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Windblown dust plays a crucial role in the Earth system, impacting climate, ecosystems, human activities, and health. The spatiotemporal evolution of dust plumes during transport is determined by wind, the primary driver of dust emission. In this study, we utilize outputs from the ECMWF-IFS, assimilating quality-assured Aeolus wind profiles, to initialize dust simulations with the WRF-Chem model. The aim is to assess the impact of Aeolus wind observations on modeling the desert dust cycle. Focusing on the ASKOS/JATAC campaign in September 2021 near Cabo Verde, we qualitatively and quantitatively evaluate the simulated dust-related outputs, revealing that even small differences in wind significantly affect the simulated dust emission rates and dust optical depth.

This study analyzes the structure of the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) at Mindelo, Cabo Verde, where the ASKOS Campaign took place from 2021 to 2022. Datasets from ground-based remote sensing instruments and radiosondes are used to derive the PBL height, by applying the Wavelet Covariance Transform (WCT), Threshold (TM), and Gradient Method (GM). Two case studies are described in detail, one with a significant dust load (23 September 2022) and one with relatively less dust load (12 September 2022). In the first case, the PBL top is found lower, and the methods used for the retrievals are characterized by larger uncertainties. In the second case, a higher and more convective PBL is observed. Additionally, results are compared with ECMWF outputs, establishing good agreement.