There is increasing interest in the role of airborne mineral dust in atmospheric processes.
Of particular interest is the interaction of solar radiation with atmospheric dust
because of the possible impact on climate through the scattering and absorption of radiation,
as well as the modification of cloud properties. Over the ocean,
these processes also affect the ability to use remote sensing techniques
to retrieve various ocean properties such as sea surface temperature and ocean color.
The tropical North Atlantic is an excellent location to study these processes
because of the very high concentrations of African dust that cover large areas of this region
during much of the year. Of particular interest are the temporal and spatial variability of dust
with respect to meteorological parameters, the chemical and physical properties of dust
that relate to radiative processes, and finally, the impact of dust on clouds.
The Puerto Rico Dust Experiment (PRIDE) was held from June 27th to July 24th 2000
and was based in Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico. PRIDE was a study of the radiative,
microphysical, and transport properties of African dust. The investigation,
led by the U.S. Navy, included scientists from NASA and various Universities
who combined surface, airborne, and satellite measurements with modeling efforts.
These additional participants included
NASA GSFC 913/923,
NASA/Ames,
JPL,
U.Alabama-Huntsville,
U.C.Davis,
U.Miami,
U.PuertoRico,
DoD/NPS,
ONR, and
SPAWAR.
For the MODIS Atmosphere Aerosol Team, PRIDE was the first opportunity to validate the
MODIS aerosol retrieval algorithms and products.
