CADEX (Central Asian Dust EXperiment)

CADEX is a joint German-Tajik project to investigate the atmospheric mineral dust over Tajikistan. The goal of the project is to measure and compile a not yet available dataset of the optical and microphysical properties of Central Asian mineral dust on a longer-term basis. The data will be used for the characterization and investigation of the particle types, possible aerosol sources, and the aerosol influence on the radiation budget. The fieldwork of CADEX will include column-integrating sun photometer measurements, vertically resolved lidar measurements, and ground-based meteorological observations in Dushanbe/Tajikistan for a period of one year. In addition, the field experiment will be accompanied by 3-D regional modeling of the transport and radiative effects of mineral dust. The CADEX project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research in the context of "Partnerships for sustainable problem solving in emerging and developing countries". In this context, an ongoing close scientific cooperation between the Physical-Technical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan and the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research will be established to improve atmospheric measurement capabilities in Tajikistan.

This is a Tajikistan foto report from Dr. Dietrich Althausen und Julian Hofer from TROPOS.