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a
300
publications = 12 * exp ((year-1984)/9)
250
200
150
100
50
0
Year
b
10000
9000
citations = 97 * exp ((year-1984)/6.1)
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
1000
0
Year
Fig. 1.2
Increase in (
a
) publications and (
b
) citations of papers on Saharan dust.
Blue
bars give
actual numbers and red lines best-fit exponential growths. The latter correspond to doubling of the
publication (citation) rate every 6 (4) years. The publication search was performed on 14 August
2013 using Thompson Reuters Web of Knowledge under the term 'dust and Sahar*' and was
conducted on the title, abstract and keywords. The figure is an update and extension of a similar
plot in Kaufman et al. (
2005
)
1.3
Recent Developments: Timeliness of This Topic
As demonstrated by Fig.
1.2
, dust research has accelerated massively since the
late 1990s. This is to some extent a reflection of the development of the field of
Earth system science as a new interdisciplinary research area. The Earth system
concept is built on the idea that a full understanding of the climate system and its
natural and anthropogenic changes over time is not possible without considering
couplings to other 'spheres'. This concept has led to a stronger linkage between
the more classical areas of climate research, atmospheric and oceanic sciences and
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