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1 Trajectory Analysis of Saudi Arabian Dust Storms 1 2 Michael Notaro 3 1 1 Trajectory Analysis of Saudi Arabian Dust Storms 2 3 Michael Notaro 4 Nelson Center for Climatic Research, University of Wisconsin-Madison 5 1225 West Dayton Street, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 6 * [email protected], 608-261-1503 7 8 Fahad Alkolibi, Eyad Fadda, Fawzieh Bakhrjy 9 King Saud University 10 11 Revised Research Article to the Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres 12 13 Abstract 14 15 Temporal and spatial characteristics of Saudi Arabian dust storms, with focus on 16 associated air parcel trajectories, are investigated using station and gridded weather 17 observations and remotely-sensed aerosol optical depth (AOD). For 13 focal stations, an 18 extensive pool of 84-hour backward trajectories is developed for dust storm days, and the 19 trajectories are grouped into 3-5 representative clusters based on the K-means technique 20 and Silhouette Coefficients. 21 Saudi Arabian dust storms are most prominent during February-June, with a mid- 22 winter peak along the southern coast of the Red Sea, spring peak across northern Saudi 23 Arabia around the An Nafud Desert, and early summer peak in eastern Saudi Arabia around 24 the Ad Dahna Desert. Based on backward trajectories, the primary local dust source is the 25 Rub Al Khali Desert and the primary remote sources are the Saharan Desert, for western 26 Saudi Arabia, and Iraqi Deserts, for northern and eastern Saudi Arabia. During February- 27 April, the Mediterranean storm track is active, with passing cyclones and associated cold 28 fronts carrying Saharan dust to Saudi Arabian stations along the northern coast of the Red 29 Sea. Across Saudi Arabia, the highest AOD is achieved during dust storms that originate 2 30 from the Rub Al Khali and Iraqi Deserts. Most stations are dominated by local dust sources 31 (primarily Rub Al Khali), are characterized by three dominant trajectory paths, and achieve 32 AOD values exceeding 1. In contrast, for stations receiving predominantly remote dust 33 (particularly Saharan), 3-5 trajectory paths emerge and AOD values only reach 34 approximately 0.6 as dust is lost during transport. 35 36 37 Key words: dust storms, Saudi Arabia, backward trajectories, aerosol optical depth, dust 38 sources, HYSPLIT 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 3 53 1. Introduction 54 55 Global deserts supply roughly 5×108 tons of Aeolian dust to the atmosphere each 56 year (Peterson and Junge, 1971). Through substantial aerosol loading to the atmosphere, 57 dust storms can significantly alter the regional climate and physical environment (Park et 58 al., 2005; Goudie and Middleton, 2006). Dust can be transported over thousands of 59 kilometers, thereby influencing both the environment and society at great distances from 60 its source region (Goudie and Middleton, 2001, 2006; Middleton and Goudie, 2001). For 61 instance, the Saharan Desert contributes an estimated 40-66% of total Aeolian dust to the 62 global atmosphere (Junge, 1979; Morales, 1979; Schutz et al., 1981; Ganor and Mamane, 63 1982). In response to strong summertime heating of the land surface or gusty winds 64 associated with storms entering the Mediterranean Sea or North Africa, Saharan dust can 65 be lifted to heights in excess of 3-5 km above the ground (Escudero et al., 2005, 2011; 66 Dayan et al., 1991; Alpert and Ganor, 1993; Conte et al., 1996; Prospero, 1996). In extreme 67 cases, Saharan dust can reach China (Tanaka et al., 2005), the United States (Prospero, 68 1981; Gatz and Prospero, 1996), Barbados (Delany et al., 1967), and other remote locations, 69 even the Arctic (Barkan and Alpert, 2010). 70 Research on Aeolian dust is vitally important given its notable influence on 71 atmospheric and oceanic conditions, agriculture, soil, water quality, and human health. The 72 impact of dust on the atmosphere’s radiative balance (Hansen et al., 1998; Haywood and 73 Boucher, 2000) includes both direct effects on scattering and absorption (Tegen et al., 74 1996; Haywood et al., 2003) and indirect effects related to the aerosols’ influence on cloud 75 microphysics (Rosenfeld et al., 1997). By altering the atmospheric temperature (Wong et 4 76 al., 2009) and concentration of condensation nuclei, dust storms can affect convective 77 activity, cloud formation, and precipitation efficiency (Bryson and Barreis, 1967; Maley, 78 1982; Lohmann and Feichter, 2005; Wong and Dessler, 2005). Dust aerosol radiative 79 heating can influence synoptic weather patterns, such as by strengthening the Saudi 80 Arabian heat low (Mohalfi et al., 1998). The impact of the dusty Saharan air layer on the 81 growth of easterly waves and tropical cyclones across the Atlantic Ocean continues to be 82 debated (Karyampudi and Carlson, 1988; Karyampudi and Pierce, 2002; Dunion and 83 Velden, 2004; Wu, 2007; Lau and Kim, 2007a,b; Sun et al., 2008). Iron is a key constituent 84 of aeolian dust (Zhu et al., 1997), and its deposition into the ocean enhances phytoplankton 85 blooms (Martin et al., 1991; Gruber and Sarmineto, 1997; Jickells et al., 1998; Sarthou et al., 86 2003) and potentially leads to ocean cooling (Schollaert and Merrill, 1998). Dust can affect 87 atmospheric chemistry, including sulfur dioxide concentrations through physical 88 adsorption and heterogeneous reactions (Adams et al., 2005). Dust storms can damage 89 crops and reduce soil fertility (Fryrear, 1981; Thiagarajan and Lee, 2004). Furthermore, 90 dust storms dramatically affect human society. Reduced visibility can lead to traffic 91 accidents and vertigo in aircraft pilots (Morales, 1979; Hagen and Woodruff, 1973; 92 Middleton and Chaudhary, 1988; Dayan et al., 1991; Yong-Seung and Ma-Beong, 1996). 