Measurements of Atmospheric Transport and Convection of dust for High-Impact Numerical Emission Simulations (MATACHINES)

SAMUEL JURADO, Franklyn Telles, Nour Kastoun, Helena Tsigos, Evelyn Keefe, Yale University

     Abstract Number: 190
     Working Group: Instrumentation and Methods

Abstract
Dust plays a crucial role in Earth’s climate system through direct and indirect radiative forcing, as well as through diverse physical, chemical, and biogeochemical interactions. Emissions from desert drylands—accounting for roughly 75% of global dust—are especially important given that these regions cover 41% of Earth’s land surface and are home to nearly a third of the global population. Yet, current models struggle to represent dust emissions accurately, particularly under low-wind conditions where convective processes such as dust devils and plumes dominate. This study aims to improve understanding and modeling of convective dust emission processes in arid environments by: (1) directly measuring dust fluxes under weak wind conditions, (2) validating low-cost sensors against research-grade instrumentation, and (3) developing a kite-borne system to obtain vertical profiles of dust and meteorological parameters. Fieldwork will be conducted in summer 2025 at the Jornada Experimental Range in New Mexico, leveraging the Meteorological Sensor Array operated by White Sands Missile Range, which includes 36 eddy covariance towers. Two DustTrak DRX 8533 aerosol monitors will be deployed at 2 m and 4 m heights alongside low-cost Air Quality Egg (AQE) sensors. AQEs will be calibrated using DustTrak data to estimate dust fluxes and assess sensor performance. During windy periods, a kite system will carry one AQE, a Kestrel weather meter, and an air sampler equipped with a cyclone separator up to 100 meters above ground level to collect dust concentration profiles and high-quality samples. The flux-gradient method will be used to estimate vertical PM10 fluxes, which will then parameterize two convective dust emission models: Cakmur et al. (2004) and Koch and Renno (2005). These efforts aim to refine model representations of sub-windspeed threshold dust lifting and support accessible, low-cost methods for monitoring dust emissions in remote and underserved regions.