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JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 97, NO. D9, PAGES 9867–9872, 1992

Relationships Between the Dust Concentrations Over Eastern Asia and the Remote North Pacific

Y. Gao

Center for Atmospheric Chemistry Studies, Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Narragansett


R. Arimoto

Center for Atmospheric Chemistry Studies, Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Narragansett


M. Y. Zhou

National Research Center for Marine Environment Forecasts, State Oceanic Administration, Beijing


J. T. Merrill

Center for Atmospheric Chemistry Studies, Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Narragansett


R. A. Duce

Center for Atmospheric Chemistry Studies, Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Narragansett


Abstract

Dust storm reports as well as chemical data indicate that 1988 and 1989 were high-dust and low-dust years in eastern Asia, respectively. This pattern was not reflected in data from Midway, a remote island in the North Pacific, where the mineral aerosol concentrations during 1989 were as high as or higher than any year for which data are available. Analyses of meteorological data showed that the amount of precipitation, the strength of the westerly winds, and the position of large-scale meteorological features were related to the dust concentrations over eastern Asia. The observed disparity in the interannual trend in dust concentrations over Beijing and Midway was explained by differences in the source regions for the dust. Dust over eastern Asia evidently originates from source regions to the northeast of the Tibetan Plateau, while dust at Midway is ascribed to dust materials transported from the desert lands in western China. The Asian dust flux to the open ocean is influenced not only by conditions in or near the source regions but also by the large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns.

Received 18 March 1991; accepted 23 March 1992.

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Citation: Gao, Y., R. Arimoto, M. Y. Zhou, J. T. Merrill, and R. A. Duce (1992), Relationships Between the Dust Concentrations Over Eastern Asia and the Remote North Pacific, J. Geophys. Res., 97(D9), 9867–9872.