Journal Article

Observing Mineral Dust in Northern Africa, the Middle East, and Europe

Benedetti, Angela, Mona, Lucia, Popp, Thomas, Papagiannopoulos, Nikolaos, Cuevas, Emilio, Dagsson-Waldhauserova, Pavla, Haefele, Alexander, Knippertz, Peter, Pappalardo, Gelsomina, Sealy, Andrea, Amiridis, Vassilis, Gkikas, Antonis, Rodríguez, Sergio, García-Pando, Carlos Pérez, Vimic, Ana Vukovic, Trippetta, Serena, Nickovic, Slobodan, Laurent, Benoit, Madonna, Fabio, Weinzierl, Bernadette, Formenti, Paola, Kazadzis, Stelios, Vandenbussche, Sophie, Sugimoto, Nobuo, Terradellas, Enric, Basart, Sara

2023

Overview

Mineral dust produced by wind erosion of arid and semiarid surfaces is a major component of atmospheric aerosol that affects climate, weather, ecosystems, and socioeconomic sectors such as human health, transportation, solar energy, and air quality. Understanding these effects and ultimately improving the resilience of affected countries requires a reliable, dense, and diverse set of dust observations, fundamental for the development and the provision of skillful dust-forecast-tailored products. The last decade has seen a notable improvement of dust observational capabilities in terms of considered parameters, geographical coverage, and delivery times, as well as of tailored products of interest to both the scientific community and the various end-users. Given this progress, here we review the current state of observational capabilities, including in situ, ground-based, and satellite remote sensing observations in northern Africa, the Middle East, and Europe for the provision of dust information considering the needs of various users. We also critically discuss observational gaps and related unresolved questions while providing suggestions for overcoming the current limitations. Our review aims to be a milestone for discussing dust observational gaps at a global level to address the needs of users, from research communities to nonscientific stakeholders.

• Publisher: American Meteorological Society
• Subject: 103037 Environmental physics / 103037 Umweltphysik / 103039 Aerosol physics / 103039 Aerosolphysik / 105208 Atmospheric chemistry / 105208 Atmosphärenchemie / [SDE] Environmental Sciences / [SDU] Sciences of the Universe [physics] / Aerosols/ particulates / Aerosols/ particulates; In situ atmospheric observations; Remote sensing; Air quality and health / Air quality / Atmospheric aerosol / Atmospheric aerosols / Atmospheric particulates / current capabilities and challenges / ddc:550 / Dust / Dust observation / dust service / Dust services / Earth radiation / Earth sciences / Earth system -- environmental sciences / Energy industry / Environmental Sciences / Europe / health / In situ atmospheric observations / info:eu-repo/classification/ddc/550 / Middle East / Mineral dust / Mineral dusts / Mineralogy / Mortality / Northern Africa / observation capabilities / Radiation / Remote sensing / Satellite observation / Satellite remote sensing observations / Sciences of the Universe / SDG 13 - Climate Action / SDG 13 – Maßnahmen zum Klimaschutz / SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being / SDG 3 – Gesundheit und Wohlergehen / Simulació per ordinador / Solar energy / Traffic accidents & safety / Wind erosion / Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Enginyeria agroalimentària::Ciències de la terra i de la vida::Climatologia i meteorologia