Synoptic features associated with dust transition processes from North Africa to Asia

Abstract

Aerosol index data from the total ozone mapping spectrometer satellite and reanalysis data from the National Center for Environmental Prediction and the National Center for Atmospheric Research are useful in the study of synoptic properties of the dust storms that carry dust from North Africa to Asia during the spring season for the period 1979 to 2006. In this study, we analyzed the synoptic properties of dust cases that pass through the transition zone between North Africa and Asia. We identified the dust cases to study by looking, inside transition zone, at events with an aerosol index greater than 2. We then divided the identified cases, depending on the spread and strength of the dust inside the transition zone, into seven categories ranging from weak events to moderate events to violent events. We found the common synoptic characteristics in all these categories as follows: The high pressure belt located over northern Africa allows the low pressure belt located over the South African Sahara to move northward; a pressure gradient between these two atmospheric systems directs from south to north; an increase in the pressure gradient leads to increased in both of the event’s dust and the amount of dust moves to North Africa from the Sahara; an additional pressure gradient between the western Azores high pressure system and the low pressure system located over the Arabian Peninsula directs from west to east; the stronger the pressure gradient, the greater the amount of dust in the event and moving a large amount of dust from Northeast Africa to Asia. To verify that these characteristics capture the essence of dust events from North Africa to Asia, we checked if they were also common to two additional extremes categories and two extremes events. The results confirmed the continued existence of these common characteristics.