scholarly journals Saharan dust events in the European Alps: role on snowmelt and geochemical characterization

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Biagio Di Mauro ◽  
Roberto Garzonio ◽  
Micol Rossini ◽  
Gianluca Filippa ◽  
Paolo Pogliotti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Digital Images ◽  
Mineral Dust ◽  
Saharan Dust ◽  
European Alps ◽  
Snow Melt ◽  
Dust Deposition ◽  
Geochemical Characterization ◽  
Melting Dynamics ◽  
Dust Events ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. The input of mineral dust from arid regions impacts snow optical properties. The induced albedo reduction generally alters the melting dynamics of the snowpack, resulting in earlier snowmelt. In this paper, we evaluate the impact of dust depositions on the melting dynamics of snowpack in a high-altitude site (2160 m) in the European Alps (Torgnon, Aosta Valley, Italy) during three hydrological years (2013–2016). These years were characterized by several Saharan dust events that deposited significant amounts of mineral dust in the European Alps. We quantify the shortening of snow season due to dust deposition, by comparing observed snow depths and those simulated with the Crocus model accounting or not for the impact of impurities. The model was ran and tested using meteorological data from an Automated Weather Station. We propose the use of repeated digital images for tracking dust deposition and resurfacing in the snowpack. The good agreement between model prediction and digital images allowed us to propose the use of an RGB index (i.e. snow darkening index, SDI) for monitoring dust on snow using images from a digital camera. We also present a geochemical characterization of dust reaching the Alpine chain during spring in 2014. Elements found in dust were classified as a function of their origin and compared with Saharan sources. A strong enrichment in Fe was observed in snow containing Saharan dust. In our case study, impurities deposited in snow anticipated the disappearance of snow up to 38 days for the 2015/2016 season that was characterized by a strong dust deposition event, out of a total 7 months of typical snow persistence. During the other seasons considered here (2013/2014, and 2014/2015), the advancement in snow melt-out day was 18 and 11 days respectively. We conclude that the effect of the Saharan dust is to anticipate the snow melt-out dates, that is known to have a series of feedback effects: earlier snowmelt can propagate into altered hydrological cycle in the Alps, higher sensitivity to late summer drought, impact on vegetation phenology and carbon uptakes from the atmosphere.

scholarly journals Saharan dust events in the European Alps: role in snowmelt and geochemical characterization

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1147-1165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Biagio Di Mauro ◽  
Roberto Garzonio ◽  
Micol Rossini ◽  
Gianluca Filippa ◽  
Paolo Pogliotti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Digital Images ◽  
Mineral Dust ◽  
Saharan Dust ◽  
Future Research ◽  
European Alps ◽  
Dust Deposition ◽  
Geochemical Characterization ◽  
Melting Dynamics ◽  
Dust Events ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. The input of mineral dust from arid regions impacts snow optical properties. The induced albedo reduction generally alters the melting dynamics of the snowpack, resulting in earlier snowmelt. In this paper, we evaluate the impact of dust depositions on the melting dynamics of snowpack at a high-elevation site (2160 m) in the European Alps (Torgnon, Aosta Valley, Italy) during three hydrological years (2013–2016). These years were characterized by several Saharan dust events that deposited significant amounts of mineral dust in the European Alps. We quantify the shortening of the snow season due to dust deposition by comparing observed snow depths and those simulated with the Crocus model accounting, or not, for the impact of impurities. The model was run and tested using meteorological data from an automated weather station. We propose the use of repeated digital images for tracking dust deposition and resurfacing in the snowpack. The good agreement between model prediction and digital images allowed us to propose the use of an RGB index (i.e. snow darkening index – SDI) for monitoring dust on snow using images from a digital camera. We also present a geochemical characterization of dust reaching the Alpine chain during spring in 2014. Elements found in dust were classified as a function of their origin and compared with Saharan sources. A strong enrichment in Fe was observed in snow containing Saharan dust. In our case study, the comparison between modelling results and observations showed that impurities deposited in snow anticipated the disappearance of snow up to 38 d a out of a total 7 months of typical snow duration. This happened for the season 2015–2016 that was characterized by a strong dust deposition event. During the other seasons considered here (2013–2014 and 2014–2015), the snow melt-out date was 18 and 11 d earlier, respectively. We conclude that the effect of the Saharan dust is expected to reduce snow cover duration through the snow-albedo feedback. This process is known to have a series of further hydrological and phenological feedback effects that should be characterized in future research.

