AMF Deployment, Niamey, Niger, West Africa

In 2006, the ARM Mobile Facility is collecting cloud and atmospheric property measurements from a location near the airport in Niamey, Niger, West Africa.

Main Site: 13° 28' 39.15" N, 2° 10' 27.62" E
Altitude: 205 meters
Ancillary Site: 13° 31' 19.14" N, 2° 37' 56.46" E
Altitude: 228.29 meters

In January 2006, the second deployment of the ARM Mobile Facility (AMF) began in Niamey, Niger, West Africa, at the Niger Meteorological Office at Niamey International Airport. This deployment is timed to coincide with the field phases and Special Observing Periods of the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis (AMMA). The ARM Program will participate in this international effort as the Radiative Divergence using AMF, GERB and AMMA Stations (RADAGAST) field campaign.

The primary purpose of this deployment is to combine an extended series of measurements from the AMF with those from the Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget (GERB) broad-band Earth radiation budget instrument on the Meteosat operational geostationary satellite, to provide the first well-sampled, direct estimates of the divergence of solar and thermal radiation across the atmosphere. The special observing periods will sample absorbing aerosols from desert dust and biomass burning in the dry season and in the summer monsoon to the deep convective clouds and large column moisture loadings. Thus, sampling many of the conditions that have been hypothesized as providing the source of any additional solar absorption. Several other applications will also be made possible by this deployment, notably studies of the impact of clouds, aerosol and water vapour on surface fluxes and validation of satellite-based estimates of surface fluxes through the large seasonal synoptic changes experienced in this part of West Africa.

During January to March, the lower atmosphere in Niamey is often laden with dust blown from the Sahara Desert, causing poor visibility. Scientists will use data collected by the ARM Mobile Facility in 2006 to study the effects of Saharan dust and the West African monsoons.
During January to March, the lower atmosphere in Niamey is often laden with dust blown from the Sahara Desert, causing poor visibility. Scientists will use data collected by the ARM Mobile Facility in 2006 to study the effects of Saharan dust and the West African monsoons.

Niger, West Africa, is one of the hottest countries in the world with heat so intense that it often causes the rain to evaporate before it hits the ground. The anticipated heat and dust is of concern to everyone participating in the campaign, especially with respect to the delicate instruments operating in Africa's extreme conditions. Niamey, a river port and trade center located on the Niger River in the southwestern region of the country, will be headquarters for the AMF. The one-year deployment will allow the science team to collect data during both the dry and wet (monsoon) seasons.

For more information about the site and contact information, see the site operations page. Data plots may be viewed here.