Journal ArticleDOI
Temporal and spatial variations of the atmospheric dust loading throughout West Africa over the last thirty years
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In this paper, the authors evaluated the 30-year period beginning in 1957 by calculating the number of occurrences where the observed visibility was reduced below threshold values of 10 km and 5 km, and found that the frequency of low visibility was several times greater for the 1977-1986 period than for the 1957-1966 period.Abstract:
The dust haze conditions, typical of the African atmosphere south of the Sahara, are a result of wind-generated dust from arid lands. The magnitude of the dust haze is evaluated for the 30-year period beginning in 1957 by calculating the number of occurrences where the observed visibility was reduced below threshold values of 10 km and 5 km. The frequency of low visibility was several times greater for the 1977–1986 period than for the 1957–1966 period. Large decreases in visibility are observed after the severe droughts of 1972–1973 and 1982-1984. Contrasting regional differences of the dustiness evolution are noticed. These differences are closely related to the differences in the regional rainfall evolution. The increase in dustiness is believed to arise from dust produced in new desertic areas which result from rainfall shortages along the southern border of the Sahara.read more
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Journal ArticleDOI
Atmospheric global dust cycle and iron inputs to the ocean
Natalie M. Mahowald,Alex R. Baker,Gilles Bergametti,Nick Brooks,Robert A. Duce,Tim Jickells,Nilgun Kubilay,Joseph M. Prospero,Ina Tegen +8 more
TL;DR: A review of the current understanding of the global dust cycle and identifies future research needs can be found in this paper, where the global distribution of desert dust is estimated from a combination of observations of dust from in situ concentration, optical depth, and deposition data; observations from satellite; and global atmospheric models.
Journal ArticleDOI
Climatic and environmental change in Africa during the last two centuries
TL;DR: The most significant climatic change that has occurred has been a long-term reduction in rainfall in the semi-arid regions of West Africa, which was on the order of 20 to 40% in parts of the Sahel as discussed by the authors.
Journal ArticleDOI
Land surface processes and Sahel climate
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the role of land surface-atmosphere interactions in the West African Sahel and their role in the interannual variability of rainfall, and present arguments for the role that land surface feedback in producing these features and reviews research relevant to land surface processes in the region, such as results from the 1992 Hydrologic Atmospheric Pilot Experiment (HAPEX)-Sahel experiment and recent studies on aerosols and on the issue of desertification in the area, a factor implicated by some as a cause of the changes in rainfall.
Journal ArticleDOI
Aeolian processes and the biosphere
Sujith Ravi,Paolo D'Odorico,David D. Breshears,Jason P. Field,Andrew Goudie,Travis E. Huxman,Junran Li,Junran Li,Gregory S. Okin,Robert J. Swap,Andrew D. Thomas,Scott Van Pelt,Jeffrey J. Whicker,Ted M. Zobeck +13 more
TL;DR: Ravi, S., D'Odorico, P., Breshears, D. D., Field, J. S., Swap, R. J., Thomas, A. V., Whicker, J., Zobeck, T. M..
Journal ArticleDOI
Satellite detection of dust using the IR imagery of Meteosat: 1. Infrared difference dust index
TL;DR: The infrared difference Dust Index (IDDI) as discussed by the authors is a satellite dust product designed for climatological applications, designed specifically for dust remote sensing in arid regions such as the Sahel and Sahara, which is based on the atmospheric response to dust, extracted from midday Meteosat,IR imagery, and takes advantage of the impact of dust aerosols on the thermal infra-red radiance outgoing to space.
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