Diana Francis

Diana Francis
Khalifa University | KU · Earth Science Department

Ph.D. Atmospheric Sciences
@ENGEOS_KU

About

152
Publications
49,755
Reads
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4,399
Citations
Additional affiliations
February 2020 - present
Khalifa University
Position
  • Senior Researcher
December 2008 - December 2010
French National Centre for Scientific Research
Position
  • Research Associate
January 2016 - January 2020
New York University Abu Dhabi
Position
  • Researcher
Education
September 2005 - December 2008
Sorbonne Universités, Paris 6, Paris France
Field of study
  • Atmospheric Sciences

Publications

Publications (152)
Presentation
Full-text available
You are kindly invited to take part of the live chat sessions in this year EGU. Our presentation and related materials can be found here: https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU2020/EGU2020-12738.html Comments and discussion are most welcome! All the best,
Article
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This study reports the occurrence of intense atmospheric rivers (ARs) during the two large Weddell Polynya events in November 1973 and September 2017 and investigates their role in the opening events via their enhancement of sea ice melt. Few days before the polynya openings, persistent ARs maintained a sustained positive total energy flux at the s...
Article
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This study investigates the underlying atmospheric dynamics associated with intense dust storms in summer 2018 over the Arabian Peninsula (AP); a major dust source at global scale. It reports, for the first time, on the formation of cyclone over the Empty Quarter Desert as important mechanism for intense dust storms over this source region. The dus...
Article
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This study investigates the atmospheric dynamics of the major dust storm that occurred in June 2020 over the Sahara and during which dust clouds associated with the highest‐on‐record aerosol optical depths were transported towards the America. An anomalous atmospheric circulation pattern in the mid‐latitudes, linked to a circum‐global wavetrain, re...
Article
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Ice shelf instability is one of the main sources of uncertainty in Antarctica's contribution to future sea level rise. Calving events play a crucial role in ice shelf weakening but remain unpredictable, and their governing processes are still poorly understood. In this study, we analyze the unexpected September 2019 calving event from the Amery Ice...
Article
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This study presents a comprehensive evaluation of the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with chemistry (WRF-Chem) in simulating meteorological parameters and concentrations of air pollutants across the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for June and December 2022, representing the contrasting summer and winter climatic conditions. The assessme...
Preprint
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Antarctic sea ice and its snow cover play a pivotal role in regulating the global climate system. Understanding the intricate interplay between atmospheric dynamics, ocean circulation and mixed-layer properties, and sea ice is essential for predicting future climate change scenarios. This study investigates the relationship between atmospheric cond...
Article
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Summertime convection in the arid United Arab Emirates (UAE) is mostly confined to the eastern and northeastern sides of the country, known as primary convection. Convection can also occur in the drier central and western parts of the country; this is called secondary convection. However, the mechanisms behind the latter are still not fully underst...
Cover Page
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Khalifa University of Science and Technology today announced scientists and researchers from its Environmental and Geophysical Sciences (ENGEOS) laboratory and the Earth Science department have deployed Snow Ice Mass Balance (SIMBA), a special instrument to study ice in Antarctica. This is the first time scientists from any institution in the UAE h...
Article
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The United Arab Emirates holds great historical importance, as evidenced by many archaeological sites, such as the Jebel Hafit Tombs and the Hili Archeological Park in Al Ain. At the western edge of Mutaredh Oasis, a major new archaeological site was discovered in 2023 during a construction project. Several important archeological features have bee...
Article
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The Arabian Peninsula (AP) is notable for its unique meteorological and climatic patterns and plays a pivotal role in understanding regional climate dynamics and dust emissions. The scarcity of ground-based observations makes atmospheric data essential, rendering reanalysis and satellite products invaluable for understanding weather patterns and cl...
Preprint
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This work focuses on using multi-frequency sound waves to dissipate fog. It is a promising fog-dissipation technique due to its ease of control, flexibility, environmental friendliness, and no interference with traffic flow. This study introduces a novel approach to dissipate artificial fog generated inside an experimental setup utilizing harmonica...
Article
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Measurements of fog microphysics were conducted during the winter season of 2021–2022 at the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP), located in the Western coastal region of the United Arab Emirates. Twelve fog events were observed during this period. The primary objective of this study is to detail the microphysical characteristics of these events and...
