Preliminary results of the first assessment of 20 years of dust activity in the Patagonia desert (South America) with aerosol products from the MODIS sensors

Aerosol transport processes in the Southern Hemisphere (SH) have been the center of renewed attention in the last two decades because of a number of major geophysical events such as volcanic eruptions (Chile and Argentina), biomass burning (Australia and Chile) and dust storms (Australia and Argentina).

While volcanic and fire activity in the SH have been the focus of several studies, there is a dearth of satellite assessments of dust activity. The lack of such analysis impairs the understanding of biological processes in the Southern Ocean and of the provenance of dust found in snow at the surface of East Antarctica.

This presentation will show an analysis of time series of Aerosol Optical Depths over the Patagonia desert in South America. Data from two aerosol algorithms (Dark Target and Deep Blue) will be jointly analyzed to establish a timeline of dust activity in the region. Also, dust proxies from both algorithms will be compared with ground-based observations of visibility at different airports in the area. Once an understanding of frequency and time evolution of the dust activity is achieved, first estimations of ocean-going dust fluxes will be derived.