HR: 0830h
AN: B21F-0789    [PDF]
TI: Identifying Dust Sources in North Africa and Modeling Patterns of Dust Emissions From These Sources
AU: * Ballantine, J A
EM: andyb@bren.ucsb.edu
AF: University of California, Santa Barbara, Department of Geography University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-4060
AU: Okin, G S
EM: okin@virginia.edu
AF: University of Virginia, Department of Environmental Sciences 921 McCormick Rd. University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4123
AU: Roberts, D A
EM: dar@geog.ucsb.edu
AF: University of California, Santa Barbara, Department of Geography University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-4060
AB: Atmospheric models are requiring more accurate representations of the surface in modeling emissions of dust from the surface and the nutrients attached to fine mineral particles. Regional to continental scale characterization of surface landforms that are susceptible to erosion has become possible with the advent of satellites that monitor the land surface at moderate spectral and spatial resolution (e.g. MODIS). The most productive dust sources in the world are in the Sahara Desert and the Sahel, in areas where human pressures may be making the landscape more susceptible to wind erosion. This project seeks to model dust emissions in the Sahara and Sahel with estimates of surface parameters from satellite imagery and ancillary data. A map of landforms for Africa, north of 10 degrees, was constructed using a multiple endmember spectral mixture analysis (MESMA) of the MODIS 500 meter, 7 band, reflectance product. The magnitude of surface winds acting on the landforms was determined from forecast models. Surface parameters (vegetation characteristics, threshold wind velocity, and grain size distribution) were estimated for the imagery. Estimates of nutrient concentration on Saharan/Sahelian dust were used to estimate nutrient emissions. The results highlight patterns of dust emission from sources in North Africa and are compared with modeled and observed sources in the literature.
DE: 1615 Biogeochemical processes (4805)
DE: 1640 Remote sensing
DE: 1809 Desertification
DE: 3322 Land/atmosphere interactions
DE: 9305 Africa
SC: Biogeosciences [B]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting