Long range trans-Pacific transport and deposition of Asian dust aerosols

The deposition of Asian dust aerosols during their trails-Pacific Uansport might cause significant marine phytoplankton biomass increases.However,the knowledge of the trans-Pacific dust transport,deposition,and spatial distribution is still poor due to a lack of continuous and simultaneous observations in the Asian subcontinent,the north Pacific Ocean,and North America.The severe Asian dust storm during 6 to 9 April 2001 provided an opportunity to gain a better understanding of trans-Pacific dust transport and deposition,using a comprehensive set of observations from satellites,ground-based light detection and ranging,aircraft,and surface observation networks.The observations and model simulations outline the general pattern of dust transport,deposition,vertical profile,and spatial distribution.The following points were observed:(1)the surface dust concentrations decreased exponentially with the increasing dust transport distance from 80°E to 120°W along the transport pathway;(2)the altitude of the dust concentration peak increased with increasing transport distance in the north Pacific region;and (3) the spatial distribution of dust deposition mainly depended on the trans-Pacific transport route.