A detailed characterization of the Saharan dust collected during the Fennec campaign in 2011: in situ ground-based and laboratory measurements

Millions of tons of mineral dust are lifted by the wind from arid surfaces and transported around the globe every year. The physical and chemical properties of the mineral dust are needed to better constrain remote sensing observations and are of fundamental importance for the understanding of dust atmospheric processes. Ground-based in situ measurements and in situ filter collection of Saharan dust were obtained during the Fennec campaign in the central Sahara in 2011. This paper presents results of the absorption and scattering coefficients, and hence single scattering albedo (SSA), of the Saharan dust measured in real time during the last period of the campaign and subsequent laboratory analysis of the dust samples collected in two supersites, SS1 and SS2, in Algeria and in Mauritania, respectively. The samples were taken to the laboratory, where their size and aspect ratio distributions, mean chemical composition, spectral mass absorption efficiency, and spectral imaginary refractive index were obtained from the ultraviolet (UV) to the near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths. At SS1 in Algeria, the time series of the scattering coefficients during the period of the campaign show dust events exceeding 3500 Mm−1, and a relatively high mean SSA of 0.995 at 670 nm was observed at this site. The laboratory results show for the fine particle size distributions (particles diameter  < 5µm and mode diameter at 2–3 µm) in both sites a spectral dependence of the imaginary part of the refractive index Im(m) with a bow-like shape, with increased absorption in UV as well as in the shortwave infrared. The same signature was not observed, however, in the mixed particle size distribution (particle diameter  < 10 µm and mode diameter at 4 µm) in Algeria. Im(m) was found to range from 0.011 to 0.001i for dust collected in Algeria and 0.008 to 0.002i for dust collected in Mauritania over the wavelength range of 350–2500 nm. Differences in the mean elemental composition of the dust collected in the supersites in Algeria and in Mauritania and between fine and mixed particle size distributions were observed from EDXRF measurements, although those differences cannot be used to explain the optical properties variability between the samples. Finally, particles with low-density typically larger than 10 µm in diameter were found in some of the samples collected at the supersite in Mauritania, but these low-density particles were not observed in Algeria

Identification and quantification of dust aerosol emission over the Sahara from Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) observations

Dust aerosols are an important component of the climate system and a challenge to incorporate into weather and climate models. Information on the location and magnitude of dust emission remains a key information gap to inform model development. Inadequate surface observations ensure that satellite data remain the primary source of this information over extensive and remote desert regions. Here, we develop estimates of the relative magnitude of active dust emission over the Sahara desert based on data from the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP). Utilising the unique vertical profile of aerosol characteristics provided by CALIOP our algorithm identifies emission from aerosol extinction and lidar backscatter in the near surface layers. From the long-term CALIOP archive of day and night-time orbits over 2006–13 we construct coarse resolution maps of a new dust emission index (DEI) for the Sahara desert during the peak summer dust season (June to September). The spatial structure of DEI indicates highest emission over a broad zone focused on the border regions of Southern Algeria, Northern Mali and northwest Niger, displaced substantially (∼7°) to the east of the mean maximum in satellite-derived aerosol optical depth. In this region night-time emission exceeds that during the day. The DEI maps substantially corroborate recently derived dust source frequency count maps based on back-tracking plumes in high temporal resolution SEVIRI imagery. As such, a convergence of evidence from multiple satellite data sources using independent methods provides an increasingly robust picture of Saharan dust emission sources. Various caveats are considered. As such, quantitative estimates of dust emission may require a synergistic combined multi-sensor analysis

Advances in understanding mineral dust and boundary layer processes over the Sahara from Fennec aircraft observations