Article
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June 2023 was dustless in eastern tropical Atlantic, dusty in northeastern Africa. • The negative North Atlantic Oscillation suppressed dust emission over western Sahara. • A southward shifted African Easterly Jet hindered the downstream transport of dust. • Sea surface temperatures off African coast were 2–2.5 K above climatological mean. • Mu...
Article
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Plain Language Summary Atmospheric Rivers (ARs) are narrow and long bands of high water vapor content, which largely originate in the tropics or subtropics and propagate into mid‐ and high‐latitudes. They can bring beneficial rain and snow but, in particular the most intense, can lead to catastrophic flooding and loss of life. One of such occurrenc...
Article
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The Empty Quarter Desert, one of Earth's major dust sources, frequently experiences dust storms due to wind erosion. Despite its significance as a primary dust source on a global scale, in‐situ observations from this region had not been reported until very recently. In summer 2022, the WInd‐blown Sand Experiment (WISE) Phase‐1 was initiated in the...
Article
Full-text available
This study presents a comprehensive evaluation of the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) in simulating meteorological parameters and concentrations of gaseous pollutants across the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the months of June and December 2018, representing the contrasting climatic conditions of summer and...
Article
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Observational and reanalysis datasets reveal a northward shift of the convective regions over northern Africa in summer and an eastward shift in winter in the last four decades, with the changes in the location and intensity of the thermal lows and subtropical highs also modulating the dust loading and cloud cover over the Middle East and North Afr...
Article
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Between March 15-19, 2022, East Antarctica experienced an exceptional heatwave with widespread 30-40° C temperature anomalies across the ice sheet. In Part I, we assessed the meteorological drivers that generated an intense atmospheric river (AR) which caused these record-shattering temperature anomalies. Here in Part II, we continue our large, col...
Article
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Between March 15-19, 2022, East Antarctica experienced an exceptional heatwave with widespread 30-40° C temperature anomalies across the ice sheet. This record-shattering event saw numerous monthly temperature records being broken including a new all-time temperature record of -9.4° C on March 18 at Concordia Station despite March typically being a...
Article
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The Middle East has major sources of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, but a dearth of ground-based measurements precludes an investigation of its regional and temporal variability. This is achieved in this work with satellite-derived estimates from the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) and OCO-3 missions from September 2014 to Febr...
Article
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African desert dust is emitted and long-range transported with multiple effects on climate, air quality, cryosphere, and ecosystems. On 21-23 February 2021, dust from a sand and dust storm in northern Africa was transported to Finland, north of 60°N. The episode was predicted 5 days in advance by the global operational SILAM forecast, and its key f...
Article
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For the first time, the changes in the atmospheric electric field (Ez) during foggy conditions is studied in a hyper-arid region; the United Arab Emirates (UAE), using comprehensive measurements during the Wind-blown Sand Experiment (WISE)-UAE. The longer the fog persists, the more variable Ez becomes, primarily due to the fog's ability to absorb a...
Article
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Pine Island Glacier (PIG) has recently experienced increased ice loss that has mostly been attributed to basal melt and ocean ice dynamics. However, atmospheric forcing also plays a role in the ice mass budget, as besides lower-latitude warm air intrusions, the steeply sloping terrain that surrounds the glacier promotes frequent Foehn winds. An inv...
Preprint
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Fog augments the wet deposition of airborne particles entrained in its hydrometeors. This article aims to characterize fog deposition processes around the Barakah nuclear power plant (BNPP), in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and assess the potential impact of fog on the deposition rate of radionuclides in case of an accidental release. To this end...
Article
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In this paper, the feasibility of satellite remote sensing in detecting and predicting locations of buried objects in the archaeological site of Saruq al-Hadid, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was investigated. Satellite borne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is proposed as main technology for this initial investigation. In fact, SAR is the only satel...
Article
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Polynyas, or ice-free regions within the sea ice pack, are a common occurrence around Antarctica. A recurrent and often large polynya is the Terra Nova Bay Polynya (TNBP), located on the western side of the Ross Sea just off Victoria Land. In this study, we investigate the atmospheric conditions leading to the occurrence of the TNBP and its spatial...
