AMMA dust experiment: An overview of measurements performed during the dry season special observation period (SOP0) at the Banizoumbou (Niger) supersite

In the frame of the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis–Special Observation Period 0 (AMMA SOP0) field campaign, a sophisticated instrumental setup specially designed for documenting the characteristics of aerosols in the surface boundary layer has been operated for 1 month (13 January to 13 February 2006) at the Banizoumbou supersite in Niger. The analysis of the long‐term routine sunphotometer measurements shows that the intensive measurements were performed during a transition phase between a period when biomass burning aerosols are present in the atmospheric column and another when mineral dust is clearly predominant. On the basis of ground‐level observations, three types of events can be defined. (1) Type B events are those corresponding to advection of Biomass burning plumes from southern Sahel. They represent only 3% of the measurement period. (2) Type D events are those during which mineral dust concentrations are larger than 200 μg m−3. They represent 35% of the measuring time, and coincide with advection of mineral dust from distant sources to the measurement site. The composition of the dust differs significantly from one episode to the other, depending on the trajectory of air mass that transported it. (3) Type L events are those that can be explained by occurrence of local erosion and that are of short duration. During them, the aerosol size distribution is dominated by a coarser mode (9 μm) than during the events of the D type dominated by a finer mode (4.5 μm). Elemental analysis also shows that mineral dust is relatively rich in Fe and poor in Ca, which is typical of the Sahelian aerosols.