Dust opacities inside the dust devil column in the Taklimakan Desert
The distribution of dust aerosols in dust devils (DDs) is quantitatively characterized here based on a field observation. We applied the digital optical method (DOM) with digital still cameras to quantify the opacity of the DDs in the Taklimakan Desert, China. This study presents the following uniqu...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2017-01-01
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| Series: | Atmospheric Measurement Techniques |
| Online Access: | http://www.atmos-meas-tech.net/10/273/2017/amt-10-273-2017.pdf |
| Summary: | The distribution of dust aerosols in dust devils (DDs) is quantitatively
characterized here based on a field observation. We applied the digital
optical method (DOM) with digital still cameras to quantify the opacity of
the DDs in the Taklimakan Desert, China. This study presents the following
unique and important results: (1) the distinct horizontal distributions of
opacity proved the existence of DDs' eye, similarly to the eye of tropical
cyclone; (2) the opacity of the DDs decreases with increasing height;
however, the dust aerosols do appear to settle out, and the relatively calm
eye leads to a minimum in dust opacity at the eye; (3) the horizontal
distribution of opacity is quasi-symmetric with a bimodal across the eye of
the DDs, which could be resulted from the ambient air conditions; and (4) a
new method is developed for characterizing the three-dimensional structure of
DDs based on the observed two-dimensional opacity provided by DOM. This study
not only proposes a highly reliable, low-cost and efficient methodology to
capture the optical structure of DDs, but it could also provide the
information on estimation of dust emissions driven by DDs. |
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| ISSN: | 1867-1381 1867-8548 |