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Abstract. We investigate the dust forecasts from two operational globalatmospheric models in comparison with in situ and remote sensingmeasurements obtained during the AERosol properties – Dust (AER-D) fieldcampaign. Airborne elastic backscatter lidar measurements were performedon board the Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements during August2015 over the eastern Atlantic, and they permitted us to characterise the dustvertical distribution in detail, offering insights on transport from theSahara. They were complemented with airborne in situ measurements of dustsize distribution and optical properties, as well as datasets from theCloud–Aerosol Transport System (CATS) spaceborne lidar and the ModerateResolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). We compare the airborne andspaceborne datasets to operational predictions obtained from the Met OfficeUnified Model (MetUM) and the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service(CAMS). The dust aerosol optical depth predictions from the models aregenerally in agreement with the observations but display a low bias.However, the predicted vertical distribution places the dust lower in theatmosphere than highlighted in our observations. This is particularlynoticeable for the MetUM, which does not transport coarse dust high enoughin the atmosphere or far enough away from the source. We also found that bothmodel forecasts underpredict coarse-mode dust and at times overpredict fine-mode dust, but as they are fine-tuned to represent the observed opticaldepth, the fine mode is set to compensate for the underestimation of thecoarse mode. As aerosol–cloud interactions are dependent on particle numbersrather than on the optical properties, this behaviour is likely to affecttheir correct representation. This leads us to propose an augmentation ofthe set of aerosol observations available on a global scale for constrainingmodels, with a better focus on the vertical distribution and on the particlesize distribution. Mineral dust is a major component of the climate system;therefore, it is important to work towards improving how models reproduce itsproperties and transport mechanisms.

Models transport Saharan dust too low in the atmosphere: a comparison of the MetUM and CAMS forecasts with observations