TITLE:
A Unique Case-Study of Near-Circular Saharan Dust Transport over the Atlantic Ocean
AUTHORS:
Joseph Barkan, Pinhas Alpert
KEYWORDS:
Dust; Azores High; Transportation
JOURNAL NAME:
Atmospheric and Climate Sciences,
Vol.4 No.2,
April
2,
2014
ABSTRACT: An occurrence of
transportation of Saharan dust from equatorial West African and back to Europe
and Africa around theAtlantic Oceanwas synoptically analyzed. The entire circle
around the Atlantic took twelve days. The direction and speed of the dust cloud
was governed by the position, the strength and the movement of the Center of
Activity (COA) of the Azores High. This type of trajectory is quite rare. In
the year 2009 (the year of the analyzed trajectory) it occurred only 8 times.
We assume, that the interesting point in this type of trajectory is the
possibility that in its long way, it collects from and deposits in, different
types of aerosols at the American European and African continents and the Ocean
between them.