The Unusual Severe Dust Storm of May 2018 Over Northern India: Genesis, Propagation, and Associated Conditions

Banerjee, P and Satheesh, SK and Moorthy, KK (2021) The Unusual Severe Dust Storm of May 2018 Over Northern India: Genesis, Propagation, and Associated Conditions. In: Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 126 (7).

	PDF jou_geo_res__atm_126-07_2021.pdf - Published Version Restricted to Registered users only Download (9MB) | Request a copy
	PDF 2020jd032369-sup-0001-supporting information si-s01.pdf - Published Supplemental Material Restricted to Registered users only Download (399kB) | Request a copy

Abstract

On the evening of May 02, 2018, an unusually severe dust storm (DS) from a convective system, which developed over the Thar Desert, struck northwest India resulting in more than 100 casualties. Analysis of its genesis from surface measurements and reanalysis data indicates that this DS was �Haboob� type which are formed when strong downdrafts from a convective system reaches the surface in arid regions. Surface observations show that this DS was accompanied by a sharp drop in temperature and visibility and increase in relative humidity. Model simulation at convective-permitting scale reveals the complex structure of dust transport in space and time. In contrast to the generally observed dust storms over the Indo-Gangetic Plain being mostly associated with westerly wind bringing dust from Southwest Asia and Eastern Africa, this particular DS was triggered by strong easterly wind. The moisture-laden easterly wind at the surface level colliding against the dry westerlies from the desert region along a steep front resulted in strong convection over northwest India leading to the formation of strong downdrafts. This, in turn, was largely due to the positioning of the upper level jet stream, which modulated the location and the strengths of surface lows and highs. The importance of this study is that while recent studies indicate that dust aerosol over India is on the decline partly due to reduction in westerly wind strength, the present work shows that anomalous easterlies can provide an alternate pathway to intense dust storms over the region. © 2021. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
Publisher:	Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Additional Information:	The copyright for this article belongs to Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Department/Centre:	Division of Mechanical Sciences > Divecha Centre for Climate Change Division of Mechanical Sciences > Centre for Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences
Date Deposited:	14 Jul 2021 10:03
Last Modified:	14 Jul 2021 10:03
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/68788

Actions (login required)

View Item