Essential Site Maintenance: Authorea-powered sites will be updated circa 15:00-17:00 Eastern on Tuesday 5 November.
There should be no interruption to normal services, but please contact us at [email protected] in case you face any issues.

loading page

What is “dust”? Three-decade observations of aerosol chemical composition during dust storms over the continental United States
  • Daniel Tong
Daniel Tong
George Mason University

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

Author Profile

Abstract

This work presents 30-year observations of dust chemical composition by the IMPROVE network in the United States. Analysis of 1,253 large dust storms detected at the IMPROVE sites shows that dust PM2.5 (particles less than 2.5 micrometers in fresh dust plumes) crustal materials (64%), organic matter (13%), sulfate (7%), nitrate (2%), Cl, Br, and heavy metals. Dust composition stays relatively stable during near source transport. There are distinct spatial variations in dust composition, including high carbon and sulfate in Oklahoma, high Cl in Washington, and high fractions of heavy metals in Arizona. Compared to the Earth’s crust, dust PM2.5 contains less crustal elements but more OC, EC, sulfate, nitrate, and halogen elements due to influence by human activities and biogeochemical processes. This rich pool of dust composition data provides useful information to study the roles played by dust in the Earth system and its effects on human society.
24 Feb 2024Submitted to ESS Open Archive
10 Mar 2024Published in ESS Open Archive