atmospheric precipitation. Experimentation has supplied values of this parameter for the calculation. Wind data used in the model were obtained from the Wind Energy Resource Information System (WERIS). The model was calibrated with dust emission data for the area, including the panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma. © American Geophysical Union 1988

Index Terms: 0305 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Aerosols and particles; 0365 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Troposphere—composition and chemistry; 3379 Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics: Turbulence.

Citation: Gillette, D. A., and R. Passi (1988), Modeling dust emission caused by wind erosion, J. Geophys. Res., 93(D11), 14,233–14,242.