Global mineral constraints on dust shortwave radiative effects (opens in new tab)

Mineral dust aerosols affect Earth’s energy balance in multiple ways, including interactions with solar radiation, but this effect remains poorly quantified. A central limitation has been the lack of reliable global information on dust mineral composition, particularly light-absorbing iron oxides. An imaging spectrometer, placed aboard the International Space Station by the Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation mission, provides high-resolution, near-global retrievals of surface min...