Atmospheric Science

New evidence for a relationship between Atlantic tropical cyclone activity and African dust outbreaks

  1. Amato T. Evan1,5,
  2. Jason Dunion2,6,
  3. Jonathan A. Foley1,
  4. Andrew K. Heidinger3,
  5. Christopher S. Velden4

Article first published online: 10 OCT 2006

DOI: 10.1029/2006GL026408

Issue

Geophysical Research Letters

Geophysical Research Letters

Additional Information

How to Cite

Evan, A. T., J. Dunion, J. A. Foley, A. K. Heidinger, and C. S. Velden (2006), New evidence for a relationship between Atlantic tropical cyclone activity and African dust outbreaks, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L19813, doi:10.1029/2006GL026408.

Author Information

  1. 1

    Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wisconsin, USA

  2. 2

    Hurricane Research Division, AOML/NOAA, Miami, Florida, USA

  3. 3

    Office of Research and Applications, NOAA/NESDIS, Camp Springs, Maryland, USA

  4. 4

    Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA

  5. 5

    Now at Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.

  6. 6

    Also at Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, USA.

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 10 OCT 2006
  2. Article first published online: 10 OCT 2006
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 30 AUG 2006
  4. Manuscript Revised: 1 AUG 2006
  5. Manuscript Received: 3 APR 2006

SEARCH

SEARCH BY CITATION

ARTICLE TOOLS

View Full Article with Supporting Information (HTML) Get PDF (271K)

[1] It is well known that Atlantic tropical cyclone activity varies strongly over time, and that summertime dust transport over the North Atlantic also varies from year to year, but any connection between tropical cyclone activity and atmospheric dust has been limited to a few case studies. Here we report new results that demonstrate a strong relationship between interannual variations in North Atlantic tropical cyclone activity and atmospheric dust cover as measured by satellite, for the years 1982–2005. While we cannot conclusively demonstrate a direct causal relationship, there appears to be robust link between tropical cyclone activity and dust transport over the Tropical Atlantic.

View Full Article with Supporting Information (HTML) Get PDF (271K)