Mid- and far-infrared spectral signatures of mineral dust from low- to high-latitude regions: significance and implications
Name
acp-26-1079-2026.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
2.34 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
ce3f58ee90aa443309e7fa00ec934c4e
Author(s)
Di Biagio, Claudia
Bru, Elisa
Orta, Avila
Chevaillier, Servanne
Baldo, Clarissa
Bergé, Antonin
Cazaunau, Mathieu
Lafon, Sandra
Nowak, Sophie
Pangui, Edouard
Date Issued
January 22, 2026
Journal
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
Publisher
Copernicus GmbH
Citation
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 26, 1079–1091, 2026
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Mineral dust absorbs and scatters solar and infrared radiation, thereby affecting the radiance spectrum at the surface and top-of-atmosphere and the atmospheric heating rate. While half of the outgoing thermal radiation is emitted in the far infrared (FIR, 15–100 µm), knowledge of the optical properties and thermal radiative effects of dust is currently limited to the mid-infrared region (MIR, 3–15 µm). In this study we performed pellet spectroscopy measurements to evaluate the MIR and FIR contribution to dust absorbance and explore the variability and spectral diversity of the dust signature within the 2.5–25 µm range. Thirteen dust samples re-suspended from parent soils with contrasting mineralogy were investigated, including low and mid latitude dust (LMLD) sources in Africa, America, Asia, and Middle East, and high latitude dust (HLD) from Iceland. Results show that the absorbance of dust in the FIR up to 25 µm is comparable in intensity to that in the MIR. Also, spectrally different absorption (position and shape of the peaks) is observed for Icelandic dust compared to LMLD, due to differences in mineralogical composition. Corroborated with the few available literature data on absorption properties of natural dust and single minerals up to 100 µm wavelength, these data suggest the relevance of MIR and FIR interactions to the dust radiative effect for low to high latitude sources. Furthermore, the dust spectral signatures in the MIR and FIR could potentially be used to characterise the mineralogy and differentiate the origin of airborne particles based on infrared remote sensing observations.
MIT Department
Parsons Laboratory for Environmental Science and Engineering (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-1079-2026
