Spatiotemporal Dispersion of Local-Scale Dust from the Erdenet Mine in Mongolia Detected by Himawari-8 Geostationary Satellite

Abstract

In Mongolia, combined with the dry and windy climate during spring and autumn, the exposed sediment of mine tailings pond becomes an additional source of anthropogenic windblown dust and poses potential threats to the surrounding environment and human health. In this study, we reported on our first attempt to derive the spatiotemporal distribution of dust originating from the tailings pond of the Erdenet mine using a combination of ground-based in-situ measurements and Himawari-8 geostationary satellite remote sensing. Temporal evolution of the dust plume visualized by the RGB imagery corresponded well with the in-situ particle concentration measured on the ground. Under relatively cloud-free conditions, the dust RGB imagery from Himawari-8 clearly showed the spatial extent of the white dust plume originating from the tailings pond, in the range of 2,040−2,748 km2. Therefore, the dust RGB imagery by Himawari-8 is demonstrated to be sensitive enough to resolve the highly localized anthropogenic dust, even from a point source as small as the tailings pond, and is effective in studying susceptible areas subject to associated heavy metal deposition and contamination.