Title: Longterm Trends in Dust Sources in West Texas
Institution(s) Represented: Baylor University (Sheesley), University of Colorado, Boulder (Andrew), University of Utah (Hallar)
Lead PI: Rebecca Sheesley
AQRP Project Manager: David Sullivan
TCEQ Project Liaison: Laramie Mahan
Awarded Budget: $164,303
Abstract
The focus of the current proposal is identification of dust events in El Paso using three complementary methods for 2000-2020. This will enable a multi-faceted analysis of long-term trends and a comparison of the strengths and weaknesses across these methods, which address Texas AQRP Research Priority: long term trends in dust sources in West Texas. We will apply several different methods for identification and characterization of dust events: (1) remote sensing from satellite observations (Lambert, Hallar et al. 2020) and surface-based column measurements (Hallar, Petersen et al. 2015), (2) extraction of dust event descriptions from National Weather Service (NWS) reports (Kelley and Ardon-Dryer 2021), and (3) assessment of dust contributions to particulate matter (PM) from in-situ aerosol observations (e.g. TCEQ PM10, PM2.5 and PM speciation data; (Sheesley and Usenko 2024, Rodriguez Ortiz, Mehra et al. 2025)). Each method utilizes a different dataset and, when combined, this project will offer a well-rounded characterization of dust events. We plan to compare results of dust event identification across these three methods for 2000-2020 in El Paso, TX to better understand how the input data informs dust event identification and characterization.
Technical Reports:
