Amato Tomas Evan , William Porter, Rachel Clemsha, Alexandra Kuwano, Robert Frouin

Dust storms are ubiquitous in the Earth's atmosphere, yet the physical processes underlying dust emission and subsequent transport are not always understood, in-part due to the wide variety of meteorological processes that can generate high winds and dust. Here we use in-situ measurements and numerical modeling to demonstrate that vertically trapped atmospheric waves generated by air flowing over a mountain are one such mechanism that can produce dust storms. We suggest several features of these dust outbreaks that are specific to their production by trapped waves. As the study area is a region undergoing rapid environmental change, these results are relevant in terms of predicting future dust there.