AEROCLO-sA is a multi-agency program initiated by France. It consists of German, Italian, Greek, South African and Namibian scientists, aiming to characterize the regional aerosols, biomass burning but also mineral dust and marine aerosols, for an observational-validated evaluation of their radiative effects over the WCSA.
AEROCLO-sA is supported by the French National Research Agency under grant agreement n° ANR-15-CE01-0014-01, the French national program LEFE/INSU, through the LEFE/CHAT and PNTS actions ( http://www.insu.cnrs.fr/pnts), grant n° PNTS-2016-14, the French National Agency for Space Studies (CNES), and the South African National Research Foundation (NRF) under grant UID 105958. It also receives funding from the European Union’s 7th Framework Programme (FP7/2014-2018) under EUFAR2 contract n°312609″. The HBAO observatory receives funding through the “Atmospheric Research in southern Africa and the Indian Ocean” (ARSAIO) project (CNRS and South African NRF), the PICS contract n. 260888 (CNRS) as well as by PHC PROTEA of the French Ministery of Foreigns Affairs and International Development (contract numbers 33913SF and 38255ZE).
Airborne data is obtained using the aircraft managed by Safire, the French facility for airborne research, an infrastructure of the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), Météo-France and the French National Center for Space Studies (CNES).
The project benefited of the strong diplomatic assistance of the French Embassy in Namibia, the administrative support of the Service Partnership and Valorisation of the Regional Delegation of the Paris-Villejuif Region of the CNRS, and the cooperation of the Namibian National Commission on Research, Science and Technology (NCRST). The SANUMARC research center of the University of Namibia in Henties Bay supports the long-term deployment of the HBAO station.
