Visualization of the concentration distribution of Asian dust in theGoogle Earth

摘要

A method for identifying the released region of Asian dust using the wind velocity near the surface and the long-range inverse transport model that traces the wind field in the backward direction from positions where Asian dust was observed is described. The spatio-temporal concentration distribution of dust clouds over the East Asia was computed in the case that Asian dust clouds were observed in Japan from April 1 to April 2, 2007. In this case, the released mass flux of Asian dust in source regions was determined such that the simulated concentration of Asian dust almost corresponds to the concentration of the suspended particulate matter (SPM) measured at various places in Japan. In order to better understand through which paths sand dust particles are transported to Japan, the time variation of the concentration distribution of Asian dust clouds and the wind field at 950hPa from 22:00 on March 30 to 15:00 on April 4, 2007was animated every one hour in the Google Earth.