12.4.2016 - After the rain

It has rained during the night both at Nikosia and at the field site. So the dust has been washed out of the air. In the two pictures (facing approximately into the same direction ) you can see the difference between a dust day and a clear day:

Dust day.

Clear day.

Surprisingly, at Nikosia there was also a hailstorm during the day. Pictures will follow.

11.4.2016 - The dust event is over

Although still predicted by the forecast, there was not much dust in the air today. The weather has changed a bit, it became markdly colder with some strong winds in the afternoon. Also for the next days the forecasts see no dust. Here's a forecast example:

On our way to the station we like to stop at our favourite supermarket (open all days) for some fresh fruit:

10.4.2016 - Group Picture at Agia Marina Xyliatou

Yesterday we took a group picture of the crew working at the Agia Marina Xyliatou site:

(c) Nicole Savage

I received also some pictures from the Polly lidar:

The laser beam at night.

This is a construction that was needed to keep the lidar at constant temperature during the hot days.

09.4.2016 - More dust

Today we had even more dust then yesterday. The OPS (optical particle sizer) at the PM10 inlet displayed more than 70 µg/m3:

So everyone was eager to look at the instruments to see how they performed:

To sample as much IN as possible during the dust event, we stayed at field the site until 9:20 pm, and were back at the hotel at 10 pm, just in time not to miss dinner!

08.4.2016

Yes, as the lidar group wrote, the dust has arrived. The sky has turned from clear blue to a shady yellow. But there is still more to come, according to the forecast.

Hazy sky

In the evening, we had a small adventure: Stephan, who left the station a few minutes before we did, damaged a tire. But since we (Hans-Christian and myself) were just a few minutes behind him (and took the same road) we were able to help him changing the tire (in the dark):

Changing a tire in the dark.

This is the metal piece still sticking in the tire.

Dust in the wind ♫

Finally some pure dust!! These are the Lidar observations from the beginning of the campaign.

07.4.2016

We get a daily forecast about the weather development and the expected dust concentration. Now it seems to be interesting for the next days, with maxium concentrations reached in Sunday. On Monday, though, the forecast predicts some rain!

Expected dust mas concentration, with moderate values for tomorrow (April 8) but high values for Sunday (April 10).

Southern Europe will be under the influence of desert dust for the next days.