MAC-CLIMA Workshop on SDS-WAS West Africa: Mauritania II

Summary

In the framework of the MAC-CLIMA Interreg project, AEMET (State Meteorological Agency of Spain) has organized a two-days workshop on mineral dust forecast and observational products aimed at meteorologists and technicians of ONM (Office National de la Météorologie de la Mauritanie).

This workshop is part of the first phase of the development of a SDS warning system for all western and northern African countries. This system is based on the pilot project of a warning advisory system successfully working in Burkina Faso since October 2018.

An outline of the content and objectives of the workshop is provided below:

Background

More than 500 million people live in West and Northern Africa, a region stretching from the Gulf of Guinea in the west to the Red Sea in the east and covering areas such as the Sahara desert and the Sahel. The Sahara is the most extensive desert on Earth and the main emission source of mineral dust into the atmosphere. Airborne dust does not only affect the desert itself, but, especially in winter and spring, is dragged to densely populated areas of the Sahel and the Gulf of Guinea, where it causes a deep deterioration of air quality and triggers serious health problems. High concentrations of dust also affect agriculture, aviation, due to the drastic reduction in visibility, and other socio-economic sectors.

Workshop Objectives

In this second workshop we will revise all the forecast and observational products available in the new website of the Barcelona Dust Regional Center. Besides, we will explain some concepts in order to improve Calitoo AOD measurements, the new calibration of the PM sensor provided by the Izaña Atmospheric Research Center (CIAI) and finally, graphical outputs developed to evaluate our forecast products.  

Participants

Meteorologists and technicians of ONM

Funding

Activity 85% co-financed by European Regional Developing Fund (ERDF)

26 January 2022

Online

Venue

Microsoft TEAMS

Organized by

AEMET, MAC-CLIMA INTERREG

Event type

Workshop

Time

09:00 - 12:00 UTC

Language

French, English

Duration

3 h

Agenda

DOWNLOAD

Images

Barcelona Dust Regional Center

Presentations

Barcelona Dust Regional Center

Barcelona Dust Regional Center