干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

Complex model simulations of airborne Saharan dust transport were carried out in the Meteorological Synthesizing Centre - East (MSC-E) of Cooperative Programme for Monitoring and Evaluation of the Long Range Transmission of Air Pollutants in Europe (EMEP). The model presented covers the process as a whole from the moment of dust elevation caused by wind in Northern and Central parts of the Sahara to its deposition onto the Mediterranean for long time periods and with actual meteorological data. As the transport model unit the MSC-E model was used. A short description of the model is presented. One of the most complicated points in tile problem is an estimation of the dust emission caused by the storms in the desert. Emission calculations are based on a published approach originally developed for the evaluation of soil erosion in the USA (Gillete et at, 1988).

Preliminary model estimations of deposition and concentration of dust transported from the Sahara to the Mediterranean basin and Southern Europe for 1985-1988 and 1994 are considered The model parametrization for the calculations was developed using published experimental data. The accuracy of the results is discussed.