Control of atmospheric export of dust from North Africa by the North Atlantic Oscillation

Cyril Moulin, Claude E. Lambert, François Dulac () and Uri Dayan
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Cyril Moulin: *Laboratoire de Modlisation du Climat et de l'Environnement, CEA
Claude E. Lambert: †Centre des Faibles Radioactivités, CNRS-CEA
François Dulac: †Centre des Faibles Radioactivités, CNRS-CEA
Uri Dayan: ‡Environmental and Risk Assessment Section, SNRC

Nature, 1997, vol. 387, issue 6634, 691-694

Abstract: Abstract All year long, massive airborne plumes of desert dust from the Sahara and surrounding regions are exported to the North Atlantic Ocean1 and the Mediterranean Sea2. The mass of African dust transported in the atmosphere is large—about one billion tonnes per year (ref. 3)—and it has been suggested that the wind-blown dusts have a substantial influence on the regional radiative budget4,5,6. Here we use daily satellite observations of airborne dusts7 to obtain an 11-year regional-scale analysis of dust transport out of Africa. The substantial seasonal variability over the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea can be explained by the synoptic meteorology. Interannual variations in dust transport are similar over both regions, and are well correlated with the climatic variability defined by the North Atlantic Oscillation8. This large-scale climatic control on the dust export is effected through changes in precipitation and atmospheric circulation over the regions of dust mobilization and transport. Such natural variability is so large that it is difficult to resolve any anthropogenic influences on atmospheric dust loads, such as those due to desertification or land-use changes. It seems likely that the North Atlantic Oscillation will also affect the distribution—and radiative influence—of other aerosols.

Date: 1997
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DOI: 10.1038/42679

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