Elucidating Hidden and Enduring Weaknesses in Dust Emission Modeling

Chappell，Adrian1; Webb，Nicholas P.2; Hennen，Mark3; Zender，Charles S.4; Ciais，Philippe5,6; Schepanski，Kerstin7; Edwards，Brandon L.2; Ziegler，Nancy P.8; Balkanski，Yves5; Tong，Daniel9; Leys，John F.10,11; Heidenreich，Stephan10; Hynes，Robert10; Fuchs，David10; Zeng，Zhenzhong12; Baddock，Matthew C.13; Lee，Jeffrey A.14; Kandakji，Tarek15

2023-09-16

10.1029/2023JD038584

Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres   Impact Factor & Quartile

2169-897X

2169-8996

Large-scale classical dust cycle models, developed more than two decades ago, assume for simplicity that the Earth's land surface is devoid of vegetation, reduce dust emission estimates using a vegetation cover complement, and calibrate estimates to observed atmospheric dust optical depth (DOD). Consequently, these models are expected to be valid for use with dust-climate projections in Earth System Models. We reveal little spatial relation between DOD frequency and satellite observed dust emission from point sources (DPS) and a difference of up to 2 orders of magnitude. We compared DPS data to an exemplar traditional dust emission model (TEM) and the albedo-based dust emission model (AEM) which represents aerodynamic roughness over space and time. Both models overestimated dust emission probability but showed strong spatial relations to DPS, suitable for calibration. Relative to the AEM calibrated to the DPS, the TEM overestimated large dust emission over vast vegetated areas and produced considerable false change in dust emission. It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that calibrating dust cycle models to DOD has hidden for more than two decades, these TEM modeling weaknesses. The AEM overcomes these weaknesses without using masks or vegetation cover data. Considerable potential therefore exists for ESMs driven by prognostic albedo, to reveal new insights of aerosol effects on, and responses to, contemporary and environmental change projections.

aerodynamic sheltering albedo drag partition dust emission MODIS vegetation

SCI

English

NI Journal Papers

Others

National Science Foundation[EAR-1853853];Natural Environment Research Council[NE/T002263/1];Natural Environment Research Council[NERCDMP-2634];

Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences

Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences

WOS:001062890800001

AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION

GEOSCIENCES

2-s2.0-85170063472

Scopus

1.School of Earth and Environmental Sciences,Cardiff University,Cardiff,United Kingdom
2.USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range,Las Cruces,United States
3.Catapult Satellite Services,Oxford,United Kingdom
4.Department of Earth System Science,University of California,Irvine,United States
5.Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement,CEA CNRS UPSACLAY,Gif-sur-Yvette,France
6.The Cyprus Institute,Climate and Atmosphere Research Center (CARE-C),Nicosia,Cyprus
7.Institute of Meteorology,Freie Universität Berlin,Berlin,Germany
8.Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL),US Army Engineer Research and Development Center,Hanover,United States
9.Department of Atmospheric,Oceanic and Earth Sciences,George Mason University,Fairfax,United States
10.Department of Planning,Industry and Environment,Sydney,Australia
11.The Fenner School of Environment and Society,Australian National University,Acton,Australia
12.School of Environmental Science and Engineering,South University of Science and Technology of China,Shenzhen,China
13.Geography and Environment,Loughborough University,Loughborough,United Kingdom
14.Department of Geosciences,Texas Tech University,Lubbock,United States
15.Centre for Earth Observation,Yale University,New Haven,United States

Chappell，Adrian,Webb，Nicholas P.,Hennen，Mark,et al. Elucidating Hidden and Enduring Weaknesses in Dust Emission Modeling[J]. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres,2023,128(17).

Chappell，Adrian.,Webb，Nicholas P..,Hennen，Mark.,Zender，Charles S..,Ciais，Philippe.,...&Kandakji，Tarek.(2023).Elucidating Hidden and Enduring Weaknesses in Dust Emission Modeling.Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres,128(17).

Chappell，Adrian,et al."Elucidating Hidden and Enduring Weaknesses in Dust Emission Modeling".Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 128.17(2023).