Dust Impacts on the 2012 Hurricane Nadine Track during the NASA HS3 Field Campaign

E. P. Nowottnick; P. R. Colarco; S. A. Braun; D. O. Barahona; A. da Silva; D. L. Hlavka; M. J. McGill; J. R. Spackman

doi:10.1175/JAS-D-17-0237.1

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Dust Impacts on the 2012 Hurricane Nadine Track during the NASA HS3 Field Campaign

Journal article

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Dust Impacts on the 2012 Hurricane Nadine Track during the NASA HS3 Field Campaign

E. P. Nowottnick, P. R. Colarco, S. A. Braun, D. O. Barahona, A. da Silva, D. L. Hlavka, M. J. McGill and J. R. Spackman

Journal of the atmospheric sciences, Vol.75(7), pp.2473-2489

07/01/2018

DOI: 10.1175/JAS-D-17-0237.1

PMCID: PMC6193273

PMID: 30344342

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Abstract

During the 2012 deployment of the NASA Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3) field campaign, several flights were dedicated to investigating Hurricane Nadine. Hurricane Nadine developed in close proximity to the dust-laden Saharan air layer and is the fourth-longest-lived Atlantic hurricane on record, experiencing two strengthening and weakening periods during its 22-day total life cycle as a tropical cyclone. In this study, the NASA GEOS-5 atmospheric general circulation model and data assimilation system was used to simulate the impacts of dust during the first intensification and weakening phases of Hurricane Nadine using a series of GEOS-5 forecasts initialized during Nadine's intensification phase (12 September 2012). The forecasts explore a hierarchy of aerosol interactions within the model: no aerosol interaction, aerosol-radiation interactions, and aerosol-radiation and aerosol-cloud interactions simultaneously, as well as variations in assumed dust optical properties. When only aerosol-radiation interactions are included, Nadine's track exhibits sensitivity to dust shortwave absorption, as a more absorbing dust introduces a shortwave temperature perturbation that impacts Nadine's structure and steering flow, leading to a northward track divergence after 5 days of simulation time. When aerosol-cloud interactions are added, the track exhibits little sensitivity to dust optical properties. This result is attributed to enhanced longwave atmospheric cooling from clouds that counters shortwave atmospheric warming by dust surrounding Nadine, suggesting that aerosol-cloud interactions are a more significant influence on Nadine's track than aerosol-radiation interactions. These findings demonstrate that tropical systems, specifically their track, can be impacted by dust interaction with the atmosphere.

Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences

Physical Sciences

Science & Technology

Details

Title: Subtitle: Dust Impacts on the 2012 Hurricane Nadine Track during the NASA HS3 Field Campaign
Creators: E. P. Nowottnick - Goddard Space Flight Center
P. R. Colarco - Goddard Space Flight Center
S. A. Braun - Goddard Space Flight Center
D. O. Barahona - Goddard Space Flight Center
A. da Silva - Goddard Space Flight Center
D. L. Hlavka - Goddard Space Flight Center
M. J. McGill - Goddard Space Flight Center
J. R. Spackman - Ames Research Center
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Journal of the atmospheric sciences, Vol.75(7), pp.2473-2489
Publisher: Amer Meteorological Soc
DOI: 10.1175/JAS-D-17-0237.1
PMID: 30344342
PMCID: PMC6193273
ISSN: 0022-4928
eISSN: 1520-0469
Number of pages: 17
Grant note: NASA's Earth Venture Suborbital program at NASA Headquarters
Language: English
Date published: 07/01/2018
Academic Unit: Physics and Astronomy; Chemical and Biochemical Engineering
Record Identifier: 9984276453702771

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