Atmospheric dust storms are common in many of the world's semi-arid and arid regions and can impact local, regional, and even global weather, agriculture, public health, transportation, industry, and ocean health. This module takes a multifaceted approach to studying atmospheric dust storms. The first chapter examines the impacts of dust storms, the physical processes involved in their life cycle, their source regions, and their climatology. The second chapter explores satellite products (notably dust RGBs) and dust models used for dust detection and monitoring, and presents a process for forecasting dust storms. The third and final chapter of the module examines the major types of dust storms: those that are synoptically forced, such as pre- and post-frontal dust storms and those induced by large-scale trade winds; and those caused by mesoscale systems such as downslope winds, gap flow, convection, and inversion downburst storms.
In order to better serve our users and sponsors, access to our online materials requires registration. To learn more about registering or to get help with common questions about our site, please visit our FAQs.
Most of the material made available on MetEd is free for non-commercial, educational use. We encourage you to use our material to enhance your education and training efforts. To review the legal-speak with all the nitty gritty details, see our Legal Notices page.