Determination of dust storm height using weak beam photons from ICESat-2 and relating with vertical wind profile

Studies related to vertical probing of dust aerosols during an active episode of a dust storm will enable quantification of the dust load and unleash the mechanics of dust transport. Space-borne sensors, especially LiDAR-based sensors, are proven to detect the vertical concentration of dust aerosols; practically, essaying the suspended aerosols in the troposphere has been well recorded by the Cloud-Aerosol LIdar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) mission, which retired in 2023. This research is motivated to utilize NASA ICESat-2's photon data as a substitute for the CALIPSO mission to study the vertical structure of an active dust storm. This research suggests using photons from ICESat-2's weak beam over the strong beam to successfully profile aerosols suspended in the atmosphere. Technical validation by comparing the heights of the dust aerosols retrieved by attenuated photons from ICESat-2 and 532 nm total attenuated backscatter of Cloud-Aerosol LIdar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) sensor yielded a good agreement of the results from both sensors. Further, analyzing the vertical wind profiles from ECMWF Reanalysis v5 (ERA5) data for the ten test sites with active dust storms confirms that the lift force of wind speed is greater than 5 m/s, while the drag force of the wind speed above the vertical structure having the dust aerosols is always greater than the lift force.