93 Dust storms can transport allergens and disease-spreading spores (Leathers, 1981; Shinn 94 et al., 2000; Pope et al., 2002; Kampa and Castanas, 2008), trigger asthma and respiratory 95 ailments (Kar and Takeuchi, 2004; Chen et al., 2004; Gyan et al., 2005; Thalib and Al-Taiar, 96 2012), and contaminate drinking water (Clements et al., 1963). 97 Saudi Arabia is a region of complex topography and extensive deserts (Fig. 1). Its 98 three primary desert regions are the Rub Al Khali (“Empty Quarter”, ≈600,000 km2) in the 5 99 southeast, An Nafud (≈65,000 km2) in the northwest, and Ad Dahna sand corridor (≈40,000 100 km2) in the east, connecting the previous two deserts. Remote desert regions that can 101 potentially serve as dust source regions to Saudi Arabia include the vast Saharan Desert to 102 the west and Syrian and Iraqi (Al-Hajarah and Al-Dibdibah) Deserts to the north. The 103 Arabian Peninsula is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the northwest, Red Sea to the 104 west, Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea to the south-southeast, and Persian (Arabian) Gulf to 105 the east, with the Sarawat Mountains (up to 3.3 km in elevation) along the peninsula’s west 106 coast. 107 According to Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) data, the most prolific dust 108 source regions in the world are the Sahara Desert, particularly the Bodélé Depression in 109 Chad (most active in spring), and the Rub Al Khali along the Saudi Arabia-Oman border 110 (Goudie and Middleton, 2001, 2006; Giles, 2005). Within the Middle East, the TOMS 111 aerosol index peaks over the Rub Al Khali and Ad Dahna Deserts, and dust storms typically 112 occur in areas with a mean annual precipitation less than 100 mm and a mean annual 113 potential evapotranspiration greater than 1140 mm (Goudie and Middleton, 2002, 2006). 114 Middle Eastern dust storms are most frequent across Sudan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the 115 Persian (Arabian) Gulf (Kutiel and Furman, 2003). 116 An extensive discussion of the causes of Middle Eastern dust storms is provided by 117 Goudie and Middleton (2006). According to Vishkaee et al. (2011), dust storms are 118 primarily triggered through dynamical lifting in the cool season, related to cold fronts and 119 their associated mid-latitude troughs, or diurnal vertical mixing in the warm season, 120 related to solar heating. The most frequent trigger for dust storms is a frontal passage, 121 with strong winds associated with intense baroclinicity. The concentration of atmospheric 6 122 dust is tightly correlated with wind velocity (Kutiel and Furman, 2003). Strong surface 123 cyclones can also stir up dust clouds. In monsoon regions, dust may be lifted into the 124 atmosphere along convergence zones between cold air masses, associated with cyclones, 125 and tropical anticyclonic air masses. In areas of complex terrain, katabatic winds can 126 trigger localized dust storms. Dust can be delivered into the atmosphere through 127 convective plumes and vortices (Koch and Renno, 2005). Haboobs and dust devils are local 128 causes of dust-raising and transport. A haboob is a convection-generated dust storm 129 associated with the cool outflow from a thunderstorm downdraft. Middle Eastern dust 130 storm activity usually peaks during the daylight hours, when intense solar heating of the 131 ground generates turbulence and local pressure gradients (Middleton, 1986). Dust activity 132 and the remotely-sensed aerosol index generally peak during May-August across the 133 Arabian Peninsula (Prospero et al., 2002; Washington et al., 2003; Barkan et al., 2004; 134 Goudie and Middleton, 2006), when solar heating and climatological wind speeds are 135 greatest. However, Sharav (Saharan) cyclones from the Mediterranean Sea (Trigo et al., 136 1999) are responsible for the winter-spring peak in dust activity that characterizes 137 northern Saudi Arabia (Ganor et al., 1991; Herut and Krom, 1996; Kubilay et al., 2000, 138 2005; Shao, 2001; Kubilay et al., 2003). 139 A strong northerly Shamal wind can lift up dust from the Tigris-Euphrates Basin of 140 Iran/Iraq and transport it to the Persian (Arabian) Gulf and Arabian Peninsula (Middleton, 141 1986a,b), with severe Arabian dust storms often associated with the summer Shamal (Shao, 142 2001).
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