A FIRST APPROACH ON MODELING WINDBLOWN DUST IN ZONDA WIND EVENTS

ALLENDE, DAVID; MULENA, CELESTE; PULIAFITO, E; LAKKIS, GABRIELA; CREMADES, PABLO; CASTRO, FERNANDO

Mendoza

Congreso; XI Congreso Argentino de Meteorología, CONGREMET XI; 2012

Programa Regional de Meteorología / Centro Argentino de meteorología

A better understanding of dust dispersion during strong wind events is important to reduce the uncertainties in the estimation of particle matter pollution in urban air quality. This study investigates the behavior of particulate matter over the Mendoza urban center during the Zonda event of July 14 2011 and previous days, examining the role of meteorological fields over dust sources. To run the simulations, the model was previously locally adapted to represent the special characteristics of the study area. The model results show that one dust plume is formed in the modeling domain originated in the Northeast of the Mendoza Province, producing high dust concentrations in eastern Mendoza with peaks up to 250 microg/kg air during the event. The model was validated against meteorological surface measurements and radiosoundings performed by the Argentina National Weather Service (SMN) at the Mendoza Airport. Finally, the dust loads produced were compared to OMI Aerosol Index observations to verify spatial distribution of the dust plume.The obtained results allow making a preliminary assessment on the observed particulate matter concentrations over the urban centers