Transport of Asian desert aerosol to the Hawaiian Islands.

Abstract

A cloud of aerosol with optical thickness tau - 0.18 (500 nm wavelength), passed over the Hawaiian Islands from late April to early May 1979. Vertical profiles, taken by evaluating the optical extinction coefficient by sun photometry, showed that 80-90% of the aerosol was confined to a 1km thick layer centered at 3.5-4 km altitude. Trajectory analysis at the 500 mb pressure level (c5km) indicated that the aerosol probably had its origin in sandstorms in the eastern deserts of Asia 9 days before the event.-from Author