Collaborative Research: Using Measurements from the Columbia Plateau Eolian System to Improve Global-Scale Models of Mineral-Dust Aerosols

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This award is to study a paired sand-silt eolian system on the Columbia Plateau, in order to better understand the sensitivity of mineral-dust aerosol emissions to changes in vegetation, soil moisture and topography. This information will be used to improve global dust model routines in general circulation models (GCM).Field work will be undertaken to characterize the history and variability of mineral-aerosol sources and chronology of dune and loess formation for the Columbia Plateau since the last glacial maximum (LGM). Information will be obtained on vegetation area and type, soil texture, soil moisture and topographic features that resulted in the observed downwind accumulations. Modeling will be used to improve the sensitivity of a global transport model used in general circulation models (GCM) of the Earth climate system.Atmospheric mineral aerosols are increasingly recognized as playing an important role in radiative and biogeochemical forcing of climate. The broader impacts of this proposed research center on documenting the evolution of an important eolian sequence within a well-constrained chronologic framework to better understand the processes responsible for and factors that effect mineral-aerosol emissions.