Passive versus Active Transport of Saharan Dust Aerosols by African Easterly Waves

Theory and modeling are combined to reveal the physical and dynamical processes that control Saharan dust transport by amplifying African easterly waves (AEWs). Two cases are examined: active transport, in which the dust is radiatively coupled to the circulation; passive transport, in which the dust...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Dustin F. P. Grogan, Terrence R. Nathan
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	African easterly waves Saharan dust transport Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/54f91537d556442ca447f11d964889be
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:54f91537d556442ca447f11d964889be
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:54f91537d556442ca447f11d964889be2021-11-25T16:45:41ZPassive versus Active Transport of Saharan Dust Aerosols by African Easterly Waves10.3390/atmos121115092073-4433https://doaj.org/article/54f91537d556442ca447f11d964889be2021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/12/11/1509https://doaj.org/toc/2073-4433Theory and modeling are combined to reveal the physical and dynamical processes that control Saharan dust transport by amplifying African easterly waves (AEWs). Two cases are examined: active transport, in which the dust is radiatively coupled to the circulation; passive transport, in which the dust is radiatively decoupled from the circulation. The theory is built around a dust conservation equation for dust-coupled AEWs in zonal-mean African easterly jets. The theory predicts that, for both the passive and active cases, the dust transports will be largest where the zonal-mean dust gradients are maximized on an AEW critical surface. Whether the dust transports are largest for the radiatively passive or radiatively active case depends on the growth rate of the AEWs, which is modulated by the dust heating. The theoretical predictions are confirmed via experiments carried out with the Weather Research and Forecasting model, which is coupled to a dust conservation equation. The experiments show that the meridional dust transports dominate in the passive case, while the vertical dust transports dominate in the active case.Dustin F. P. GroganTerrence R. NathanMDPI AGarticleAfrican easterly wavesSaharan dust transportMeteorology. ClimatologyQC851-999ENAtmosphere, Vol 12, Iss 1509, p 1509 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	African easterly waves Saharan dust transport Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999
spellingShingle	African easterly waves Saharan dust transport Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 Dustin F. P. Grogan Terrence R. Nathan Passive versus Active Transport of Saharan Dust Aerosols by African Easterly Waves
description	Theory and modeling are combined to reveal the physical and dynamical processes that control Saharan dust transport by amplifying African easterly waves (AEWs). Two cases are examined: active transport, in which the dust is radiatively coupled to the circulation; passive transport, in which the dust is radiatively decoupled from the circulation. The theory is built around a dust conservation equation for dust-coupled AEWs in zonal-mean African easterly jets. The theory predicts that, for both the passive and active cases, the dust transports will be largest where the zonal-mean dust gradients are maximized on an AEW critical surface. Whether the dust transports are largest for the radiatively passive or radiatively active case depends on the growth rate of the AEWs, which is modulated by the dust heating. The theoretical predictions are confirmed via experiments carried out with the Weather Research and Forecasting model, which is coupled to a dust conservation equation. The experiments show that the meridional dust transports dominate in the passive case, while the vertical dust transports dominate in the active case.
format	article
author	Dustin F. P. Grogan Terrence R. Nathan
author_facet	Dustin F. P. Grogan Terrence R. Nathan
author_sort	Dustin F. P. Grogan
title	Passive versus Active Transport of Saharan Dust Aerosols by African Easterly Waves
title_short	Passive versus Active Transport of Saharan Dust Aerosols by African Easterly Waves
title_full	Passive versus Active Transport of Saharan Dust Aerosols by African Easterly Waves
title_fullStr	Passive versus Active Transport of Saharan Dust Aerosols by African Easterly Waves
title_full_unstemmed	Passive versus Active Transport of Saharan Dust Aerosols by African Easterly Waves
title_sort	passive versus active transport of saharan dust aerosols by african easterly waves
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/54f91537d556442ca447f11d964889be
work_keys_str_mv	AT dustinfpgrogan passiveversusactivetransportofsaharandustaerosolsbyafricaneasterlywaves AT terrencernathan passiveversusactivetransportofsaharandustaerosolsbyafricaneasterlywaves
_version_	1718413017357484032

Passive versus Active Transport of Saharan Dust Aerosols by African Easterly Waves

Ejemplares similares