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http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11765/507
Modulation of Saharan dust export by the North African dipole
Title: | Modulation of Saharan dust export by the North African dipole |
Authors: | Rodríguez González, Sergio
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Keywords: | Variabilidad climática; Distribución de partículas de polvo; Climate variability; Distribution of dust |
Issue Date: | 2015 |
Publisher: | European Geosciences Union |
Citation: | Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. 2015, 15(13), p. 7471-7486 |
Publisher version: | https://dx.doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-7471-2015 |
Abstract: | We have studied the relationship between the long-term interannual variability in large-scale meteorology in western North Africa – the largest and most active dust source worldwide – and Saharan dust export in summer, when enhanced dust mobilization in the hyper-arid Sahara results in maximum dust impacts throughout the North Atlantic. We address this issue by analyzing 28 years (1987–2014) of summer averaged dust concentrations at the high-altitude Izaña observatory (~ 2400 m a.s.l.) on Tenerife, and satellite and meteorological reanalysis data. The summer meteorological scenario in North Africa (aloft 850 hPa) is characterized by a high over the the subtropical Sahara and a low over the tropics linked to the monsoon. We measured the variability of this high–low dipole-like pattern in terms of the North African dipole intensity (NAFDI): the difference of geopotential height anomalies averaged over the subtropics (30–32° N, Morocco) and the tropics (10–13° N, Bamako region) close to the Atlantic coast (at 5–8° W). We focused on the 700 hPa standard level due to dust export off the coast of North Africa tending to occur between 1 and 5 km a.s.l. Variability in the NAFDI is associated with displacements of the North African anticyclone over the Sahara and this has implications for wind and dust export. |
Sponsorship : | The Izaña GAW program is funded by AEMET and by the Minister of Economy and Competitiveness of Spain (POLLINDUST, CGL2011-26259). J. M. Prospero’s research is supported by NSF grant AGS-0962256. |
URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11765/507 |
ISSN: | 1680-7316 1680-7324 |
Appears in Collections: | Artículos científicos 2015-2018 |
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File | Description | Size | Format | ||
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![]() | acp-15-7471-2015.pdf | Artículo principal | 2,93 MB | Adobe PDF | ![]() View/Open |
![]() | acp-15-7471-2015-supp... | Suplemento | 1,12 MB | Adobe PDF | ![]() View/Open |
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