Long-wave radiative forcing due to mineral dust aerosol

Radiative forcing due to aerosols has been identified by the IPCC as a major contributor to the total radiative forcing uncertainty budget. Optically thick plumes of dust and pollutants extending out from Africa and Asia can be lifted into the middle troposphere and often are transported over synoptic length scales. These events can decrease the upwelling long-wave fluxes at the top of the atmosphere, especially in the mid-infrared "window". Typically these effects have not been included in model simulations and the spectrally integrated effects of aerosols on the planetary long-wave energy budget have not employed satellite data to produce systematic global estimates. In this study we will show initial results for the quantitative determination of a global radiative forcing due to mineral dust calculated using A-train satellite instrument measurements from AIRS, TES, and MODIS. The initial results focus on localized dust outbreaks, over Australia, Africa and Asia, and describe the methods that will be implemented for the determination of a quantitative global radiative forcing estimate.