The Impact of Ground-Based Observations on the Inverse Technique of Aeolian Dust Aerosol

We studied the amount of emission of Aeolian dust aerosol from the Gobi desert area using the inverse technique, an Aeolian dust model (MASIGNAR), and surface observation data shared in the Triplet Environmental Ministers Meeting (TEMM) joint research project during the dust and sand storm (DSS) event in the spring of 2007. We constructed the first high-temporal-resolution (three hours) dust-emission estimating system using the Bayesian synthesis inversion and PM10 observation data. Our research shows that we could modify MASINGAR's Aeolian dust concentration to match the observation data with an increase in MASINGAR's Aeolian dust flux. The estimated total dust emission from March 26 to April 3 is from 23 to 43Tg from different prior flux uncertainties. This study suggests that there was a greater Aeolian dust flux than that estimated by MASINGAR in the middle part of the Gobi desert on March 30. The results are sensitive to the observational network, the prior flux uncertainty and the observational error from sensitivity tests. In addition, we found that the observation data gathered in the neighborhood of the dust-emission area could modify the model result more effectively. Furthermore, the time resolution and data uncertainty of the observation data are also important for precise analysis. To obtain a robust estimation of the Aeolian dust-emission flux, it is critically important to share quality-controlled observation data among neighboring countries. We consider that inverse technique will become a powerful tool for estimating dust aerosol flux more precisely.