1 Long-term variability of dust events in Iceland (1949-2011) 2 3 P. Dagsson-Waldhauserova 1, 2 , O. Arnalds 1, and H. Olafsson 2, 3, 4 4 [1]{Agricultural University of Iceland, Hvanneyri, Borgarnes, Iceland} 5 [2]{University of Iceland, Department of Physics, Reykjavík, Iceland} 6 [3]{Icelandic Meteorological Office, Reykjavík, Iceland} 7 [4]{Bergen School of Meteorology, Geophysical Institute, University of Bergen, Norway} 8 Correspondence to: P. Dagsson-Waldhauserova (
[email protected]) 9 10 Abstract 11 Long-term frequency of atmospheric dust observations was investigated for the southern part 12 of Iceland and merged with results obtained from the Northeast Iceland (Dagsson- 13 Waldhauserova et al., 2013). In total, over 34 dust days per year on average occurred in 14 Iceland based on conventionally used synoptic codes for dust observations . However, 15 frequent volcanic eruptions with the re-suspension of volcanic materials and dust haze 16 increased the number of dust events fourfold. Including such codes (04-06) into the criteria 17 for dust observations, the frequency was 135 dust days annually. The position of the Icelandic 18 low determined whether dust events occurred in NE (16.4 dust days annually) or in southern 19 part of Iceland (about 18 dust days annually). The most dust-frequent decade in S Iceland was 20 the 1960s while the most frequent decade in NE Iceland was the 2000s. A total of 32 severe 21 dust storms (visibility < 500 m) was observed in Iceland with the highest frequency during the 22 2000s in S Iceland. The Arctic dust events (NE Iceland) were typically warm , occurring 23 during summer/autumn (May–September) and during mild SW winds, while the Sub-Arctic 24 dust events (S Iceland) were mainly cold, occurring during winter/spring (March–May) and 25 during strong NE winds.