Data from: The impact of land surface properties on haboobs and dust lofting

Haboobs are dust storms formed by strong surface winds in convective storm
outflow boundaries, or cold pools, which can loft large quantities of
mineral dust as they propagate. Both cold pools and the dust they loft are
impacted by land surface properties resulting in complex surface
interactions on haboobs. As a result of these additional complexities
brought about by surface interactions, it is unclear which surface
parameters and physical processes are important for predicting haboob
intensity and dust concentrations. Here we applied the Morris
one-at-a-time (MOAT) global sensitivity statistical method to an ensemble
of 120 idealized simulations of daytime and nighttime haboobs to
investigate the land surface properties that affect both dust mobilization
and cold pool dynamics. MOAT identifies and ranks the importance of
different input factors, which for the prediction of haboob strength and
dust concentrations are 1) initial cold pool temperature, 2) surface type
(vegetation), 3) soil type (clay content), and 4) soil moisture. The
underlying physical mechanisms driving these feedbacks were then analyzed
using a traditional one-at-a-time factor analysis. Time of day is
significant for determining boundary layer height and dissipation via
surface fluxes, leading to shallower, more intense cold pools/haboobs at
night. Most of the land parameters modify the cold pool through impacts on
surface fluxes, while surface type is dominated by roughness length
effects. By ranking the importance of these surface factors, we have
identified which variables are most sensitive and must be constrained via
observations and data assimilation in numerical dust prediction models.