Characterization of the vertical structure of Saharan dust export to the Mediterranean basin

Abstract

We present the results of our investigations into the vertical structure of several North African dust plumes exported to the Mediterranean in 1997. Two backscatter lidar systems were operated in the western and eastern parts of the Mediterranean basin during dust events identified using Meteosat visible images. Dust transport soundings have shown that dust particles are trapped and transported inside well‐defined layers in the free troposphere. In general, the dust transport appeared to be multilayered, with several distinct layers at different altitudes between 1.5 and 5 km. The analysis of Meteosat IR images, the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer aerosol index, and back‐trajectories clearly shows that these layers have different origins in Africa. Finally, in addition to the free troposphere transport, the presence of dust particles inside the planetary boundary layer has been assessed and quantified for two particular events with aerosol optical thickness of 0.3–0.4. using simultaneous lidar and Sun photometer measurements. In one case only, significant dust load (dust optical thickness of ∼0.1) occurred in the boundary layer.