Saharan Dust Records and Its Impact in the European Alps

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion Greilinger ◽  
Anne Kasper-Giebl
Keyword(s):  
Mineral Dust ◽  
Cloud Condensation Nuclei ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Atmospheric Particulate Matter ◽  
Saharan Dust ◽  
Cloud Formation ◽  
Dust Particles ◽  
European Alps ◽  
Airborne Dust ◽  
Dust Events

Mineral dust is one of the main natural sources of atmospheric particulate matter, with the Sahara being one of the most important source regions for the occurrence and deposition of mineral dust in Europe. The occurrence of dust events in the European Alps is documented via measurements of airborne dust and its deposits onto the glaciers. Dust events occur mainly in spring, summer, and early autumn. Dust layers are investigated in ice cores spanning the last millennium as well as in annual snow packs. They strongly affect the overall flux of dust-related compounds (e.g., calcium and magnesium), provide an alkaline input to wet deposition chemistry, and change the microbial abundance and diversity of the snow pack. Still airborne mineral dust particles can act as ice nuclei and cloud condensation nuclei, influencing the formation of cloud droplets and hence cloud formation and precipitation. Dust deposits on the snow lead to a darkening of the surface, referred to as “surface albedo reduction,” which influences the timing of the snowmelt and reduces the annual mass balance of glaciers, showing a direct link to glacier retreat as observed presently in a warming climate.

Modulation of the snow cover changes in the French Alps and the Pyrenees by the deposition of light absorbing particles over the last 40 years 

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion Réveillet ◽  
Marie Dumont ◽  
Simon Gascoin ◽  
Matthieu Lafaysse ◽  
Pierre Nabat ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Snow Cover ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Saharan Dust ◽  
Climate Projections ◽  
Dust Deposition ◽  
Economic Implications ◽  
French Alps ◽  
Dust Events ◽  
Long Term Impact ◽  
The Impact

<p>By darkening the snow surface, mineral dust and black carbon (BC) deposition accelerate snowmelt and triggers numerous feedbacks. Assessments of their long-term impact at the regional scale are still largely missing despite the environmental and socio-economic implications of snow cover changes. Using detailed snowpack simulations, we show that dust and BC deposition advance snowmelt by 17 days on average in the French Alps and the Pyrenees over the 1979-2018 period, with major implications for water availability and ground temperature. The effect of BC compared to dust is generally prevailing except in the Southern Pyrenees more exposed to Saharan dust events. We also quantify a contribution of BC and dust deposition up to 30% to the variance of the snow melt-out date. Lastly, we demonstrate that the decrease in BC deposition since the 80's alleviated the impact of current warming on snow cover decline. Therefore, this study highlights the importance of accounting for the inter-annual fluctuations in light absorbing particles deposition to improve the accuracy of snow cover reanalyses and climate projections.</p>

Can Saharan dust deposition impact snow stability in the French Alps?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oscar Dick ◽  
Léo Viallon-Galinier ◽  
Pascal Hagenmuller ◽  
Mathieu Fructus ◽  
Matthieu Lafaysse ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Stability ◽  
Mineral Dust ◽  
Winter Season ◽  
Temporal Distribution ◽  
Saharan Dust ◽  
Dust Deposition ◽  
French Alps ◽  
Multiphysics Simulations ◽  
Snow Stratigraphy ◽  
The Impact

<div><span>Mineral dust and black carbon are potent drivers of the snow cover evolution. After their deposition on the snow surface, they can impact snow albedo and thus the snowpack evolution including the timing of snow-melt. While BC deposition is rather constant along the winter season, mineral dust deposition is more sporadic in the French Alps, subject to large dust outbreak events coming from Sahara. The dust deposition drastically changes the snow color, its absorption of solar energy and, as a consequence, modifies the internal temperature of the snow layers and their metamorphism. While mountain practitioners often report higher avalanche activities after dust deposition events, there is, up to now, no clear evidence neither from observations nor modelling that dust deposition enhances avalanche activity. Here, we investigate, using ensemble detailed snowpack simulations, the impact of dust outbreak on snow metamorphism, snow stratigraphy and mechanical stability by comparing simulations with and without dust deposition under several meteorological conditions. The results show that the dust deposition can impact the spatial and temporal distribution of the unstable slopes. The effect of the deposition largely depends on the timing of dust deposition with respect to subsequent snowfalls. It also depends on the elevation, the aspect and the time since deposition event. By using multiphysics simulations, we were able to assess the robustness of our conclusions with respect to snowpack modelling errors.</span></div>

scholarly journals The Impact of Intense Winter Saharan Dust Events on PM and Optical Properties at Urban Sites in the Southeast of the Iberian Peninsula

