Investigation of Saharan dust plumes in Western Europe by remote Sensing, in situ measurements, and transport modelling

Abstract. The radiative forcing of atmospheric dust remains highly uncertain due to the significant spatial and temporal variability of dust particles, as well as their complex interactions with atmospheric constituents, radiation, and clouds. To investigate Saharan dust plumes in Western Europe, we collected comprehensive datasets from remote sensing observations (lidars & photometers), in-situ measurements (aerosol particle size & number), and model claculations (ICON-ART) for 4 different time periods with strong Saharan dust influence in southwest Germany. We determined Saharan dust proprieties and transport pattern employing these comprehensive datasets. Comparison between lidar measurements, sun photometer data, and ICON-ART predictions shows a relative good agreement for dust plume arrival times (± 20 min), dust layer heights and structures (±50 m), backscatter coefficients (± 0.16 Mm−1 sr−1 at 355 nm), aerosol optical depths (± 0.05 at 500 nm), demonstrating the capabilities of ICON-ART in predicting Saharan dust transport. The deviation observed for different meteorological conditions and at different locations are discussed in this paper to substantiate the model validation and to facilitate potential improvement of processes like dust emission, transport, aging, removal, as well as dust properties (size distribution, optics, micro-physics) in transport models like ICON-ART. This study contributes to better understand dust properties in Western Europe and helps to improve model capabilities in predicting Saharan dust plumes as well as their potential impact on clouds and weather.