Ambient measurements suggest that source inventories of PM10 from geologic sources are overestimated by 50 percent or more. This discrepancy may be due to inaccurate emission calculations and/or due to the rapid deposition of PM10 after entrainment into the atmosphere. A two-wavelength scanning backscatter lidar was used to investigate PM10 deposition rates from artificially generated fugitive ...

In many arid and semiarid regions, saline playas represent a significant source of unconsolidated sediments available for aeolian transport, and severe saline dust storms occur frequently due to human disturbance. In this study, saline dust storms are reviewed systematically from the aspects of concept, general characteristics, conditions of occurrence, distribution and ecological impact. Our r...

4 Mineral aerosol deposition is recognized as the dominant source of iron to the open 5 ocean and solubility of iron in the dust aerosol is highly uncertain. Previous solubility 6 estimates range widely from 0.01-80%. We developed two conceptual models to solve 7 for the solubility of different particle sizes—diffusion-controlled model and surface8 controlled model. We are able to produce time ...

The paper presents and analyzes the mineralogical, physical and chemical composition of dust deposited samples at six sites on the KAUST campus. KAUST is located on the Red sea coastal plain of Saudi Arabia. Monthly samples were collected between December 2014 and December 2015. The monthly deposition trends were compared to visibility and sun photometric measurements and to previous mineralogi...

This paper reports an experimental investigation of the dust particle deposition process on solar photovoltaic (PV) modules with different surface temperatures by a heating plate to illustrate the effect of the temperature difference (thermophoresis) between the module surface and the surrounding air on the dust accumulation process under different operating temperatures. In general, if the tem...

[1] By combining reconstruction of airmass backtrajectories from dust deposition sites in Europe and measurements of the (Nd) isotopic composition of deposited dust particles, potential sources of different Saharan dust events can be identified. The study of ‘‘red dust’’ events collected in France allowed us to identify distinct North African source areas (e.g. Lybia vs. Mauritania). Surprising...

Centennial-scale mineral dust peaks in last glacial Greenland ice cores match the timing of lowest Greenland temperatures, yet little is known of equivalent changes in dust-emitting regions, limiting our understanding of dust-climate interaction. Here, we present the most detailed and precise age model for European loess dust deposits to date, based on 125 accelerator mass spectrometry 14C ages...

The Generation IV Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) is being considered as a promising concept to produce electricity or process heat with high efficiencies and unique safety features. The PBMR is a high-temperature, helium-cooled, graphite moderated reactor. The fuel elements consist of 6 cm diameter spherical graphite “pebbles” containing each thousands of uranium dioxide microspheres. As the...

Dust deposition lowers the albedo of snow and can significantly alter snowpack energy balance. Investigation of aeolian dust deposition in the mountains of the western U.S. has shown that these effects advance the timing of snowpack melt and spring runoff across much of the region. These studies have primarily focused on alpine snowpacks with little to no overstory vegetation. To evaluate the i...

A long-term record of Asian dust storms showed seven high-occurrence-frequency centers in China. The intrusion of Asian dust into the downwind seas, including the China seas, the Sea of Japan, the subarctic North Pacific, the North Pacific subtropical gyre, and the western and eastern Equatorial Pacific, has been shown to add nutrients to ocean ecosystems and enhance their biological activities...