Seminar on Characterizing the ‘Godzilla’ Dust Storm: An Integrated Ground-Based, Satellite, and Model Study to Advance our Understanding of the Impact of African Dust on the Tropical Western Hemisphere

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Date: October 28, 2025 from 12:30pm

Location: Exhibit Room, Steinman Hall, Grove School of Engineering

Presenter(s): Dr.  Olga L. Mayo-Bracero, Atmospheric Scientist, Brookhaven National Laboratory

Zoom: https://ccny.zoom.us/j/85976950243?pwd=D8N0Lyv26rAwLTzcKWeBHfXNeEk1Zw.1

Abstract:

African dust transport across the Atlantic significantly impacts air quality, weather, and climate in the Caribbean and surrounding regions. However, gaps remain in understanding the intensity, variability, and health effects of these huge aerosol events. Addressing these uncertainties requires a comprehensive approach that combines multiple observational and modeling techniques to track dust movement and assess its impacts effectively. Long-term research and monitoring efforts in the Caribbean have been instrumental in improving our understanding of African dust transport and its regional consequences.

The unprecedented June 2020 “Godzilla” African dust event provided a unique opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of an integrated approach using ground-based aerosol measurements, satellite observations, and forecast models. The NASA-funded CALIMA campaign built on prior research efforts, integrating data from nine Caribbean locations, satellite sensors (CALIOP, MODIS, MISR), and dust forecast models (NASA GEOS, WRF-Chem) to characterize dust transport and its impact on air quality. Surface and columnar measurements revealed severe air quality degradation across the Caribbean, southern United States, northern South America, and Central America, posing significant public health risks. Model evaluations exposed substantial discrepancies in dust forecasts, highlighting the need for improved prediction capabilities.

This study demonstrates the value of combining observational networks with satellite remote sensing and modeling to characterize the spatial and temporal variability of African dust transport to the western hemisphere. Strengthening such coordinated efforts is essential to refine forecasts, mitigate health and environmental risks, and better understand how transatlantic dust transport may evolve under a changing climate.

About Presenter:

Dr. Olga L. Mayol-Bracero is an atmospheric scientist and the Lead of the Aerosol Observations Group in the Environmental Science and Technologies Department at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), where she also serves as the Director of the Center for Aerosol Measurement Science (CAMS). She is the Lead Mentor of the Aerosol Observing Systems (AOS) of the DOE Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) User Facility and a participant in the DOE Atmospheric System Research (ASR) program. She joined BNL in August 2021.   Before joining BNL, Dr. Mayol-Bracero was a Full Professor in the Department of Environmental Science at the University of Puerto Rico–Río Piedras (UPR-RP). There, she directed the Atmospheric Chemistry and Aerosols Research Group and led both the Cape San Juan Atmospheric Observatory—a site that is part of NOAA ESRL’s aerosol network, NASA’s AERONET, Pandora, and MPLNET networks, and a WMO GAW regional station—and the Pico del Este Cloud Forest Station.

Dr. Mayol-Bracero’s research focuses on the temporal and spatial variability of atmospheric aerosols, including the characterization of African dust, biomass burning, marine, urban, and biogenic aerosols, with particular emphasis on tropical regions. Her expertise spans size-resolved aerosol composition and sources, carbonaceous aerosols (organic and black carbon), aerosol–cloud–precipitation interactions, and air quality.

She has extensive experience leading aerosol field projects and managing field atmospheric observatories, participating in numerous ground-based and airborne field campaigns across diverse environments, including the Maldives, the Amazon Basin, and the Caribbean region. Dr. Mayol-Bracero also holds several international leadership roles, serving as a member of the International Commission on Atmospheric Chemistry and Global Pollution (iCACGP), the World Meteorological Organization’s Scientific Advisory Group on Aerosols, and the Americas Working Group of the International Global Atmospheric Chemistry (IGAC) project. She is the author of more than 60 peer-reviewed publications, one book chapter, and over 300 presentations at national and international conferences. Dr. Mayol-Bracero earned her B.S. and M.S. in Chemistry and her Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Puerto Rico–Río Piedras and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, Germany.