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 1469
Author(s):  
Alba López-Caravaca ◽  
Ramón Castañer ◽  
Alvaro Clemente ◽  
Eduardo Yubero ◽  
Nuria Galindo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Optical Properties ◽  
Iberian Peninsula ◽  
Fine Particles ◽  
Saharan Dust ◽  
Percentile Method ◽  
Angstrom Exponent ◽  
Ångström Exponent ◽  
Dust Events ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Ångstrom Exponent

The influence of three Saharan dust events (SDE) on particulate matter (PM) concentrations and aerosol optical properties (AOP) during February 2021 was studied. The physical characteristics of the African aerosol were different for each episode. Therefore, the impacts of the three events on PM and AOP were analyzed separately. The monitoring sites were placed in Elche, in the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula. The sites can be classified as urban background locations. The procedure used to obtain the contribution of SDE to PM10 mass concentrations was the 40th percentile method. Nearly half of the days during the study period were under the influence of Saharan air masses. The average contribution of mineral dust (MD) to the PM10 mean concentration was ~50%, which was the highest contribution during the month of February in the last 14 years. The results show that those events characterized by a high input of fine particles (PM1 and PM2.5) caused larger increases in the absorption (σap) and scattering (σsp) coefficients than SDE in which coarse particles predominated. Nevertheless, as expected, SAE (Scattering Angström Exponent) values were lowest during these episodes. AAE (Absorption Angström Exponent) values during SDE were slightly higher than those observed in the absence of African dust, suggesting some contribution from MD to the absorption process.

scholarly journals The impact of Saharan dust and black carbon on albedo and long-term glacier mass balance

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 1133-1175 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Gabbi ◽  
M. Huss ◽  
A. Bauder ◽  
F. Cao ◽  
M. Schwikowski
Keyword(s):  
Mass Balance ◽  
Black Carbon ◽  
Mineral Dust ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Swiss Alps ◽  
Saharan Dust ◽  
Glacier Mass Balance ◽  
Mass Balances ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Light-absorbing impurities in snow and ice control glacier melt as shortwave radiation represents the main component of the surface energy balance. Here, we investigate the long-term effect of snow impurities, i.e. Saharan dust and black carbon (BC), on albedo and glacier mass balance. The analysis was performed over the period 1914–2014 for two sites on Claridenfirn, Swiss Alps, where an outstanding 100 year record of seasonal mass balance measurements is available. Information on atmospheric deposition of mineral dust and BC over the last century was retrieved from two firn/ice cores of high-alpine sites. A combined mass balance and snow/firn layer model was employed to assess the dust/BC-albedo feedback. Compared to pure snow conditions, the presence of Saharan dust and BC lowered the mean annual albedo by 0.04–0.06 and increased melt by 15–19% on average depending on the location on the glacier. BC clearly dominated absorption which is about three times higher than that of mineral dust. The upper site has experienced mainly positive mass balances and impurity layers were continuously buried whereas at the lower site, surface albedo was more strongly influenced by re-exposure of dust-enriched layers due to frequent years with negative mass balances.

scholarly journals Detection of Saharan dust and biomass burning events using near real-time intensive aerosol optical properties in the northwestern Mediterranean

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Ealo ◽  
A. Alastuey ◽  
A. Ripoll ◽  
N. Pérez ◽  
M. C. Minguillón ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Optical Properties ◽  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Mineral Dust ◽  
Organic Aerosol ◽  
Saharan Dust ◽  
Aerosol Optical Properties ◽  
Angstrom Exponent ◽  
Ångström Exponent ◽  
Dust Events ◽  
Ångstrom Exponent

