Does the size distribution of mineral dust aerosols depend on the wind speed at emission?
Item
Title (Dublin Core)
Does the size distribution of mineral dust aerosols depend on the wind speed at emission?
Description (Dublin Core)
The size distribution of mineral dust aerosols partially determines their interactions with clouds, radiation, ecosystems, and other components of the Earth system. Several theoretical models predict that the dust size distribution depends on the wind speed at emission, with larger wind speeds predicted to produce smaller aerosols. The present study investigates this prediction using a compilation of published measurements of the size-resolved vertical dust flux emitted by eroding soils. Surprisingly, these measurements indicate that the size distribution of naturally emitted dust aerosols is independent of the wind speed. The recently formulated brittle fragmentation theory of dust emission is consistent with this finding, whereas other theoretical models are not. The independence of the emitted dust size distribution with wind speed simplifies both the interpretation of geological records of dust deposition and the parameterization of dust emission in atmospheric circulation models.
Creator (Dublin Core)
Kok, J. F.
Date (Dublin Core)
2018-01-15
Type (Dublin Core)
Text
Format (Dublin Core)
application/pdf
Identifier (Dublin Core)
10.5194/acp-11-10149-2011
https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/11/10149/2011/
Source (Dublin Core)
eISSN: 1680-7324
Language (Dublin Core)
eng
