This video has been produced in partnership with EUMETSAT.

The Saharan desert is one of the major dust sources worldwide, and contributes to the generation of massive dust storms that can affect areas far away from the original dust sources. Dust storm impacts are numerous and wide-ranging, including effects on human health, climate processes, atmospheric chemistry, nutrient dynamics and biogeochemical cycling in both oceanic and terrestrial environments.

Dust storms in the Sahara are usually more frequent during seasonal transitions, such as in spring or in the fall. Strong near-surface winds (for example trade winds occurring over North Africa named harmattan) help dust uplift and transport overlong-range distances. For example, dust storms can be caused by wind gusts accompanying cold pools during severe storms.

A hurricane named Ophelia affected West Africa as well as the Azores during October 2017. While the hurricane moved northwards, mineral dust from the Sahara was transported towards the Azores and Europe. As wildfires occurred at the same time in the Azores, the mineral dust was carried out to Europe at the same time as smoke particles and also carbon monoxide (CO) emanating from the wildfires. The presence of the particulates in particular in the European atmosphere lead to an unusual yellow-orange sky, with the sun appearing red.

In this video, Cathy Clerbaux, senior scientist at LATMOS explains how dust plumes and wildfire smoke could be identified using remote sensing from both ground-based and satellite-based instruments, and how numerical models were able to monitor the transport of this material though the atmosphere.

Featured Educator

• Dr Cathy Clerbaux, Senior Scientist, LATMOS

In partnership with EUMETSAT