Spatial and Geographic Analysis of European and Southwest North American Dust Storms

Dust storms have far-reaching human and economic impacts; spreading disease, raspatory and cardiovascular disruption, destruction of property and crops, and death. Understanding of this phenomenon is can help with operational and academic endeavors and alleviate some of these impacts. To accomplish this goal, this dissertation poses a central question: Do dust storms have discreet geographic and temporal characteristics that can aid academic and operational analysis of these storms? To answer this question three case studies were undertaken. The first study constructed an archive of 549 dust rain events across Europe to determine a seasonal pattern. It was discovered that the largest number of events occurred in the Spring season (MAM). Then three individual events across Europe were examined to highlight the synoptic events that control these dust rains. Each event can be closely tied to the movement of the migratory Rossby waves and linked to Saharan dust from North Africa. The second study was a construction of Central Sonoran Desert dust storms from 2009 to 2022 tied to the NAM. HYSPLIT back-trajectories linked the strongest events to source regions mainly from the Southwest along the Gila River from the Gulf of California. As the storms weaken in intensity they drift to the South and Southeast traveling along the Santa Cruz River and its tributaries. The third study was a case study of three large events in the Central Sonoran Desert along the Gila River. This study examines the effects of the local topography, specifically the stand-alone mountain complexes that can block or funnel dust as it moves through the Gila River Valley. In each instance the South Mountain Complex and the Sierra Estrella served as a dust shield containing the highest dust concentrations to the south side of the Gila River Valley. This dissertation has analyzed several of the different elements of dust storms. These elements include the synoptic patterns that drive dust storms, the source regions of dust storms, and the ground level topography that can control their movement. Fundamentally, these findings can enhance our academic understanding of dust storms as well as our operational ability to forecast.