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World Weather Research Programme (WWRP)

WWRP > SDS >

WMO Sand and Dust Storm Warning Advisory
and Assessment System

(SDS-WAS)

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The SDS-WAS programme at WMO

SDS-WAS was established in 2007 in response to the intention of 40 WMO member countries to improve capabilities for more reliable sand and dust storm forecasts. Research forecasting products from atmospheric dust models may substantially contribute to risk reduction in many areas of societal benefit. It will rely on real-time delivery of products.

More than 15 organizations currently provide daily dust forecasts in different geographic regions. The SDS-WAS integrates research and user communities (e.g. medical, aeronautical, agricultural users). SDS-WAS is established as a federation of partners organized around regional nodes. At the moment two nodes are established: the Northern Africa-Middle East-Europe Node (hosted by Spain) and the Asian Node (hosted by China). The SDS-WAS mission is to achieve comprehensive, coordinated and sustained observations and modeling capabilities of sand and dust storms in order to improve the monitoring of sand and dust storms to increase the understanding of the dust processes and to enhance dust prediction capabilities.

SDS-WAS Implementation

Science and Implementation Plan

Organizations currently delivering or developing SDS systematic forecasts

Objectives of the SDS-WAS

To enhance operational SDS forecasts through technology transfer from research.
To improve observation technology.
To provide users access to forecasts and observations.
To promote research and applications related to the sand and dust storm process.
To build capacity of countries to utilize SDS products.
To build bridges with other relevant communities.

Regional Nodes of SDS-WAS

Northern Africa-Middle East-Europe (NA-ME-E) Node	Asia Node
Northern Africa-Middle East-Europe (NA-ME-E) Node	Dust Forecasts for the Asian Region
Members of the SDS-WAS Regional Steering Group (RSG)	Members of the SDS-WAS Regional Steering Group (RSG)

Upcoming Meetings	Past Meetings
International Cooperative for Aerosol Prediction (ICAP) 4th Workshop: Aerosol Emission and Removal Processes, 14-17 May 2012, ESA/ESRIN, Frascati, Italy	I.R. of Iran Meteorological Organization (IRIMO)/WMO Training Workshop on Dust Storms, Tehran, Iran, 18-20 October 2011 [Brochure and poster] 1st International Workshop on the Long-Range Transport and Impacts of African Dust on the Americas, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 6-7 October 2011 The Sixth International Workshop on Sandstorms and Environmental Impact Assessments will be held in Glyfada-Athens, Greece, on 7-9 September 2011 WMO SDS-WAS/GESAMP Expert Workshop on Modelling and Observing the Impacts of Dust Transport and Deposition on Marine Productivity (Malta, 7-9 March 2011)
	WMO Training Course on Satellite Meteorology and Remote Sensing of Atmospheric Sand and Dust Storms (SDS) (Barcelona, Spain, 8-19 November 2010)
	Workshop on the Implementation of the WMO SDS-WAS Asia Node (Seoul, Korea, 28- 30 October 2009)
	ESA/WMO Expert Consultation Meeting for Development of Satellite Products relevant to Sand and Dust Storm Prediction and Assessment (Barcelona, Spain, 8-9 September 2009)
	First Meeting of the Regional Steering Group of the SDS-WAS for the regional node North Africa/Europe/Middle East (Tunis, Tunisia, 24-25 November 2008)
	First Meeting of the Regional Steering Group of the SDS-WAS for the regional node Asia (Bejing, China, 4-6 November 2008)
	3rd International Workshop on Mineral Dust (Leipzig, Germany, 15-17 September 2008)
	Meeting of the Writing Team for the SDS-WAS Implementation Plan (Athens, Greece, 9-10 June 2008)
	The WMO/GEO Expert Meeting on an International Sand and Dust Storm Warning and Assessment System (SDS-WAS) Barcelona, Spain, 7-9 November 2007 [weblink]; Meeting papers posted at: IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science (EES)

News

MACC (Monitoring Atmospheric Composition and Climate) Report on “Meningitis linked to mineral dust transport in the Sahel”, April 2011.

This report summarizes the activities and major findings of the health specific user community test case (“Meningitis linked to mineral dust transport in the Sahel”) conducted within MACC. Read more

The Izaña Atmospheric Observatory (GAW Station) observed in
July 2010 a Saharan dust intrusion in Canary Islands. Read more

A new photometers AERONET station was set up in Cairo.

