Windblown Dust from W. China Hits N. America, April 18-27, 98
An Interactive Website for Resource Sharing and Discussion
Windblown Dust from W. China Hits N. America, April 18-27, 98 An Interactive Website for Resource Sharing and Discussion
Bulletin (Apr 30,98): GOES10 images indicate that the Asian Dust is fading over the West Coast: Apr 25 Noon, Apr 25 ,Apr 26 ,Apr 27 ,Apr 29.
Bulletin (May 1,98): Not so fast! GOES10 and SeaWiFS images from April 30 suggest that a new batch of dust is over Southern California - this time arriving from the south. Perhaps..I don't really know for a fact.
A dust storm in Western China has produced a huge atmospheric dust event covering large parts of the Pacific Ocean, as well as the Pacific Coast of North America. The unusually large dust event may be of interest to a broad community of researchers and practitioners. This ad-hoc interactive website was set up for facilitate communication and data sharing between the interested parties related to this dust event.
The Dust Event
The main dust storm begun in the western Chinese province Xinjiang on April 18, 1998, right on time for the East-Asian dust season. However, from the onset, this was as unusually intense storm. CNN reported that 12 people were missing in the intense storm illustrated in the CNN video clip.The origin of the wind blown dust appears to be the Tarim Pendi desert. The true color images from SeaWiFS clearly indicate dense dust plumes over the region. By April 20, the intense elongated dust cloud covered virtually the entire east coast of China. The yellow dust cloud is clearly distinguishable from the white water clouds.
The movement of the wind-blown dust from western China through the northern Pacific Ocean to North America is shown in the sequential browse images from the SeaWiFS satellites. Over the ocean, the yellow dust cloud is clearly separable from the white clouds and the blue ocean. The approximate outlines of the dust plume at any given day is highlighted by the hand drawn, red outlines. As the dust cloud approached North America, it became visible on GOES-9 satellite and attracted the attention of keen observers.
Following swift transport across the Pacific between April 21 and April 25, 1998, the dust plume hit northern California and Oregon. At that point, the dust plume appears to have split, one branch heading southward along the California coast and another branch continuing eastward across the Candadian Rockies. The shape of the dust plume over the northwestern US and southwestern Canada is shown in the GOES 10 image (April 27).
About this Website
It is hoped that by sharing available data, knowledge, and wisdom distributed among the aerosol community the true characteristics of this unusual event will be understood. More information on the dust storm can be found in the evolving Resources section.
This website was set up to facilitate communication and resource sharing for the people interested in this dust event. An additional purpose is to gain more experience in the use of the Web as a medium for communication and collaboration.
The 'community' is encouraged to comment on discussion topics and contribute web-based resources. In order to participate in this website, you must be registered with the People's page. Submitting new comments or responding to existing comments can be done on the Forum page. Registering of relevent web-links should be done in the Resources section. Alternatively, just e-mail your comments or web-links to R. Husar and we will post it for you.
