Dust emission source characterization for visibility hazard assessment on Lordsburg Playa in Southwestern New Mexico, USA
Abstract In drylands around the world, ephemeral lakes (playas) are common. Dry, wind-erodible playa sediments are potent local and regional sources of dust and PM10 (airborne particles with diameters less than 10 μm). Dust clouds often cause sudden and/or prolonged loss of visibility to travelers o...
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doaj-dcfc5eb9da2e4901bc74ffeda13caed22020-12-13T12:20:20ZengSpringerOpenGeoenvironmental Disasters2197-86702020-12-017111210.1186/s40677-020-00171-xDust emission source characterization for visibility hazard assessment on Lordsburg Playa in Southwestern New Mexico, USAR. Scott Van Pelt0John Tatarko1Thomas E. Gill2Chunping Chang3Junran Li4Iyasu G. Eibedingil5Marcos Mendez6USDA Agricultural Research ServiceUSDA Agricultural Research ServiceDepartment of Geological Sciences, and Environmental Science & Engineering Program, University of Texas at El PasoHebei Normal UniversityDepartment of Geosciences, The University of TulsaEnvironmental Science and Engineering Program, University of Texas at El PasoDepartment of Geological Sciences, University of Texas at El PasoAbstract In drylands around the world, ephemeral lakes (playas) are common. Dry, wind-erodible playa sediments are potent local and regional sources of dust and PM10 (airborne particles with diameters less than 10 μm). Dust clouds often cause sudden and/or prolonged loss of visibility to travelers on downwind roadways. Lordsburg Playa, in southwestern New Mexico, USA is bisected by Interstate Highway 10. Dust storms emanating from the playa have been responsible for numerous visibility-related road closures (including 39 road closures between 2012 and 2019) causing major economic losses, in addition to well over a hundred dust-related vehicle crashes causing at least 41 lost lives in the last 53 years. In order to improve understanding of the surfaces responsible for the dust emissions, we investigated the critical wind friction velocity thresholds and the dust emissivities of surfaces representing areas typical of Lordsburg Playa’s stream deltas, shorelines, and ephemerally flooded lakebed using a Portable In-Situ Wind ERosion Laboratory (PI-SWERL). Mean threshold friction velocities for PM10 entrainment ranged from less than 0.30 m s− 1 for areas in the delta and shoreline to greater than 0.55 m s− 1 for ephemerally flooded areas of the lakebed. Similarly, we quantified mean PM10 vertical flux rates ranging from less than 500 μg m− 2 s− 1 for ephemerally flooded areas of lakebed to nearly 25,000 μg m− 2 s− 1 for disturbed delta surfaces. The unlimited PM10 supply of the relatively coarse sediments along the western shoreline is problematic and indicates that this may be the source area for longer-term visibility reducing dust events and should be a focus area for dust mitigation efforts.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40677-020-00171-xPM10Dust stormsVisibilityHighway safetySurface emissivityWind erosion |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
R. Scott Van Pelt John Tatarko Thomas E. Gill Chunping Chang Junran Li Iyasu G. Eibedingil Marcos Mendez |
spellingShingle |
R. Scott Van Pelt John Tatarko Thomas E. Gill Chunping Chang Junran Li Iyasu G. Eibedingil Marcos Mendez Dust emission source characterization for visibility hazard assessment on Lordsburg Playa in Southwestern New Mexico, USA Geoenvironmental Disasters PM10 Dust storms Visibility Highway safety Surface emissivity Wind erosion |
author_facet |
R. Scott Van Pelt John Tatarko Thomas E. Gill Chunping Chang Junran Li Iyasu G. Eibedingil Marcos Mendez |
author_sort |
R. Scott Van Pelt |
title |
Dust emission source characterization for visibility hazard assessment on Lordsburg Playa in Southwestern New Mexico, USA |
title_short |
Dust emission source characterization for visibility hazard assessment on Lordsburg Playa in Southwestern New Mexico, USA |
title_full |
Dust emission source characterization for visibility hazard assessment on Lordsburg Playa in Southwestern New Mexico, USA |
title_fullStr |
Dust emission source characterization for visibility hazard assessment on Lordsburg Playa in Southwestern New Mexico, USA |
title_full_unstemmed |
Dust emission source characterization for visibility hazard assessment on Lordsburg Playa in Southwestern New Mexico, USA |
title_sort |
dust emission source characterization for visibility hazard assessment on lordsburg playa in southwestern new mexico, usa |
publisher |
SpringerOpen |
series |
Geoenvironmental Disasters |
issn |
2197-8670 |
publishDate |
2020-12-01 |
description |
Abstract In drylands around the world, ephemeral lakes (playas) are common. Dry, wind-erodible playa sediments are potent local and regional sources of dust and PM10 (airborne particles with diameters less than 10 μm). Dust clouds often cause sudden and/or prolonged loss of visibility to travelers on downwind roadways. Lordsburg Playa, in southwestern New Mexico, USA is bisected by Interstate Highway 10. Dust storms emanating from the playa have been responsible for numerous visibility-related road closures (including 39 road closures between 2012 and 2019) causing major economic losses, in addition to well over a hundred dust-related vehicle crashes causing at least 41 lost lives in the last 53 years. In order to improve understanding of the surfaces responsible for the dust emissions, we investigated the critical wind friction velocity thresholds and the dust emissivities of surfaces representing areas typical of Lordsburg Playa’s stream deltas, shorelines, and ephemerally flooded lakebed using a Portable In-Situ Wind ERosion Laboratory (PI-SWERL). Mean threshold friction velocities for PM10 entrainment ranged from less than 0.30 m s− 1 for areas in the delta and shoreline to greater than 0.55 m s− 1 for ephemerally flooded areas of the lakebed. Similarly, we quantified mean PM10 vertical flux rates ranging from less than 500 μg m− 2 s− 1 for ephemerally flooded areas of lakebed to nearly 25,000 μg m− 2 s− 1 for disturbed delta surfaces. The unlimited PM10 supply of the relatively coarse sediments along the western shoreline is problematic and indicates that this may be the source area for longer-term visibility reducing dust events and should be a focus area for dust mitigation efforts. |
topic |
PM10 Dust storms Visibility Highway safety Surface emissivity Wind erosion |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40677-020-00171-x |
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