The transport and spacial scale of Asian dust‐storm clouds: a case study of the dust‐storm event of April 1979

ABSTRACT A dust storm which originated in the China desert area covered the Japan Islands on April 14–15, 1979. Simultaneous measurement by lidar and geosynchronous meteorological satellite enabled the spacial structure and transport path of the dust storm cloud to be characterized. The horizontal scale of the dust cloud was about 1.36 × 106 km2, and the total dust particle mass load was at least ∼1.63 × 106 ton/1.36 × 106 km2. The lidar measurements indicated that the dust cloud consisted of 2 distinct layers, one at 6 km height and the other at 2 km. The trajectory analysis of air mass suggests that the particulate matter contained in the upper layer is probably transported from the Takla‐Makan desert and that in the lower layer from the Gobi desert and the Huang‐Ho basin.