Optical depth,size distribution and flux of dust from Owens Lake,California

A joint United States/Russian/French collaborative experiment was undertaken in March 1993 and March 1996. Projects LODE I and II (Lake Owens Dust Experiments) took place on the anthropogenically desertified playa (dry lakebed) and surrounding regions of Owens Lake, in east-central California. One of the five parts of Project LODE was to determine relationships between optical depth and flux of dust emitted from the dry lake. Project LODE II included subsequent dust plume measurements and size distributions obtained through April 1996, to further refine the flux measurements for distinct mineral aerosol source regions at Owens Lake. Size distributions of dust aerosol were determined and aerosol optical depths were calculated from sunphotometer solar extinction measurements taken downwind in plumes coming from the emissive areas of Owens Lake. This source was visually observed for 10 measured dust storms. The plume mass was calculated to be 1·5 × 10⁹ g using ground-based measurements and ≥1·6 × 10⁹ g from satellite data. Project LODE II results were found to be consistent with LODE I results for the south end of the playa, but flux values were found to be reduced for the northeastern portion of the playa by comparison. Vertical flux values estimated by sunphotometry were found to be consistent with values estimated via a micrometeorological method. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.