We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Fine and Coarse Dust Effects on Radiative Forcing, Mass Deposition, and Solar Devices Over the Middle East.
- Authors
Mostamandi, Suleiman; Ukhov, Alexander; Engelbrecht, Johann; Shevchenko, Illia; Osipov, Sergey; Stenchikov, Georgiy
- Abstract
In desert regions like the Middle East, dust has a profound impact on the environment, climate, air quality, and solar devices. The size of dust particles determines the extent of these effects. Dust deposition (DD) measurements show that coarse dust particles with geometric radius r > 10 μm comprise most of the deposited mass. Still, these particles are not represented in the current models that are tuned to fit the observed aerosol optical depth (AOD). As a result, the existing models and reanalysis products underestimate DD and dust emission (DE) almost 3 times. This is the first study to constrain the dust simulations by both AOD and DD measurements to quantify the effect of coarse and fine dust using the WRF‐Chem model. We found that, on average, coarse dust contributes less than 10% to dust shortwave radiative forcing (RF) at the surface but comprises more than 70% of DE. Annual mean net RF over the Arabian Peninsula and regional seas locally reaches −25 W m−2. Airborne fine dust particles with radii r < 3 μm are mainly responsible for the significant dimming (5%–10%) of solar radiation, cooling the surface, and hampering solar energy production. However, dust mass deposition is primarily linked to coarse particles, decreasing the efficiency of photovoltaic panels by 2%–5% per day. Therefore, incorporating coarse dust in model simulations and data assimilation would improve the overall description of the dust mass balance and its impact on environmental systems and solar devices. Plain Language Summary: Most dust emission schemes used in aerosol chemical transport models are constrained primarily by observed aerosol optical depth (AOD) and do not generate enough coarse dust particles. This study represents the first attempt to constrain the dust emission scheme using AOD and dust deposition (DD) measurements conducted at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). By incorporating both AOD and DD observations, we aimed to enhance the accuracy of the dust emission scheme and provide a more comprehensive understanding of dust mass balance and dynamics in the region. We found that accounting for generating coarse and giant dust particles led to a tripling of dust emissions compared with the previous estimates. We assessed the size distribution of dust particles and their impact on shortwave and longwave radiation. We quantified how particles of different sizes contributed to the regional radiative forcing and examined the implications of DD on the performance and efficiency of solar panels for optimizing solar energy systems in dust‐prone regions. Key Points: Models and reanalysis products underestimate coarse dust emission and dust deposition by 2–3 timesFine dust affects radiation, but coarse dust dominates mass deposition ratesAtmospheric dust dims solar radiation, and coarse dust causes the soiling of solar panels
- Subjects
MIDDLE East; ARABIAN Peninsula; DUST; MINERAL dusts; RADIATIVE forcing; ABDULLAH, King of Saudi Arabia, 1924-2015; PARTICULATE matter; AIR quality; RADIUS (Geometry); SOLAR panels
- Publication
Journal of Geophysical Research. Atmospheres, 2023, Vol 128, Issue 22, p1
- ISSN
2169-897X
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1029/2023JD039479