Presentation
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Monitoring Greenhouse gases and climate change over the Arabian Peninsula
Article
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Methane (CH4) is a potent greenhouse gas with an important contribution to global warming. While national and international efforts have been put in place to reduce methane emissions, little is known about its variability, especially in hotspot regions where natural and anthropogenic emissions are compounded. In this study, the current state of CH4...
Poster
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The Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) plays a critical role in controlling and regulating the exchange of heat, energy, moisture, aerosols, and trace gasses between the Earth's surface and the atmosphere. In this project, the student used radiosondes and active remote sensing data (using a lidar system deployed by ENGEOS lab) to characterize the PBL o...
Preprint
Full-text available
Pine Island Glacier (PIG) has recently experienced increased ice loss mostly attributed to basal melt and ocean-ice dynamics. However, atmospheric forcing also plays a role in the ice mass budget, as besides lower-latitude warm air intrusions, the steeply sloping terrain that surrounds the glacier promotes frequent Foehn winds. An investigation of...
Article
Full-text available
Large amounts of dust in the air can disrupt daily activities and pose a threat to human health. In May 2022, consecutive major dust storms occurred over the Middle East resulting in severe environmental, social and health impacts. In this study, we investigate the exceptional factors driving these storms and the effects of the dust clouds. Using a...
Article
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EDITORIAL article of the Special Issue in Frontiers in Environmental Sciences: Atmospheric Dust: How it affects climate, environment and life on Earth? https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/23321/atmospheric-dust-how-it-affects-climate-environment-and-life-on-earth#articles
Article
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In this study, the link between the occurrence of consecutive fog days in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the associated synoptic-scale circulation is investigated. This is particularly pertinent, as such a link may provide an important predictive skill for a phenomenon that has a pronounced impact on road and air traffic but is still poorly sim...
Presentation
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https://cw3e.ucsd.edu/iarc2022/
Article
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In this study, we characterize the meteorological conditions and planetary boundary layer dynamics in western United Arab Emirates based on 2012–2020 in-situ measurements. This multi-year analysis is then complemented by an intensive field-campaign in winter 2021 from which we address the main patterns of the atmospheric circulation and the boundar...
Article
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Observation‐based and modeling studies have identified the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East (EMME) region as a prominent climate change hotspot. While several initiatives have addressed the impacts of climate change in parts of the EMME, here we present an updated assessment, covering a wide range of timescales, phenomena and future pathways....
Article
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Tropical cyclones (TC) are one of the biggest natural hazards with significant threat to life and property due to storm surge, flooding and extreme winds. Combined, these hazards substantially increase the potential for loss of life and damage especially in populated landfall‐locations such as the countries on the Arabian Gulf and Sea of Oman. Henc...
Article
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Accurate simulation of boundary layer surface meteorological parameters is essential to achieve good forecasting of weather and atmospheric dispersion. This paper is devoted to a model sensitivity study over a coastal hyper-arid region in the western desert of the United Arab Emirates. This region hosts the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP), makin...
Article
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The calving of Antarctic ice shelves remains unpredictable to date due to a lack of understanding of the role of the different climatic components in such events. In this study, the role of atmospheric forcing in the calving of the Brunt Ice Shelf (BIS) in February 2021 is investigated using a combination of observational and reanalysis data. The o...
Presentation
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Role of Atmospheric Rivers in Saharan Dust Transport towards Europe and the Arctic.
Article
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With the projected expansion of arid/semi-arid regions in a warming world, precipitation enhancement activities such as cloud seeding will become increasingly popular and relied upon. Due to the inherent costs, a successful planning is crucial, which involves accurate model predictions. Here, the usefulness of the Weather Research and Forecasting (...
Presentation
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Talk at the American Meteorological Society (AMS) 35th Conference on Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology - New Orleans, USA. https://www.ametsoc.org/index.cfm/ams/meetings-events/ams-meetings/35th-conference-on-hurricanes-and-tropical-meteorology/
Article
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Since the last decade, ambitious nuclear power programmes have begun maturing in the Arab countries, most importantly in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The region's environment and population, therefore, are prone to adverse, long-term impacts of radionuclide discharges. To calculate the associated exposure scenarios, to estimate doses and their c...
