Asian Dust Storm, 31 December, 2000

	Asian Dust Storm, 31 December, 2000

Last updated 4 January, 2001

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Summary:

A dust storm, originating in Mongolia, is detected by satellite, in surface observations and modeled by NAAPS. The dust is lifted on the 31 December 2000 and 1 January 2001. It is quickly transported to the east over Korea and Japan where it is reported in the surface observations, and more slowly to the SE.

Observations:

6-hourly Surface Observations, 31 December - 3 January Watch for the dust observations (cyan-colored) in Mongolia on 31 December. They then move ESE, off of the domain over the next day.
Korea and Japan surface observations of dust, smoke, haze, 2001 01 02 06Z
Korea and Japan surface observations of dust, smoke, haze, 2001 01 02 12Z

NOGAPS Dynamical Forcing:

6-hourly NOGAPS Dynamics, 31 December - 4 January High surface stress (magenta-colored areas in lower-right panels) on the 31st and 1st. Note also, the deep 500 mb trough, oriented WNW-ESE: this trough sends a tongue of dust far to the north (see next loop).

NAAPS Aerosol Simulation:

6-hourly NAAPS China Simulation 31 December - 4 January Lifting of dust on the 31st shows up in the lower-left panel: surface dust concentration) and the upper-left panel (optical depth, green shades). Note the plume of dust shooting northward in the final days of the loop.
6-hourly comparison of NAAPS, TOMS AI, SeaWiFS, and surface observations for 31 December - 4 January In this blowup, you can see the signal in the TOMS AI and surface observations. The event appears on the 1st, heads quickly east on the 2nd, then SE on the 3rd and 4th. The model splits the event into a zonal northern part (westward moving) and a more circular southern part (SE moving). These split is also seen in the TOMS images and in the SeaWIFS for Yellow Sea for 31 December - 4 January. Korea and Japan appear to be particularly hard hit on the 2nd at 06Z and 12Z. (Note: TOMS is available once daily, so it is updated every fourth frame.)
24-hourly comparison of NAAPS and TOMS AI 31 December - 4 January A weak signal appears in the TOMS imagery.

Satellite:

SeaWIFS for Mongolia for 31 December - 4 January
SeaWIFS for Yellow Sea for 31 December - 4 January

Data References

Acknowledgements

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