Summary

In 2018, during the 9th International Workshop on Sand and Dust Storms held in La Laguna (Tenerife), the SDS-WAS NAMEE Regional Center (Sand and Dust Storm Warning Advisory and Assessment System for Northern Africa, Middle East and Europe) was asked to organize a Training Workshop on mineral airborne dust forecast and observational products aimed to western and northern African countries.

To satisfy this request, AEMET has organised this Training Workshop on Sand and Dust Storms in Weast and Northern Africa that will be held in Dakar, Senegal from 9^th to 11^th December 2019 in collaboration with the WMO (world Meteorological Organitzation), BSC-CNS (Barcelona Supercomputing Center), EUMETSAT (European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites) and CSIC (Spanish National Research Council).

An outline of the content and objectives of the workshop is provided here 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.

Objectives

The objectives of the workshop would be to enhance:

• the understanding of the physical processes involved in the dust cycle and the impacts of airborne dust on air quality, health, aviation and diverse socio-economic sectors.
• the technical capacities of operational meteorologists from West and Northern Africa on the analysis and prediction of sand and dust storms, including the use of ground and satellite observations, as well as available dust predictions.

Participants

It was attended by 24 participants from 23 northern and western African countries. Most of them weather forecasters and climatologists from National Meteorological Services.

Language

The workshop has been conducted in English.

Support

This activity has been supported by:

- AEMET through the cooperation funds of AFRIMET and ACMAD

- EUMETSAT