Observations of saharan dust at a north alpine mountain station

Mineral surface material lifted by dust storms over the arid areas of northern Africa has frequently been detected in aerosols sampled at the Wank mountain observatory (1780 m, Bavarian Alps) of the Institute for Atmospheric Environmental Research at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, 47.5°N and II.0°E (Reiter et al., 1985). Heavy intrusions of Saharan dust occur several times a year, generally lasting one to two days. In this contribution two cases observed during fall 1987 are described. They are distinguished by their respective transport routes.