Amadou Abdourhamane Touré

Le cycle des aérosols terrigènes au Sahel: ce qu'AMMA nous a appris

Dust emitted from soil by wind erosion is a main atmospheric compound in the Sahel. Its impacts on climate, biogeochemical cycles and human health explain the present increasing interest of this topic. The different terms of the dust life cycle (emission, transport, deposition) and the parameters controlling this cycle have to be understood and described. The following step is to model the dust cycle to quantify these impacts. In this objective, intensive and long term observing periods, using original experimental set up, were implemented in the frame of AMMA project. This paper summarizes the most significant results obtained during these campaigns. They highlight the major role played by surface features and atmospheric dynamics on dust concentrations in the Sahel as well as the major contribution of Saharan emissions to the Sahelian dust load.