Study of the strongest dust storm occurred in Uzbekistan in November 2021

We studied and reconstructed a severe Central Asian dust storm of November 4, 2021, through high-resolution TROPOMI UVAI spaceborne observations, ground-based aerosol measurements, and Lagrangian particle modeling. The dust storm was caused by the front part of a cold polar anticyclone front from th...

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Published in:Scientific Reports Vol. 13; no. 1; pp. 20042 - 11
Main Authors: Nishonov, Bakhriddin E., Kholmatjanov, Bakhtiyar M., Labzovskii, Lev D., Rakhmatova, Natella, Shardakova, Lyudmila, Abdulakhatov, Erkin I., Yarashev, Darkhon U., Toderich, Kristina N., Khujanazarov, Temur, Belikov, Dmitry A.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: London Springer Science and Business Media LLC 16.11.2023
Nature Publishing Group UK
Nature Publishing Group
Nature Portfolio
Subjects:
704/106/35
704/106/694/2739
704/172/169/824
704/172/169/895
Atmospheric conditions
Denudation
Drought
Dust
Dust storms
Heat waves
High temperature
Humanities and Social Sciences
Medicine
multidisciplinary
Particulate matter
Plumes
Q
R
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Storms
Uzbekistan
ISSN:2045-2322, 2045-2322
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:We studied and reconstructed a severe Central Asian dust storm of November 4, 2021, through high-resolution TROPOMI UVAI spaceborne observations, ground-based aerosol measurements, and Lagrangian particle modeling. The dust storm was caused by the front part of a cold polar anticyclone front from the Ural-Volga regions, which struck the central and eastern parts of Uzbekistan under favorable atmospheric conditions. Two plumes spread out, causing a thick haze to blanket the region. The most severe dust storm effects hit the capital of Uzbekistan (Tashkent) and the Fergana Valley, where the thick atmospheric dust layer dropped the visibility to 200 m. PM 10 concentrations reached 18,000 µg/m 3 (260-fold exceedance of the local long-term average). The PM 2.5 concentrations remained above 300 µg/m 3 for nearly ten days, indicating an extremely long-lasting event. The dust storm was caused by an extremely strong summer heatwave of 2021 in Kazakhstan with unprecedentedly high temperatures reaching 46.5 °C. The long-lasting drought dried up the soil down to 50 cm depth, triggering the soil cover denudation due to drying out vegetation and losing its moisture. This event was the worst since 1871 and considering the increasing aridity of Central Asia, the onset of potentially recurring severe dust storms is alarming.
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ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-023-42256-1