The ‘WMO Sand and Dust Warning Advisory and Assessment System’ Program

Abstract

Large amounts of sand and dust are continually lifted from bare, dry soils and transported through the atmosphere affecting regions hundreds to thousands of kilometers away. For countries in and downwind of arid regions, airborne sand and dust present serious risks to the environment, human health and economy. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has taken the lead with international partners to develop and implement a Sand and Dust Storm Warning Advisory and Assessment System (SDS-WAS). The program is organized around a Regional Center for Asia and a Regional Centre for Northern Africa, Middle East and Europe. The Regional Centre for Northern Africa, Middle East and Europe, set in Barcelona, is hosted by the Barcelona Supercomputing Center-Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSCCNS) and the Meteorological State Agency from Spain (AEMET). Its first objective is to lead the development and implementation of a comprehensive system for mineral dust observation and forecast in the region, with special emphasis on extreme sand and dust events. The second objective of the Regional Centre is to facilitate user access to information. It manages a web-based portal for user access to value-added observational and forecast products as well as sources of basic information: in particular, the portal provides the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services with the necessary input to issue dust-related early warnings. The third objective is to build capacity of countries to use observations, analysis and forecasts provided by the WMO SDS-WAS programme.