Direct effects and feedback of desert dust on the climate of the Arabian Peninsula during the wet season: A regional climate model study

Abstract

We investigate the dust radiative forcing and its feedback on the Arabian Peninsula's wet season climate using the International Centre for Theoretical Physics-Regional Climate Model (ICTP-RegCM4). We have found that the dust plumes exert a negative (positive) radiative forcing at the surface (top of the atmosphere) by reducing incoming solar radiation reaching the ground and locally heating up the atmosphere column. Consequently, the surface air temperature is cooler, hence indicating a decrease in the warm bias and an increase in the temperature gradient. This reduces the geopotential heights and enhances the low-level wind convergence, suggesting stronger upward motion. These changes increase evaporation, the difference between precipitation and evaporation in the atmosphere and rainfall over the Peninsula, indicating an intensification of the hydrologic cycle. The decrease in the precipitation dry bias and the large reduction in the temperature warm bias caused by the impact of dust over the entire Peninsula represent a significant success for the RegCM4 simulation. Therefore, the inclusion of dust in the simulation of the Arabian Peninsula's climate for the wet season contributes to an improved performance of this regional climate model over the region. © 2012 The Author(s).