Article
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• The aerosol loading during the COVID-19 lockdown in the Arabian Peninsula is investigated. • Despite lower anthropogenic emissions, the particulate matter concentrations increased. • Stronger nocturnal low-level jet in response to tropical convection in the Indian Ocean. • Increased Shamal winds and associate surface winds led to higher dust e...
Article
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Fog microphysics characteristics play an important role in fog life cycle, radiation and visibility. Measurements of fog microphysics are important in understanding these processes and improving existing model parameterization schemes. From 28 January to 17 February 2021, we carried out the first measurements of fog microphysics in the arid region...
Article
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The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model is used to investigate convection–aerosol interactions in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for a summertime convective event. Both an idealized and climatological aerosol distributions are considered. The convection on 14 August 2013 was triggered by the low-level convergence of the cyclonic circulatio...
Article
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Highlights • Extreme dust transport events from the Sahara Desert towards Europe occurred in February 2021, in association with atmospheric rivers (ARs) stretching all the way to northern Europe, with daily accumulated dust loadings of up to 60 g m−2. • Snow darkening by dust deposition over the Alps (the albedo decreased by 40%) and warming at th...
Article
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In June 2020, a major dust outbreak occurred in the Sahara that impacted the tropical Atlantic Ocean. In this study, the dust load and radiative forcing of the dust plumes on both the atmosphere and ocean surface is investigated by means of observations and modelling. We estimated dust loadings in excess of 8 Tg over the eastern tropical Atlantic,...
Article
Full-text available
The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model is used to investigate convection-aerosol interactions in the United Arab Emirates for a summertime convective event. Both an idealised and scaled versions of a 7-year climatological aerosol distribution are considered. The convection on 14 August 2013 was triggered by the low-level convergence of th...
Article
Full-text available
In this article, the climatological state and the seasonal variability of the Arabian heat low (AHL) and the intertropical discontinuity (ITD) are investigated over the Arabian Peninsula using the 1979–2019 ERA‐5 reanalysis data. The AHL is a summertime feature, mostly at 15°–35°N and 40°–60°E, exhibiting a clear strengthening over the last four de...
Article
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Mesoscale Convective Systems (MCSs) over the southern Arabian Peninsula are more common during the spring months of March and April. In this paper, the processes behind such severe convective events and their local-scale impacts are investigated using reanalysis data, satellite-derived and observational products. The analysis of 95 MCS events from...
Preprint
In this paper, the climatological state and the seasonal variability of the Arabian Heat Low (AHL) and the Intertropical Discontinuity (ITD) are investigated over the Arabian Peninsula using the 1979-2019 ERA-5 reanalysis data. The AHL is a summertime feature, mostly at 15º-35ºN and 40º-60ºE, exhibiting a clear strengthening over the last four deca...
Article
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This study provides insights on the composition and variability of atmospheric aerosols over the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by analyzing the atmospheric conditions together with 14‐years (2006‐2019) of aerosol optical depth (AOD) retrieved from CALIPSO (Cloud‐Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation) satellite, and 7 years of AOD...
Presentation
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Presentation at the AMS 16th Conference on Polar Meteorology and Oceanography, 1-4 June 2021.
Article
A reliable fog forecast can assist in water resource management and mitigate against hazardous effects on transport networks. However, diagnosing fog from numerical weather prediction models remains a challenge and various methods have been developed to achieve this. One approach is to use a multi rule-based method, where threshold values of multip...
Article
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Polar regions – where most global ice sheets are stored – are very sensitive to today’s global warming. As a likely consequence, intense atmospheric rivers – long extensions of concentrated moisture in the atmosphere – have developed, leading to polar land ice melt. New research reveals that atmospheric rivers can also cause sea ice melt by bringin...
Presentation
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Welcome all to attend this year AGU2020 sessions. This talk will be in: Session: A016. Dust in a Changing Climate: From Small-Scale Insights to Large-Scale Understanding I Presentation Type: Invited Speaker Final Paper Number: A016-01 Day/Time: 38.0 - Oral: Monday, 7 December 2020: 07:00 - 08:00, Virtual All times are in PST (UTC-8)
Article
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A summertime convective event that developed on 5 September 2017 over the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is investigated in this study. Atmospheric profiles from a ground‐based microwave radiometer along with satellite observations and in situ data from three weather stations in the UAE were used. The event was simulated using the Weather Research and...