Observations of the impact of a major Saharan dust storm on.pdfVIP

GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 33, L24817, doi:10.1029/2006GL027869, 2006 Click Here for Full Article Observations of the impact of a major Saharan dust storm on the atmospheric radiation balance A. Slingo,1 T. P. Ackerman,2 R. P. Allan,1 E. I. Kassianov,2 S. A. McFarlane,2 G. J. Robinson,1 J. C. Barnard,2 M. A. Miller,3 J. E. Harries,4 J. E. Russell,4 and S. Dewitte5 Received 14 August 2006; revised 12 October 2006; accepted 10 November 2006; published 30 December 2006. [1] Saharan dust storms have often been observed from 2. Data and Methodology space, but the full impact on the Earth’s radiation balance [3] This study combines data from the Geostationary has been difficult to assess, due to limited observations from Earth Radiation Budget (GERB) broadband radiometer the surface. We present the first simultaneous observations [Harries et al., 2005] and the Spinning Enhanced Visible from space and from a comprehensive new mobile facility and InfraRed Imager (SEVIRI) on the Meteosat-8 weather in Niamey, Niger, of a major dust storm in March 2006. The satellite [Schmetz et al., 2002] with measurements from a results indicate major perturbations to the radiation balance 0 new Mobile Facility located in Niamey, Niger (13 29 N, 2 both at the top of the atmosphere and at the surface. 0