DOE OSTI · 3366779
Dust Direct Radiative Effect Including Large Particles and Component Minerals
Abstract
The direct radiative effect (DRE) of dust aerosols in Earth system models (ESMs) remains highly uncertain, largely due to inadequate representations of particle size distribution (PSD) and mineral composition. Using NASA's Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT) soil mineralogy data and observed PSD in an ESM that resolves dust mineral composition and emitted diameters from 0.1 to 70 μm, we find a near-neutral global dust net DRE (−0.057 W m −2 ), weaker than most previous estimates. Large dust (diameter >10 μm) contributes 30% of the global longwave dust optical depth, providing observational constraints on large-particle abundance, and offsets 20% of the dust shortwave cooling over major source regions. Incorporation of EMIT mineralogy reduces shortwave uncertainty by more than 50%. The remaining uncertainty mainly exists in processes controlling dust abundance, particularly the poorly understood transport of large dust, and longwave optical properties, which require additional observational constraints to more accurately quantify the dust DRE.
Keep this discovery
Explore connections, maps & timelines
Li, Longlei [Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United States)] (ORCID:0000000321078459), Mahowald, Natalie M. [Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United States)] (ORCID:000000022873997X), Obiso, Vincenzo [Barcelona Supercomputing Center (Spain)] (ORCID:0000000342724405), Kok, Jasper F. [Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000304648325), Miller, Ron L. [NASA Goddard Inst. for Space Studies (GISS), New York, NY (United States)] (ORCID:0000000321220443), Liu, Xiaohong [Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States)] (ORCID:0000000239945955), Gonçalves Ageitos, María [Barcelona Supercomputing Center (Spain); Univ. Politecnica de Catalunya (Spain)] (ORCID:0000000338576403), Pérez García‐Pando, Carlos [Barcelona Supercomputing Center (Spain); Inst. Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avancats (ICREA) (Spain)] (ORCID:0000000244560697), Leung, Danny M. [National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, CO (United States)], Ke, Ziming [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000299669673), Brodrick, Philip G. [California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States). Jet Propulsion Lab. (JPL)] (ORCID:0000000194977661), Clark, Roger N. [Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ (United States)], Formenti, Paola [Paris-East Créteil Univ (France); Univ. Paris Cité (France); Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) (France)] (ORCID:0000000203721351), Di Biagio, Claudia [Paris-East Créteil Univ (France); Univ. Paris Cité (France); Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) (France)], Ginoux, Paul [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Princeton, NJ (United States). Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory] (ORCID:0000000336422988), Okin, Gregory S. [Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000204843537), Zhou, Bo [Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)], Thompson, David R. [California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States). Jet Propulsion Lab. (JPL)] (ORCID:0000000311007550), Green, Robert O. [California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States). Jet Propulsion Lab. (JPL)]. 2025-11-17. Dust Direct Radiative Effect Including Large Particles and Component Minerals. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025gl119383
Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.