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    Original Research Papers

    Regional modelling of Saharan dust and biomass-burning smoke: Part 1: Model description and evaluation

    Authors:

    Bernd Heinold ,

    Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research, DE; School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, GB
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    Ina Tegen,

    Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research, DE
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    Kerstin Schepanski,

    School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, GB
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    Matthias Tesche,

    Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research, DE
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    Michael Esselborn,

    Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre; European Southern Observatory (ESO), DE
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    Volker Freudenthaler,

    Meteorological Institute, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, DE
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    Silke Gross,

    Meteorological Institute, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, DE
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    Konrad Kandler,

    Institute of Applied Geosciences, Darmstadt University of Technology, DE
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    Peter Knippertz,

    School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, GB
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    Detlef Müller,

    Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research, DE; Atmospheric Remote Sensing Laboratory, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, KR
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    Alexander Schladitz,

    Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research, DE
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    Carlos Toledano,

    Meteorological Institute, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, DE
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    Bernadett Weinzierl,

    Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre, DE
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    Albert Ansmann,

    Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research, DE
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    Dietrich Althausen,

    Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research, DE
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    Thomas Müller,

    Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research, DE
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    Andreas Petzold,

    Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre, DE
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    Alfred Wiedensohler

    Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research, DE
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    Abstract

    The spatio-temporal evolution of the Saharan dust and biomass-burning plume during the SAMUM-2 field campaign in January and February 2008 is simulated at 28 km horizontal resolution with the regional model-system COSMOMUSCAT. The model performance is thoroughly tested using routine ground-based and space-borne remote sensing and local field measurements. Good agreement with the observations is found in many cases regarding transport patterns, aerosol optical thicknesses and the ratio of dust to smoke aerosol. The model also captures major features of the complex aerosol layering. Nevertheless, discrepancies in the modelled aerosol distribution occur, which are analysed in detail. The dry synoptic dynamics controlling dust uplift and transport during the dry season are well described by the model, but surface wind peaks associated with the breakdown of nocturnal low-level jets are not always reproduced. Thus, a strong dust outbreak is underestimated. While dust emission modelling is a priori more challenging, since strength and placement of dust sources depend on on-line computed winds, considerable inaccuracies also arise in observation-based estimates of biomass-burning emissions. They are caused by cloud and spatial errors of satellite fire products and uncertainties in fire emission parameters, and can lead to unrealistic model results of smoke transport.

    How to Cite: Heinold, B., Tegen, I., Schepanski, K., Tesche, M., Esselborn, M., Freudenthaler, V., Gross, S., Kandler, K., Knippertz, P., Müller, D., Schladitz, A., Toledano, C., Weinzierl, B., Ansmann, A., Althausen, D., Müller, T., Petzold, A. and Wiedensohler, A., 2011. Regional modelling of Saharan dust and biomass-burning smoke: Part 1: Model description and evaluation. Tellus B: Chemical and Physical Meteorology, 63(4), pp.781–799. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0889.2011.00570.x
      Published on 01 Jan 2011
    Peer Reviewed
     CC BY 4.0
     Accepted on 3 Jun 2011            Submitted on 1 Nov 2010

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