Numerical modeling of a strong dust event over the south China region in March 2010

The mesoscale model WRF-Chem was used to simulate a severe dust storm event that occurred in March 2010. The storm affected a vast area of East Asia, including the south China region and Hong Kong. This southern region is rarely affected by dust weather. The performance of the WRF-Chem was evaluated by observational data such as the National Center for Atmospheric Research reanalysis data for atmospheric circulation, PM10 concentration from various ground stations, and satellite images of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer and Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations. The dependence of the model’s performance on certain important parameterizations was examined in this study. For this particular dust storm event, the model results suggest that the simulation is not very sensitive to certain key physical parameterizations such as threshold wind speed of dust emission and the choice of land surface model. In general, the WRF-Chem is capable of capturing the key physical processes for this severe dust event. The analysis of the dust transport fluxes suggests that the dust transport to the south China region is mainly from the north, although there is a mountainous region in the northern part of the south China region.