Saharan dust transport to the Caribbean during PRIDE: 2. Transport, vertical profiles, and deposition in simulations of in situ and remote sensing observations

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Read Full Article (file size: 2119798 bytes) Cited by JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 108, NO. D19, 8590, doi:10.1029/2002JD002659, 2003 Saharan dust transport to the Caribbean during PRIDE: 2. Transport, vertical profiles, and deposition in simulations of in situ and remote sensing observations P. R. Colarco Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, Program in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA O. B. Toon Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, Program in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA J. S. Reid Marine Meteorology Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Monterey, California, USA J. M. Livingston SRI International, Menlo Park, California, USA P. B. Russell NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, USA J. Redemann Bay Area Environmental Research Institute, Sonoma, California, USA B. Schmid Bay Area Environmental Research Institute, Sonoma, California, USA H. B. Maring Rosentiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, USA D. Savoie Rosentiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, USA E. J. Welton Goddard Earth Sciences and Technology Center, University of Maryland-Baltimore County, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA J. R. Campbell Science Systems and Applications, Inc., Lanham, Maryland, USA B. N. Holben Laboratory for Terrestrial Physics, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA R. Levy Science Systems and Applications, Inc., Lanham, Maryland, USA Abstract We simulate Saharan dust transport during the Puerto Rico Dust Experiment (June–July 2000) with a three-dimensional aerosol transport model driven by assimilated meteorology. The model does a reasonable job of locating the dust plume as it emerges from Africa but transports it somewhat farther south in the western North Atlantic Ocean than is seen in satellite imagery. The model is able to simulate low-level, uniformly mixed, and elevated vertical dust layer profiles over Puerto Rico similar to observations made in PRIDE. We determine that the variability in the dust vertical profile across the North Atlantic Ocean is most strongly associated with descent of the dust by sedimentation and downward vertical winds during transit rather than low-level transport directly from source regions. Wet removal plays a key role in modulating this process. Assuming our dust is 3.5% iron by mass, we estimate July 2000 iron deposition into the North Atlantic Ocean to be between 0.71 and 0.88 Tg, which is consistent with estimates derived from observed surface dust mass concentrations. We estimate that if annual dust deposition remains constant at five times our July 2000 estimates, there is an accumulation of 1 m of sediment from Saharan dust over the Florida peninsula every one million years. Received 15 June 2002; accepted 15 January 2003; published 6 August 2003. Index Terms: 0305 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Aerosols and particles (0345, 4801); 0312 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Air/sea constituent fluxes (3339, 4504); 0322 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Constituent sources and sinks; 0368 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Troposphere—constituent transport and chemistry; 1640 Global Change: Remote sensing. Read Full Article (file size: 2119798 bytes) Cited by Citation: Colarco, P. R., et al. (2003), Saharan dust transport to the Caribbean during PRIDE: 2. Transport, vertical profiles, and deposition in simulations of in situ and remote sensing observations, J. Geophys. Res., 108(D19), 8590, doi:10.1029/2002JD002659. Copyright 2003 by the American Geophysical Union.

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