A007-0001
A Dusty Summer- African Dust Concentrations in the Greater Caribbean 2020

Monday, 7 December 2020
Poster
Bianca Lee Martinez-Huertas1, Olga L Mayol-Bracero2, Cassandra Gaston3, Elvis Torres-Delgado4, Bighnaraj Sarangi5, Josele Rosas-Nava6, Odalys Martínez-Sánchez7, Andrea M Sealy8, Paquita Zuidema9 and Joseph M Prospero9, (1)University of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras Campus, Chemistry, San Juan, PR, United States, (2)University of Puerto Rio Piedras Campus, Department of Environmental Science, San Juan, PR, United States, (3)University of Miami, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Miami, FL, United States, (4)University of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras Campus, Department of Environmental Science, San Juan, PR, United States, (5)University of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras Campus, Environmental Science, San Juan, United States, (6)University of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras Campus, Environmental Science, San Juan, PR, United States, (7)University of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras Campus, San Juan, PR, United States, (8)Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology, Bridgetown, Barbados, (9)University of Miami, Miami, FL, United States
Abstract:
Every year, over 40 million tons of African dust particles are transported from the Saharan and Sahel regions by the trade winds to the Caribbean basin. Mineral dust particles such as these affect air quality (visibility), weather (e.g. affecting tropical cyclogenesis), climate (by influencing the Earth’s radiative budget), ecosystems and human health. Many aspects of those effects remain poorly understood showing the need for more research. To better understand the impact of African dust on the Caribbean it is necessary to study the temporal and spatial distribution of dust over the region. For this reason, and as part of the NASA-funded summer 2020 intensive field phase of the Caribbean Air-quality Alert and Management Assistance System-Public Health (CALIMA-PH) project, total suspended particle (TSP) samples were collected at three different locations in the Caribbean basin (Barbados, Puerto Rico and Miami) using TSP High-Volume samplers. Dust concentrations were determined by gravimetric analysis. Comparison between dust concentrations, regional PM10 mass concentrations and column aerosol data (aerosol optical depth, AOD) will be presented. The June 2020 mega dust event “Godzilla” will be discussed in this context.
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