Pantillon, F, Knippertz, P, Marsham, J et al. (2 more authors) (2016) Modeling Haboob Dust Storms in Large-Scale Weather and Climate Models. Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres., 121 (5). pp. 2090-2109. ISSN 2169-897X
Abstract
Recent eld campaigns have shown that haboob dust storms, formed by convective cold pool outflows, contribute a significant fraction of dust uplift over the Sahara and Sahel in summer. However, in-situ observations are sparse and haboobs are frequently concealed by clouds in satellite imagery. Furthermore, most large-scale weather and climate models lack haboobs, because they do not explicitly represent convection. Here a one-year long model run with explicit representation of convection delivers the first full seasonal cycle of haboobs over northern Africa. Using conservative estimates, the model suggests that haboobs contribute one fifth of the annual dust-generating winds over northern Africa, one fourth between May and October, and one third over the western Sahel during this season. A simple parameterization of haboobs has recently been developed for models with parameterized convection, based on the downdraft mass flux of convection schemes. It is applied here to two model runs with different horizontal resolutions, and assessed against the explicit run. The parameterization succeeds in capturing the geographical distribution of haboobs and their seasonal cycle over the Sahara and Sahel. It can be tuned to the different horizontal resolutions, and different formulations are discussed with respect to the frequency of extreme events. The results show that the parameterization is reliable and may solve a major and long-standing issue in simulating dust storms in large-scale weather and climate models.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2016, American Geophysical Union. Reproduced in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Wind; Convection; Parameterization; Cold pool; Northern Africa; Downdraft |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Inst for Climate & Atmos Science (ICAS) (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 19 Feb 2016 13:43 |
Last Modified: | 06 Nov 2017 05:58 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2015JD024349 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | American Geophysical Union |
Identification Number: | 10.1002/2015JD024349 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:95233 |