National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Washington, DC)
17 March 2004
press release
Washington, DC — U.S., Spanish scientists study how dust cloud may influence climate along its route
Scientists know that dust from the Sahara Desert is carried by the westward winds far across the Atlantic Ocean to the United States and the Caribbean, but questions remain about why this happens and how it affects the atmosphere. An international team of scientists has an expedition underway to find some answers.
A research cruise with scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Spanish Institute of Oceanography started in Barbados February 29 and will end March 26 in Puerto Rico. The expedition -- the AERosol Ocean Science Expedition or AEROSE 2004 -- is following an Atlantic route that will allow the team to track the dust and study its effects.
"The trans-Atlantic movement of African dust could have a significant impact on climatic, biogeochemical and meteorological phenomena in the tropical Atlantic," said Pablo Clemente-Colon, chief scientist for the AEROSE expedition. The dust has been associated with respiratory problems in the United States and Caribbean, and it may account for fungi in corals of the Caribbean and south Florida, and algal blooms in the Gulf of Mexico.
Further information is available from the AEROSE 2004 Web page at: http://orbit35i.nesdis.noaa.gov/orad/sar/oceansar/AEROSE2004/
ANALYZING SAHARAN DUST AEROSOL FOCUS OF ATLANTIC RESEARCH CRUISE
A group of scientists and graduate students from the NOAA Center for Atmospheric Sciences, which includes Howard University in Washington, D.C., and additional scientists from Spain, are aboard the NOAA ship Ronald H. Brown, tracing the impact of dust from the Saharan Desert as it heads west across the Atlantic Ocean.
The trans-Atlantic research cruise-called AEROSE 2004, or AERosol Ocean Science Expedition-began on February 29, leaving Bridgetown, Barbados, and will wrap up March 26 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. A key goal of the cruise, organizers said, is gathering measurements to better understand the effects the traveling Saharan dust aerosols have on the atmosphere and Atlantic Ocean.
"Water, climate, weather and other key issues know no geographic boundaries," said retired Navy Vice Adm. Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Ph.D., undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. "This cruise is one example of the continuing efforts by NOAA and its partners to advance understanding of natural activities and how they interrelate on this planet we share."
Lautenbacher noted that the U.S. is pioneering an international effort to develop a global Earth Observation System, a network that will link the many thousands of individual technological assets already demonstrating their value by estimating crop yields, monitoring water and air quality, and improving land management in different parts of the globe.
Reducing scientific uncertainties related to the effects of aerosols within the climate system is a priority for the U.S. Climate Change Science Program. Research efforts such as this trans-Atlantic cruise are a step towards understanding the complex relationship between aerosols and climate change.
"The trans-Atlantic movement of African dust could have a significant impact on climatic, bio-geochemical and meteorological phenomena in the tropical Atlantic," said Pablo Clemente-Colon, chief scientist for the AEROSE expedition. "Transport of Saharan dust aerosols have been associated with higher incidence of respiratory problems in the United States and Caribbean. Also, it may account for the presence of fungi in Caribbean and southern Florida corals and for the harmful algal blooms in the Gulf of Mexico."
Clemente-Colon, who also is an oceanographer in the Office of Research and Applications at the NOAA Satellites and Information Service, added: "We need to learn more about the 'why' and the 'how' to better understand the consequences of these impacts."
He said the research cruise is following a route in the Atlantic that will give the scientists the best chance to track the dust and study its effects. Clemente-Colon said other research goals include investigating upwelling conditions off the northwest coast of Africa.
The NCAS is part of the NOAA Educational Partnership Program with Minority Serving Institutions, led by Howard University, Jackson State University in Jackson, Miss., the University of Texas at El Paso and the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez. A key focus of the NCAS is to increase the number of well-trained graduates in the fields of NOAA-related atmospheric and oceanic sciences for jobs with NOAA and other federal agencies.
Ronald H. Brown is under the command of CDR Timothy Wright, NOAA Corps. The NOAA Commissioned Corps, smallest of the nation's seven uniformed services, is composed of officers with degrees in science, mathematics or engineering. They operate and manage the NOAA fleet of research and survey ships and aircraft as well as bring their operational expertise and leadership skills to NOAA programs on shore.
The AEROSE research cruise has a Web site that features a daily log of observations from the scientists.
The NOAA Satellites and Information Service is the nation's primary source of space-based meteorological and climate data. It operates the nation's environmental satellites, which are used for weather forecasting, climate monitoring and other environmental applications such as fire detection, ozone monitoring and sea surface temperature measurements.
The agency also operates three data centers, which house global databases in climatology, oceanography, solid earth geophysics, marine geology and geophysics, solar-terrestrial physics and paleoclimatology.
NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and providing environmental stewardship of the nation's coastal and marine resources. NOAA is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Relevant Web Sites
NOAA Dust Storm Satellite Images: http://www.osei.noaa.gov/Events/Dust/
AEROSE 2004: http://orbit35i.nesdis.noaa.gov/orad/sar/oceansar/AEROSE2004/
NOAA Satellites and Information Service: http://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/
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