Probability of a dust emission event during the period that the soil active layer remains wet after a precipitation event

Soil moisture in the active aeolian layer (the top ~2 mm of the soil)
impacts dust emission by increasing the threshold for emission, and thus
precipitation has the potential to suppress dust emission. The purpose of
this study was to use reanalysis and satellite data similar to those used
in global and regional dust emission models to calculate the probability
that a high wind event happens during the period that antecedent
precipitation would have left the active layer wet. The results indicate
that the answer to this question is more strongly related to regional
climate than soil texture. For more than half of the globe with mean
annual precipitation < 500 mm/year, the probability of
precipitation influencing dust emission is greater than 30 – 40%. Thus,
rain-derived soil moisture in the active layer should not be ignored in
models throughout much of the world’s dust producing regions.