International audienceThe Fennec climate program aims to improve understanding of the Saharan climate system through a synergy of observations and modelling. We present a description of the Fennec airborne observations during 2011 and 2012 over the remote Sahara (Mauritania and Mali) and the advances in the understanding of mineral dust and boundary layer processes they have provided. Aircraft instrumentation aboard the UK FAAM BAe146 and French SAFIRE Falcon 20 is described, with specific focus on instrumentation specially developed and relevant to Saharan meteorology and dust. Flight locations, aims and associated meteorology are described. Examples and applications of aircraft measurements from the Fennec flights are presented, highlighting new scientific results delivered using a synergy of different instruments and aircraft. These include: (1) the first airborne measurement of dust particles sized up to 300 microns and associated dust fluxes in the Saharan atmospheric boundary layer (SABL), (2) dust uplift from the breakdown of the nocturnal low-level jet before becoming visible in SEVIRI satellite imagery, (3) vertical profiles of the unique vertical structure of turbulent fluxes in the SABL, (4) in-situ observations of processes in SABL clouds showing dust acting as CCN and IN at −15 °C, (5) dual-aircraft observations of the SABL dynamics, thermodynamics and composition in the Saharan heat low region (SHL), (6) airborne observations of a dust storm associated with a cold-pool (haboob) issued from deep convection over the Atlas, (7) the first airborne chemical composition measurements of dust in the SHL region with differing composition, sources (determined using Lagrangian backward trajectory calculations) and absorption properties between 2011 and 2012, (8) coincident ozone and dust surface area measurements suggest coarser particles provide a route for ozone depletion, (9) discrepancies between airborne coarse mode size distributions and AERONET sunphotometer retrievals under light dust loadings. These results provide insights into boundary layer and dust processes in the SHL region – a region of substantial global climatic importance

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Meteorology and dust over the central Sahara: observations from Fennec supersite-1 during the June 2011 intensive observation period

[1] We describe observations from the Fennec supersite at Bordj-Badji Mokhtar made during the June 2011 Fennec Intensive Observation Period. These are the first detailed in-situ observations of meteorology and dust from the central Sahara, close to the centre of the Saharan Heat Low and the summertime dust maximum. Historically, a shortage of such Saharan observations has created problems for evaluating processes, models and remote sensing. [2] There was a monsoon influence at BBM before the 8th and after the 12th June, with dry Harmattan winds in between. A split boundary layer, generated by ventilation from the Atlantic, persisted during the drier phase. Extensive cold-pools (haboobs) and microburst-type events were regularly observed. Moisture reached BBM at night from the monsoon and the embedded haboobs. As well as the regularly occurring nocturnal low-level jet (LLJ), a Saharan upper boundary-layer (650-hPa) jet was observed, where winds feel drag from dry convection in the afternoon. This jet is linked to the diurnal cycles of moisture and cloud. Most dust was observed in the cloudier monsoon-affected periods and co-varying dust and cloud amounts explain most of the variations in shortwave radiation that control the surface sensible flux. Dustiness is related to a standard parameterisation of uplift using 10-m winds (“uplift potential”) and this is used to estimate uplift. Around 50% of uplift is nocturnal. Around 30% is from the LLJ and 50% from haboobs, which are mainly nocturnal. This demonstrates, for the first time from observations, the key role of haboobs, which are problematic for models

Meteorological and dust aerosol conditions over the western Saharan region observed at Fennec Supersite-2 during the intensive observation period in June 2011

The climate of the Sahara is relatively poorly observed and understood, leading to errors in forecast model simulations. We describe observations from the Fennec Supersite-2 (SS2) at Zouerate, Mauritania during the June 2011 Fennec Intensive Observation Period. These provide an improved basis for understanding and evaluating processes, models, and remote sensing. Conditions during June 2011 show a marked distinction between: (i) a "Maritime phase" during the early part of the month when the western sector of the Sahara experienced cool northwesterly maritime flow throughout the lower troposphere with shallow daytime boundary layers, very little dust uplift/transport or cloud cover. (ii) A subsequent "heat low" phase which coincided with a marked and rapid westward shift in the Saharan heat low towards its mid-summer climatological position and advection of a deep hot, dusty air layer from the central Sahara (the "Saharan residual layer"). This transition affected the entire western-central Sahara. Dust advected over SS2 was primarily from episodic low-level jet (LLJ)-generated emission in the northeasterly flow around surface troughs. Unlike Fennec SS1, SS2 does not often experience cold pools from moist convection and associated dust emissions. The diurnal evolution at SS2 is strongly influenced by the Atlantic inflow (AI), a northwesterly flow of shallow, cool and moist air propagating overnight from coastal West Africa to reach SS2 in the early hours. The AI cools and moistens the western Saharan and weakens the nocturnal LLJ, limiting its dust-raising potential. We quantify the ventilation and moistening of the western flank of the Sahara by (i) the large-scale flow and (ii) the regular nocturnal AI and LLJ mesoscale processes. Key Points First detailed observations from western Sahara sector Intraseasonal shift in Saharan heat low drives meteorological/aerosol conditions Atlantic Inflow interaction with low level jet