Author(s): Kylie Brown, Ty Hosler
Mentor(s): Bradley Adams
Institution BYU
Regional weather patterns play an important role in the emission, transport, and deposition of dust. By examining the influence of weather patterns on dust distribution in Utah, we can better understand how dust affects Utahns. Weather patterns influence dust distribution in several ways. First, the wind velocity affects whether a surface emits dust: if the wind velocity is too low, there will not be sufficient force to loft dust particles from the surface. The wind flow of weather patterns also affects the residence time of dust in the air: dust will remain in the air longer if the winds are more intense. Precipitation scrubs dust from the air through collisions of dust particles with water droplets, which is termed wet deposition. Dry deposition, by contrast, occurs when dust settles out of the air due to insufficient airflow. We compared dust deposition patterns for two Utah dust events characterized by different weather patterns. The first event took place on May 19, 2020 and was characterized by southerly winds The second event took place on September 7-8, 2020 and was characterized by northwesterly winds. We used the Community Multiscale Air Quality Modeling System (CMAQ) to model dust distributions. CMAQ takes in meteorological data from the Weather Research Forecasting model (WRF) and calculates dust emission, transport, and deposition. We conducted post-processing and visualization of the CMAQ predictions with the Atmospheric Model Evaluation Tool (AMET) and the Visualization Environment for Rich Data Interpretation (VERDI). We compared dust concentration and dry and wet dust deposition in Utah's HUC-8 watersheds for the two events. For the southerly weather pattern, dust concentration was greatest in the northwestern corner of the state and impacted the northern Wasatch Front. For the northwesterly weather pattern, dust concentration was greatest in the western half of the state. Because these regional weather phenomena affect dust emission and deposition, capturing their influence in models helps us characterize dust distribution in Utah. Among other applications, researchers of air and water quality can use these results to understand how dust contributes to air and water pollution. Regional weather patterns play an important role in the emission, transport, and deposition of dust. By examining the influence of weather patterns on dust distribution in Utah, we can better understand how dust affects Utahns. Weather patterns influence dust distribution in several ways. First, the wind velocity affects whether a surface emits dust: if the wind velocity is too low, there will not be sufficient force to loft dust particles from the surface. The wind flow of weather patterns also affects the residence time of dust in the air: dust will remain in the air longer if the winds are more intense. Precipitation scrubs dust from the air through collisions of dust particles with water droplets, which is termed wet deposition. Dry deposition, by contrast, occurs when dust settles out of the air due to insufficient airflow. We compared dust deposition patterns for two Utah dust events characterized by different weather patterns. The first event took place on May 19, 2020 and was characterized by southerly winds The second event took place on September 7-8, 2020 and was characterized by northwesterly winds. We used the Community Multiscale Air Quality Modeling System (CMAQ) to model dust distributions. CMAQ takes in meteorological data from the Weather Research Forecasting model (WRF) and calculates dust emission, transport, and deposition. We conducted post-processing and visualization of the CMAQ predictions with the Atmospheric Model Evaluation Tool (AMET) and the Visualization Environment for Rich Data Interpretation (VERDI). We compared dust concentration and dry and wet dust deposition in Utah’s HUC-8 watersheds for the two events. For the southerly weather pattern, dust concentration was greatest in the northwestern corner of the state and impacted the northern Wasatch Front. For the northwesterly weather pattern, dust concentration was greatest in the western half of the state. Because these regional weather phenomena affect dust emission and deposition, capturing their influence in models helps us characterize dust distribution in Utah. Among other applications, researchers of air and water quality can use these results to understand how dust contributes to air and water pollution.Regional weather patterns play an important role in the emission, transport, and deposition of dust. By examining the influence of weather patterns on dust distribution in Utah, we can better understand how dust affects Utahns. Weather patterns influence dust distribution in several ways. First, the wind velocity affects whether a surface emits dust: if the wind velocity is too low, there will not be sufficient force to loft dust particles from the surface. The wind flow of weather patterns also affects the residence time of dust in the air: dust will remain in the air longer if the winds are more intense. Precipitation scrubs dust from the air through collisions of dust particles with water droplets, which is termed wet deposition. Dry deposition, by contrast, occurs when dust settles out of the air due to insufficient airflow. We compared dust deposition patterns for two Utah dust events characterized by different weather patterns. The first event took place on May 19, 2020 and was characterized by southerly winds. The second event took place on September 7-8, 2020 and was characterized by northwesterly winds. We used the Community Multiscale Air Quality Modeling System (CMAQ) to model dust distributions. CMAQ takes in meteorological data from the Weather Research Forecasting model (WRF) and calculates dust emission, transport, and deposition. We conducted post-processing and visualization of the CMAQ predictions with the Atmospheric Model Evaluation Tool (AMET) and the Visualization Environment for Rich Data Interpretation (VERDI). We compared dust concentration and dry and wet dust deposition in Utah’s HUC-8 watersheds for the two events. For the southerly weather pattern, dust concentration was greatest in the northwestern corner of the state and impacted the northern Wasatch Front. For the northwesterly weather pattern, dust concentration was greatest in the western half of the state. Because these regional weather phenomena affect dust emission and deposition, capturing their influence in models helps us characterize dust distribution in Utah. Among other applications, researchers of air and water quality can use these results to understand how dust contributes to air and water pollution.