Dust aerosol profiling by ground-based and airborne lidar in the framework of FENNEC

Patrick Chazette (1) , Cyrille Flamant (2) , Philippe Royer (1, 3) , Fabien Marnas (2, 4) , Cécile Kocha (2) , Pascal Genau (5) , Pascal Doira (4) , Didier Bruneau (2) , Jacques Pelon (2) , Joseph Sana (4)

1 LSCE - Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement [Gif-sur-Yvette]
2 SPACE - LATMOS
3 LEOSPHERE France
4 ISAC - CNR Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate
5 LATMOS - Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales

The FENNEC program aims to improve our knowledge of both the role of the Saharan Heat Low (SHL) on the West African monsoon and the interactions between the African continent and the Mediterranean basin through the Saharan dust transport. The Saharan desert is the major source of mineral dust in the world and may significantly impact the air quality over the Western Europe by increasing the particular matter content. Two lidar systems were operated by the French component of the FENNEC project: an airborne lidar which was flown aboard the French Falcon 20 research aircraft and a ground-based lidar which was located in the southeastern part of Spain, close to Marbella. A major dust plume originating from multiple emission sources (Mauritania, Morocco, and Algeria) and ultimately transported over southern Spain at the end of June 2011 was observed by the two systems.

Domaines: Physique Atmosphérique et Océanique [physics.ao-ph]; Climatologie; Milieux et Changements globaux

Patrick Chazette, Cyrille Flamant, Philippe Royer, Fabien Marnas, Cécile Kocha, et al.. Dust aerosol profiling by ground-based and airborne lidar in the framework of FENNEC. 26th International Laser Radar Conference (ILRC 26), Jun 2012, Porto Heli, Greece. ⟨hal-00722030⟩