With an annual global emission flux of about 2,000 Mt per year is desert dust a dominant contributor to the global atmospheric aerosol burden. It alters radiation and stimulates cloud and precipitation formation processes. Although inevitably for understanding the Earth system, detailed knowledge on the atmospheric dust life-cycle and its feedback mechanism is still limited.

In the framework of this project, we will investigate the dust aerosol distribution in the southern hemisphere. In particular, we will examine dust emission and controlling atmospheric and soil related drivers fostering dust entrainment into the atmosphere and the wind and trubulence-driven dispersion (transport). We will assess the spatial distribution and characteristics of desert pavements in Namibia, investigating their role in modulating the atmospheric dust cycle by using an aerosol-atmosphere model.