Namib Fog Life Cycle Analysis - Satellite Remote Sensing (NaFoLiCA-S)

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Jan Cermak
• Subject Area: Physical Geography
• Term: from 2016 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 282001949

Fog in the Namib region is an important source of water. The temporal and spatial patterns of fog occurrence are hitherto largely unknown due to absence of spatially continuous observations. Also, factors driving fog development in this coastal desert environment are not fully understood. The proposed project aims to use satellite data to characterize fog in the Namib region. This includes new developments of satellite algorithms as well as statistical analyses. In a first step, fog will be detected in satellite data, and its physical properties will be retrieved. Then, typical life cycles from fog formation to dissipation will be analyzed in this new data set. Finally, a statistical study employing information on meteorological and aerosol conditions will identify drivers of fog development.The proposed project is part of a project package that also includes ground-based observations and numerical weather prediction. Links with these component projects revolve around joining ground-based and satellite-based data for better process understanding, and using the model to constrain fog area and development mechanisms.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Switzerland
• Partner Organisation: Schweizerischer Nationalfonds (SNF)
• Co-Investigator: Dr. Roland Vogt