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JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 113, F02S03, doi:10.1029/2007JF000765, 2008

A vertical profile of PM10 dust concentrations measured during a regional dust event identified by MODIS Terra, western Queensland, Australia

Hamish A. McGowan

School of Geography, Planning and Architecture, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia


Andrew Clark

School of Geography, Planning and Architecture, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia


Abstract

Accurate determination of the spatiotemporal properties of dust plumes and their dust concentrations is essential for calibration of satellite products and the initialization and validation of numerical models that simulate the physical properties and affects of dust events. In this paper, we present a 500 m vertical profile of PM10 dust concentrations measured during a regional dust event in western Queensland, Australia. PM10 dust concentrations within the haze were found to be >20 times background ambient values and decreased with height following an exponential function. We apply an over-land algorithm to MODIS Terra satellite images of the dust haze to enhance its visual appearance against the bright land surface and define its size. In conjunction with the measured attenuation of dust concentrations with height we calculate the PM10 dust load of the plume to be ∼60% of that which would have been calculated assuming a constant dust concentration up to the dust ceiling height. Results extend previous findings from tower-based studies made close to the surface and confirm that atmospheric dust concentrations decrease rapidly with increasing height, thereby enabling more accurate calculation of atmospheric dust loads during synoptic-scale dust outbreaks.

Received 29 January 2007; accepted 10 October 2007; published 8 March 2008.

Keywords: dust plume; MODIS; Australia.

Index Terms: 0305 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Aerosols and particles (0345, 4801, 4906); 1640 Global Change: Remote sensing (1855); 6213 Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects: Dust; 9330 Geographic Location: Australia.

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Citation: McGowan, H. A., and A. Clark (2008), A vertical profile of PM10 dust concentrations measured during a regional dust event identified by MODIS Terra, western Queensland, Australia, J. Geophys. Res., 113, F02S03, doi:10.1029/2007JF000765.