Abstract. The study of Saharan dust events (SDE) and biomass burning (BB) emissions are both topic of great scientific interest since they are frequent and important polluting scenarios affecting air quality and climate. The main aim of this work is evaluating the feasibility of using near real-time in situ aerosol optical measurements for the detection of these atmospheric events in the Western Mediterranean Basin (WMB). With this aim, intensive aerosol optical properties (SAE: scattering Ångström exponent, AAE: absorption Ångström exponent, SSAAE: single scattering albedo Ångström exponent, and g: asymmetry parameter) were derived from multi-wavelength aerosol light scattering, hemispheric backscattering and absorption measurements performed at regional (Montseny; MSY, 720 m a.s.l.) and continental (Montsec; MSA, 1570 m a.s.l.) background sites in the WMB. A sensitivity study aiming at calibrating the measured intensive optical properties for SDE and BB detection is presented and discussed. The detection of Saharan dust events (SDE) by means of the SSAAE parameter and Ångström matrix depended on the altitude of the measurement station, and on SDE intensity. At MSA (mountain-top site) SSAAE detected around 85% of SDE compared with 50% at MSY station, where pollution episodes dominated by fine anthropogenic particles frequently masked the effect of mineral dust on optical properties during less intense SDE. Furthermore, an interesting feature of SSAAE was its capability to detect the presence of mineral dust after the end of SDE. Thus, resuspension processes driven by summer regional atmospheric circulations and dry conditions after SDE favored the accumulation of mineral dust at regional level having important consequences for air quality. On average, SAE, AAE and g ranged between -0.7 and 1, 1.3 and 2.5, and 0.5 and 0.75, respectively, during SDE. Based on the Aethalometer model, biomass burning (BB) contribution to equivalent black carbon (BC) accounted for 36% and 40% at MSY and MSA respectively. Linear relationships were found between AAE and %BCbb, with AAE values reaching around 1.5 when %BCbb was higher than 50%. BB contribution to organic matter (OM) at MSY was around 30%. Thus FF combustion sources showed important contributions to both BC and OM in the region under study. Results for OM source apportionment showed good agreement with simultaneous biomass burning organic aerosol (BBOA) and hydrocarbon-like organic aerosol (HOA) calculated from Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) applied to simultaneous Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (ACSM) measurements. A wildfire episode was identified at MSY, showing AAE values up to 2 when daily BB contributions to BC and OM were 73% and 78% respectively.

Role of Saharan dust and black carbon deposition on snow cover in the French mountain ranges over the last 39 years.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion Réveillet ◽  
Marie Dumont ◽  
Simon Gascoin ◽  
Pierre Nabat ◽  
Matthieu Lafaysse ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Snow Cover ◽  
Black Carbon ◽  
Carbon Deposition ◽  
Mineral Dust ◽  
Explicit Representation ◽  
Dust Deposition ◽  
Mountain Ranges ◽  
Annual Variability ◽  
Snow Cover Duration ◽  
The Impact

<p>Light absorbing particles such as black carbon(BC) or mineral dust are known to darken the snow surface when deposited on the snow cover and amplify several snow-albedo feedbacks, drastically modifying the snowpack evolution and the snow cover duration. Mineral dust deposition on snow is generally more variablein time than black carbon deposition and can exhibit both a high inter and intra annual variability. In France, the Alps and the Pyrenees mountain ranges are affected by large dust deposition events originating from the Sahara . The aim of this study is to quantify the impact of these impurities on the snow cover variability over the last 39 years (1979-2018).</p><p>For that purpose, the detailed snowpack model Crocus with an explicit representation of impurities is forced by SAFRAN meteorological reanalysis and a downscaling of the simulated deposition fluxes from a regional climate model (ALADIN-Climate). Different simulations are performed: (i) considering dust and/or BC (i.e. explicit representation), (ii) without impurities and (iii) considering an implicit representation (i.e. empirical parameterization based on a decreasing law of the albebo with snow age).</p><p>Simulations are compared at point scale to the snow depth measured at more than 200 Meteo-France’s stations in each massif, and spatially evaluated over the 2000-2018 period in comparing thesnow cover area, snow cover duration and the Jacard index to MODIS snow products. Scores are generally better when considering the explicit representation of the impurities than when using the snow age as a proxy for light absorbing particles content.</p><p>Results indicate that dust and BC have a significant impact on the snow cover duration with strong variations in the magnitude of the impact from one year to another and from one location to another.We also investigate the contribution of light absorbing particles depositionto snow cover inter-annual variability based on statistical approaches.</p>

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