inDust Webinar: A quarter century of dust sources detection from space

Abstract

Since the first use of aerosol optical depth retrieved from space over ocean to infer dust sources by Usar, Prospero and Stowe in 1997 to tomorrow launch (fingers crossed) of the first hyperspectral instrument (Earth Surace Mineral Dust Source Investigation or EMIT) to be installed on the International Space Station to retrieve the soil mineralogy of dust sources globally, considerable progress has been made to characterize dust sources. However, such accomplishments were accompanied by additional uncertainties. This presentation will provide an overview of the key results of 25 years of dust sources detection from space, and their continual questioning by in-situ observations and model simulations. I have no intention to be exhaustive but will show how some milestones in this field of research have been achieved following such questioning. Although the latest generation of satellite instruments will offer unquestioning high quality at high resolution aerosol products, new challenges lie ahead.