Harmattan

The Harmattan is a continental wind system in North Africa, the northeast trade winds blowing as between 10 ° and about 20 ° north latitude. Generally he blows all year in the arid regions of the Sahara. From the Western Sahara to over the Cape Verde Islands, it delivers large amounts of desert dust and sand with it, which are clearly visible as dust clouds in satellite images. It occurs mainly in the dry season and in the boreal winter (December to about March ) in the regions of the Sahel and Sudan, and is being replaced there by the southwest monsoon in the summer months.

Through the Harmattan sediments are also worn on the Atlantic Ocean through the Windabrasionsprozesse domestically. Regions in which the harmattan blows almost all year round is the Bodélé depression, the mountainous regions of the Aïr, Tibesti and the plateau of Djado; the Ténéré desert and the Grand Erg du Bilma.