The SDS-Africa project aims to reinforce atmospheric monitoring capacity of aerosols in the north of Africa. In the near future, the setting up of another two photometers in Tunisia and Morocco is planned. Read more

Spanish Government continues to support the activites of the SDS-WAS Northern Africa-Middle East-Europe (NA-ME-E) Node.

An agreement between the State Meteorological Agency for Spain (AEMET) and the National Supercomputing Center-Barcelona (BCS-CNS) was signed making Barcelona the official home of the Sand and Dust Storm Warning, Advisory, and Assessment System (SDS-WAS)'s Regional Centre for Northern Africa, Middle East and Europe. This centre will provide access to observations and research and semi-operational predictions of sand and dust events by models that incorporation these aerosol into numerical weather prediction models. In addition to the model predictions, a reanalysis product also provides a long-term record of sand and dust events that is critical to studies of health impacts. The WWRP gratefully acknowledges the participants in this project and the Spanish government for their continued support. Read more

Introduction

Aerosols such as mineral dust are particles suspended in air. The size of aerosols in general
ranges from a few nanometers up to some hundred micrometers.

The mineral aerosol has it sources in sand and dust storms, which are the main origins of the natural atmospheric aerosol. When winds are strong and other (near-) surface atmospheric conditions (such as turbulence level, stability, soil moisture) are favorable, large amounts of sand and dust can be lifted from bare, dry soils into the atmosphere. Every year 1.5 tons of sand and dust are emitted from deserts into the atmosphere.

dust storm in Texas

Dust storm in Texas; Wikimedia Commons

Suspended sand and dust generates semi-permanent patterns of local and regional scales that persist in the atmosphere for several days. Moreover dust can be transported downwind affecting regions hundreds to thousands of kilometers away. The distance of transport is mainly depending on the meteorological conditions in the free atmosphere.

Although it is not usually considered, dust plays an important role in our everyday life affecting e.g. human and veterinary health (asthma, infections, Meningitis in Africa, Valley fever in America). Furthermore dust aerosols have numerous impacts on environment, agriculture, marine ecosystems (productivity), fisheries, transport in dusty regions, visibility, aviation (air disasters) and weather and climate at larger scales. Once in the atmosphere the particles interact with solar and thermal radiation and clouds, having an impact on the Earth radiation balance and thus influencing the Earth’s weather and climate.

Scientific Background

Today, there is accumulated scientific evidence on different roles of dust on environment and climate. The schematic diagram below shows the atmospheric dust process and the impacts of atmospheric dust.

By clicking on an element in the diagram (or on a tag from the following list: anthropogenic impact, dust sources and dust process, health aspects, impact on biosphere, impact on climate and weather, impact on hurricanes, impact on ocean, measurement techniques, transport), a review and a list of corresponding publications will appear allowing a more detailed study of different aspects. Below the diagram there is a link to the whole publication list for all the considered issues.

dust process and impacts

Atmospheric dust process and impacts;

Publication list sand and dust occurence

Modeling of sand and dust storm events

Modeling of dust transport and concentrations in the atmosphere is very important to contribute to risk reduction in many areas (aviation, health impacts, etc.). During the last decade, a dozen numerical modeling systems for sand and dust forecasting have been developed. Most models are using atmospheric weather prediction models as an on-line driver. Dust particle distribution is introduced in the models as a common component. The dust mass conservation equation is embedded as one of the model governing equations. To simulate the sand and dust storm processes advanced numerical parameterization methods are used.

The previous-day predicted/simulated concentration field has to be used as an initial one for a proceeding day, because of the lack of 3D observations of mineral dust. In general there are limited dust-concentration data available, which makes model validation difficult. Another problem is the resolution in the atmospheric models- it is typically 10 to 100 km, which is too coarse to represent the spatial variations of dust emission.

The SDS-WAS programme contains of many research and/or operational institutes performing daily forecasts of sand and dust (see diagram below).

dust forecasting institutes

Overview of SDS-WAS models; the blue spots show the two regional nodes;

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WMO Sand and Dust Storm Warning Advisory and Assessment System

(SDS-WAS)

WMO Sand and Dust Storm Warning Advisory
and Assessment System