Comments on The Dust Event of April 1998 - Slide Show

did the storm of April begins in china?
We have a paper postered on "SPIE's First International Asia-Pacific Symposium on Remote Sensing of the Atmosphere,Enviroment, and Space" the paper is "A study of dust storms in chiuna using satellite data", as a sample ,We analysis the satellite image with image classification methode ,it can display some useful information about dust storm. but in the satellite image,of 98.4.15.03(GMT), the dust storm seems to located in the mongulia(NOT in CHINA). there are so many dust storms happended in north-west china and mongulia gebi-desert, it is very important to find the beginning of this dust storm's really begin time an place. who can tell me how do the author of this websit trace the dust storm with satellite image? the slide show of this websit is great, but the image in the slideshow is not clear, would you please send me the full powerpoint PPT file of this slidshow. I'm sorry for asking so many question,for the E-mail of my office can't send out now( it can receive mail) thanks for your help

lufeng@public.east.cn.net national satellite meteorology center division of application and analysis baishiqiao road No.46 100081 beijing,china

Submitted by Lu Feng on 9/16/98
RecID: Body.RudolfHusar.CF.FengLu
Re: did the storm of April begins in china?
Dr Lu Feng, welcome to our virtual community interested in the Asian Dust Storm of April 1998. I have located the storm from the color 'photographs' of the SeaWiFS multispectral sensor. The yellow dust pall was located purely by eyeball . I have also checked the images of the GMS geostationary satellite and saw the same thing. By the time I recognized it, the dust pall was over central China, so I do not know for sure where it (they) came from. The CNN report says Western China. As you say, over the three-day period, April 15-18 there were several dust storms.

Finding out the dust storm's origin and evolution near the source would be most desirable. In fact, in this regard any contribution from your group would be a most important and welcome addition to the story of this dust event. Is there a chance to post your paper on a website and let us know through another comment entry? Click on the images on the slide show to see the higher quality images. I will also post a number of other dust images over China. The PPT presentation is available through: http://capita.wustl.edu/Asia-FarEast/powerPoint/frontpageppt.ppt (4MB file size)

Submitted by Husar Rudolf on 9/17/98
RecID: Body.RudolfHusar.CFBody.RudolfHusar.CF.FengLu.RudolfHusar
Eyewitness Accounts of the Asian Dust Event Generates Excitement
This is a terrific slide show documenting the April 1998 Asian dust event, and the use of the web for rapid response collaboration. However, I do not think the slide show quite captures all of the excitement and interest created by this unusual event due to the fact that people could actually see the dust, but were unable to determine its source. Thus, creating an irresistible puzzle. How about adding a page after the Observations of the Asian Dust Event…. title page listing some of the eye witness accounts from the forum section, For example:

The dust event was plainly visible to all observers, but the unusually circumstances surrounding the haze belied an obvious explanation for its origin:

"I also noted the hazy, miliky appearance to the sky in the Western Mojave Desert (Tehachapi and California City) on Sat/Sun 4/25-26. At first I attributed this to dust from the Owens Valley (strong north winds on Sat). But on later examination that did not make sense. Several other staff met in my office also noted the milky appearance to the sky, but none suspected it as a dust source.……" Rogers Walter

"I first became aware of dust on morning of 4/28, preparing to join colleague and travel to Edwards AFB in Mojave Desert. Naturally thought it would be windy, but surprised to find calm winds but persistent high haze at Edwards. Source then became a puzzle and was very surprised to learn later of the Chinese origin……………" Conel Jim

"I caught a blurb about the dust storm on ABC News on Tuesday, 21 April; over the days that followed, I began to look for signs of dust on the GOES-9 imagery. What I saw was more impressive than I had expected!" Bachmeier Scott

"About the Dust Storm: It was reported that the dust storm begun from a large area of Gansu Province in northwest China, early morning on April 15th. With strong winds, the surface visibility has declined from 700 meter to below 5 meters. About 36 hours later, muddy rain occurred over Beijing. Cars on the highways were gaily decorated with the yellow mud spots after the special shower." Li Fang

Submitted by Schichtel Bret on 5/12/98
RecID: Body.RudolfHusar.CF.BretSchichtel
Feedback.. so learning is not left to chance.
OK, here is the first iteration slide show. The most beneficial comments are critical and constructive, so do not hesitate to speak out, give us your perspective. A PowerPoint version will be available shorly.
Submitted by Husar Rudolf on 5/12/98
RecID: Body.RudolfHusar.CF.RudolfHusar
Re: Feedback.. so learning is not left to chance.
I wish to thank Rudy Husar and all others who have organized and contributed to this web site. This particulate event was transitory in nature, much like the ongoing smoke event over South Texas (where on 8 May 1998 the solar UV-B index was reduced by half due to thick smoke). Yet this site shows how the scientific community can quickly form a study team via the web. Would such a capability had been in place when Pinatubo erupted in June 1991. Thanks to Rudy et al., it will now be possible to coordinate observations the next time a really major event takes place--or even transitory events such as the China dust episode. I'm shortly off to Hawaii where dust from the Gobi desert often arrives this time of year. When present, this dust colors the twilights and can be easily seen against the flanks of Mauna Kea when I am up at the Mauna Loa Obseervatory.
Submitted by Mims Forrest on 5/12/98
RecID: Body.RudolfHusar.CFBody.RudolfHusar.CF.RudolfHusar.ForrestMims


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