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The Dustiest Place on Earth
The BodEx field experiment – Chad 2005. Funded by the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) and the Gilchrist Educational Trust.
 The Project
By far the dustiest place on Earth is the Bodélé depression (in the Djourab of northern Chad). This multi-national, interdisciplinary field based project set out to understand why and to document the sources and effects of dust combining field with satellite based observations.
Why this is important
Each year nearly half the dust that leaves the Sahara comes from the Bodélé depression. It is blown into the atmosphere – affecting climate – and across the Atlantic – altering the nutrients in the sea and in the Amazon Basin. Understanding where, when and how the dust is released and its impacts on current and future climate is vitally important.
Key Findings
Before BodEx, the only data on dust from the Bodélé depression came from satellites (TOMS). The team collected the first ever field observations of an extraordinary climatic episode that is an essential element in the dustiness of the Bodélé, and identified a unique dust-generating process, never before reported, let alone monitored.
The project has yielded 14 key scientific papers (listed below). Two of these papers have received awards from the journals in which they are published – including best science journalism in Nature. A MOU has been signed with collaborating field scientists in Chad and a £3.5m consortium bid is under review by NERC.
 
View a photo gallery of the project
Find out more about the field research and time in Chad
Key scientific results
- Todd, M.C, Washington R., Martins V., Lizcano G., Dubovik., O, M'Bainayel, S., Engelstaedter, S. (2006) Mineral dust emission from the Bodele Depression, Chad, during BoDEx. Journal of Geophysical Research. [PDF: UCL website]
- N. Drake and C. Bristow (2006) Shorelines in the Sahara: geomorphological evidence for an enhanced monsoon from palaeolake Megachad. The Holocene 16(6): 901-911. [PDF: 968KB]
- I. Koren, Y.J. Kaufman, R. Washington, M.C. Todd, Y. Rudich, J.V. Martins and D. Rosenfeld (2006) The Bodélé depression: a single spot in the Sahara that provides most of the mineral dust to the Amazon forest. Environ. Res. Lett., 1: 1-5. [PDF: 1.1MB]
- R. Washington, M.C. Todd, G. Lizcano, I. Tegen, C. Flamant, I. Koren, P. Ginoux, S. Engelstaedter, C.S. Bristow, C.S. Zender, A.S. Goudie, A. Warren, and J.M. Prospero (2006) Links between topography, wind, deflation, lakes and dust: The case of the Bodélé Depression, Chad. Geophysical Research Letters, 33: Art. No. L09401. [PDF: 292KB]
- I. Tegen, B. Heinold, M. Todd, J. Helmert, R. Washington, and O. Dubovik (2006) Modelling soil dust aerosol in the Bodélé depression during the BoDEx campaign. Atmos. Chem. Phys., 6: 4345–4359. [PDF: 3.0MB]
- Eckardt, F.D., Coetzee, S.H., and Washington, R. (2005) SEM view of world's most significant dust cloud sampled at Chicha, The Chad, Bodele Depression, Sahara. Microscopy Society of Southern Africa Proceedings, 35: 23. [PDF: 494KB]
- Washington, R., M.C. Todd, S. Engelstaedter, S. Mbainayel and F. Mitchell (2005) Dust and the Low Level Circulation over the Bodélé Depression, Chad: Observations from BoDEx 2005. J. Geophys. Res. Atmospheres Vol. 111, No. D3, D03201. [PDF: 254KB]
- Washington, R. and M.C. Todd (2005) Atmospheric Controls on Mineral Dust Emission from the Bodélé Depression, Chad: The role of the Low Level Jet. Geophysical Research Letters, 32(17): Art. No. L17701. [PDF: 1.1MB]
Nature articles
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