Aeolian dust storms develop through linked surface-atmosphere processes, from threshold-controlled entrainment and saltation to vertical lifting and regional transport. Although research has advanced source identification, trajectory analysis, particle-size characterization, and emission modelling, links among surface forcing, sediment supply, and atmospheric loading remain unevenly represented. Here we synthesize dust-storm research using a process-based diagnostic: P identifies conditions associated with emission onset, T describes the maintenance or termination of dust activity after onset, and I tracks emission and atmospheric loading across the event. Studies of source activation, threshold friction velocity, sediment availability, boundary-layer coupling, and particle-size distributions show how these responses are connected, while revealing that observations and models often use different variables and scales. We identify the resulting barriers to comparison and outline measurements and evaluation strategies to address them.
Event-scale dust-source contributions can change when models resolve terrain-modified winds and heterogeneous land-surface fields, yet separation and quantification of these influences remain difficult. A WRF–WindNinja dust-emission framework was developed to isolate wind-downscaling effects from land-surface aggregation effects and applied to two April 2023 dust events in northwestern Utah. The framework compared three configurations: a 4 km WRF-CMAQ-style baseline, a 150 m WindNinja wind field paired with 4 km land-surface fields, and a configuration with 150 m wind and land-surface fields. Across both events, the highest resolution configuration decreased domain-total emissions relative to the coarse baseline by approximately 15%. Wind downscaling accounted for most of this reduction, whereas high-resolution surface fields partially recovered emitted mass and redistributed activation within the source network. The 12 April southwesterly event produced a broader, multi-source footprint, whereas the 18 April westerly event was concentrated in the Great Salt Lake Desert. Configuration differences were most significant over the Great Salt Lake exposed lakebed, where the high-resolution configuration doubled the active erodible surface area and increased emitted mass by more than 80% relative to the coarse baseline. Taken together, these results show that near-surface wind fields and surface heterogeneity interact nonlinearly to reshape dust-source contributions through thresholded emission physics. GOES-18 Dust RGB imagery and surface wind observations supported the timing and source-region plausibility of modeled activation during the 18 April event. The framework provides a diagnostic approach for interpreting resolution-dependent dust-emission estimates in heterogeneous dryland source regions.
As a subtropical response to Late Cenozoic global cooling and the evolving East Asian monsoon circulation at different stages, the provenance changes of Quaternary red clay (QRC) and its overlying aeolian loess are key to accurately interpreting large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns and the expansion of aridity in the Asian interior. However, the source-to-sink model and orbital-scale evolution of QRC have long been controversial and lack quantitative constraints. In this study, based on extensive detrital zircon UPb dating of the LX QRC profile in the western Dongting Basin and the potential source region, the quantitative provenance modeling were performed. The Mid-Pleistocene Transition strengthened East Asian winter monsoon (EAWM) driven aeolian accretion, but a strong East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) intensified proximal erosion, with strongly-vermiculated clay dominated by Lishui River(55.79%) and Yangtze River (31.68%), and minor Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP) (12.52%). The Mid-Brunhes Event brought stronger interglacial EASM and larger amplitude, enhancing interglacial erosion and glacial exposure of Lishui River, yielding weakly-vermiculated clay dominated by Lishui River (80.85%). In the late Quaternary, accelerated cooling, stronger EAWM and aridity, and retreating EASM led to binary Yangtze River (57.28%) and CLP (41.18%) loess input. This study confirms that changes in aeolian provenance do not simply equate to a linear progression of aridity in the Asian interior. Under the asymmetric coupling of global climatic background and East Asian monsoon circulation, humid subtropical regions can trigger complex multistage responses of terrestrial aeolian sediment provenance to aridification processes through changes in regional surface processes.
Coastal dunes are shaped by the ecomorphodynamic interaction between aeolian sediment transport and vegetation dynamics. Existing process-based models typically simplify vegetation dynamics and its influence on sediment deposition and dune development. To address these shortcomings, we present a novel ecomorphodynamic framework for coastal dune grasses. This framework treats dune grass morphology and growth form (i.e., tiller density and height) as independent variables, decoupling vertical growth from the lateral establishment of new tillers. We include a downwind wake recovery for shear reduction and implement a two-layer sediment transport approach to allow sediment to skim over or pass through vegetation. The framework’s capabilities are illustrated through several demonstration cases and a decadal simulation of artificial foredune blowouts. The new approach allows for wider sediment distribution, ultimately yielding more realistic biophysical feedback. This framework provides a pathway toward a tool to support decision-making in coastal management and investigate ecomorphodynamic processes in dune evolution.
Electrification influences the behaviour of airborne dust by altering how long particles remain suspended, aggregate, and interact with surfaces. This study investigates how wind-driven dusty processes modulate the near-surface electric potential gradient (PG) using data from sea breeze events. It examines how dust-influenced PG observations vary with wind speed, dust concentration, and turbulence at an inland desert site in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates. 129 sea breeze events were analysed using PG measurements, ceilometer backscatter, visibility sensors, surface PM10 and PM2.5 (particulate matter) concentrations, and meteorological observations.Sea breezes, coincident with increased dust concentrations, consistently cause a sharp increase in PG up to 6 kV m−1. Visibility drops to around 5 km as wind speeds exceed the 6 m s−1 threshold for dust lofting, and PM values increase to concerning levels. In contrast, land breezes are characterised by wind speeds less than the threshold, increased visibility, and low PG values not exceeding 150 V m−1, indicating limited dust uplift. Backscatter vertical profiles show that sea breezes lift particles to heights of up to ~800 m, whilst in contrast, land breezes clear the air.Further, we report that turbulence at the advancing sea breeze front modulates the dust electrification, with oscillations in the dust-layer height closely tracking PG variability. Shear instabilities, including Kelvin–Helmholtz billows, transfer charge and enhance vertical dust mixing and charge separation above the surface. The repeatability of dust electrification by sea breezes reveals further contributions to electrification from local turbulence.
