Global anthropogenic dust sources associated with agriculture and hydrology

Our understanding of the global dust cycle is limited by a dearth of information about dust sources, especially small-scale features which could account for a large fraction of global emissions. Here we present a global-scale high-resolution (0.1 deg) mapping of sources based on MODIS Deep Blue estimates of dust optical depth in conjunction with IASI satellite retrieval of NH3. We found similarities in their spatial distributions, in particular their hot spots are often collocated over croplands. We also found that a large fraction of anthropogenic dust sources are associated with ephemeral water bodies. Since anthropogenic dust sources are associated with land-use and ephemeral water bodies, both in turn linked to the hydrological cycle, we will show that their emissions are affected by climate variability and feedbacks.