Advisor: Greg Jenkins 

Forecasting dust storms before they occur is essential to monitoring air quality for sensitive groups. In June 2020, a massive dust plume erupted from North Africa and transported to North America within days to a week. In this study, we investigate the Godzilla dust event using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model coupled with Chemistry (WRF-CHEM). An analysis of aerosol optical depth (AOD) for June 2020 from AERONET and MODIS showed increased dust emissions on June 14 over West African dust sources, but the maximum transport of dust out of the African continent is observed on June 18. The simulations showed the Godzilla plume elevated from the surface to an average altitude of about 6 km over the African coast and decreased in magnitude at 32W. We found that a total of 38, 34, and 32 Tg of dust crossed the North Atlantic at 26.52W, 29.53W, and 32.17W respectively during the event, indicating an average deposition rate of about 1 Tg/degree. The WRF-Chem simulations reveal that a well-developed upper-level high pressure system at 600 hPa suppressed the African Easterly Jet (AEJ) on June 14–16, which trapped dust over West Africa for about 3 days. This high-pressure system decayed by June 18, allowing the AEJ to establish thus leading to westward advection of dust.

Zoom details:

Meeting ID: 935 6128 0694

 Password: 808879