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Mineral dust aerosols from the Sahara desert: Monitoring and modelling aerosol processes and climate impact

Source: LASG Viewed: time(s) Time: 2010-9-3

Speaker

Professor Martin Todd

Affiliation

University of Sussex, UK

Time

10am, 3 September, 2010

Location

Room 303, Keyan Building

Introduction

The Sahara desert is the world’s largest source of mineral dust aerosols, accounting for at least half of all global emission. Vast dust plumes from preferential source regions in the Sahara are transported many thousands of kilometres across West Africa,the Atlantic, and towards the Americas. These plumes have important, but relatively poorly understood, direct and indirect effects on the radiation budget, cloud processes and oceanic/terrestrial bio-geochemical cycles. Drawing on recent observational campaigns including BoDEx 2005, Gerbils and AMMA, this seminar provides a summary of recent advances in understanding the Saharan dust cycle. Specifically, I will focus on (i) understanding the physical processes which produce major dust plumes, from synoptic to meso-scale atmospheric phenomena. (ii) Quantifyingthe climate impact of dust and its role in bio-geochemical processes. (iii) The state-of-the-art in modelling dust aerosol processes for prediction at timescales from days to decades.

Prof. Todd: A short profile

Professor Martin Todd is the Chair in Climate Change at the University of Sussex, UK. Previously he held lectureship positions at University College London and the University of Oxford. As a climate scientist Professor Todd specialises in the role of mineral dust aerosols in the climate system and climate change impacts and the hydrological cycle. He has over 60 peer-reviewed publications, in high-level journals including JGR, Journal of Climate,GRL, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics and Global Biogeochemical Cycles. His research has a strong emphasis on the climate of Africa.

Prof. Todd’s research on aerosols has examined atmospheric controls on dust emission, quantifying the dust budget, and the climate impact of dust, utilising ground based and satellite observations and model experiments. In particular, Todd was the PI on the unique Bodele Dust Experiment (BoDEx 2005), the first field project to the Bodele Depression in Northern Chad, the worlds biggest single dust source. He was also a member of the aerosol task team of the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis project (AMMA). Currently, he is Co-investigator on the project ‘Fennec: The climate of the Sahara’.

In addition to his research on aerosols Prof. Todd has led numerous international projects on climate change and hydro-ecological systems, include the NERC QUEST-GSI project and Darwin Initiative Accord project. He has contributed to high-level policy initiatives through co-authorship on the African Climate Report for the 2005 G8 meeting.