I've been interested in looking at imagery from a GOES longwave difference product to map out dust clouds over areas that are prone to dust.  For example the map below shows dust being transported from a source area in northern Arizona. The dust shows up clearly as purple with a difference temperature around 2 to 3 K.  The images were collected from the RAMSDIS online website. This event occurred on the afternoon of April 19, 2005. There are very few surface meteorological stations near the dust source region, so remote sensing is the only way to document this particular area.


 

Along this line I'm working on a methodology to bring imagery on a case by case basis. So far I've experimented around using UNIDATA IDV as well as a script to automate the processing in ArcGIS software. I've been looking at interesting dust events in 2007 and 2008 in the Colorado Plateau, west-central Nevada and western Utah.

Last updated on 2 January 2009
Contact: Dave DuBois