In June 2020, one of the largest Saharan dust outbreaks observed in decades crossed the Atlantic Ocean. Over a large region encompassing islands in the Caribbean, northern South America, and the U.S. Southeast and Gulf Coast, this dust caused reduced and potentially hazardous air quality, and dimmer, dusty skies with significantly reduced visibility.

The NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) provides a suite of data tools providing enhanced data accessibility and advanced analysis capability for events such as this immense dust outbreak. In this webinar, several tools – including the Level 2 data subsetter, the Level 3 / 4 Regridder-Subsetter (L34RS), the personal data dashboard, and Giovanni – will be demonstrated in a focused analysis of the dust storm’s effects on the atmosphere over the island of Barbados. Barbados is the site of a dust monitoring platform deployed in 1966 by Dr. Joseph Prospero (University of Miami), making it an ideal focus to show how GES DISC tools and data products can augment ongoing vital research on the dynamics of dust transport in Earth’s atmosphere.

View past recorded webinar videos.

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