Gareth's AMMA pictures.

In August 2006 I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to participate in the AMMA field program. I was in Niamey, Niger from the 9th to 22nd August working with the British BAe-146 research aircraft (see its dedicated webpage at http://www.faam.ac.uk). I was mostly involved in vain attempts to forecast and monitor the weather specifically for the research flights (which tended to be chemistry rather than meteorology orientated), but I got to fly on two missions as 'mission scientist 2', which is a sort of research flight groupie. Below are a small selection of my photos with a little caption - click on the thumbnail for a bigger picture. Note I've reduced the quality a bit to make them smaller you can email me if you want the original for some strange reason.

The morning after arrival in Niamey after 36 hours of travel via NYC and Paris, with an unscheduled stop in Casablanca. My bags enjoyed the trip so much they decided to take an extra weeks excursion around Europe or Africa courtesy of Air France!. This is the view of the River Niger looking upstream from the terrace of the Grand Hotel.

Another view of the River Niger from the hotel terrace. The island you see in the centre seems to be used by locals for rice growing during the wet season. The bridge you see is the John F Kennedy bridge, the only bridge across the river that I saw.

Yet another view of the river Niger, this time looking downstream. From other pictures I've seen, the level of water is relatively high, about 6 weeks earlier the branch of the river in the foreground was just a trickle.

A closer view of some local farmers tending to what I think is rice crop on the island in the centre of the River Niger.

The front of the Grand Hotel du Niger.

A view towards the city centre of Niamey from the open corridor in front of my hotel room. The building in the foreground (Salles de Reunion) was the HQ of the UK team.

Another view from outside my room, looking along a main road, the Hotel Galweye is the building on the left and the building on the right is some government building.

An AMMA ozonesonde drifting over the hotel terrace late in the afternoon.

The FAAM aircraft on the ramp at Niamey airport at dawn. Note the 'F' in FAAM on the tail is obscured so that the aircraft is not mistaken for the American FAA whilst on deployment.

The mission scientist 2 station onboard the aircraft with 2 computer screens (gives real time output from all the instruments) and a monitor (centre) connected to 4 external cameras. Lots of toys!

Moments after lifting off from Niamey on mission B321 (track map). Below is the River Niger.

The River Niger from the air seen on mission B321 (track map).

Overcast conditions just south of Niamey, seen from 10,000ft on B231 (track map).

Early morning Cumulus streets aligned in the direction of the monsoon flow (SW-NE).

Cumulus streets thickening as we fly south.

Descending through the cloud layer near Parakou, Benin.

Flying over the Benin countryside (just south of Parakou) at 500ft in order to sample early morning emissions from the vegetation. Here you can see small fields (I think planted with millet) interspersed in the forest.

Avoiding some 500ft high hills in Benin.

After flying for some time at 500ft over Benin, we descended to 250ft over the Gulf of Guinea. (track map)

Heading back toward the African coast with Ghana, Togo and Benin in view. (track map)

Looking West along the African coast after carry out a missed approach at Cotonou in Benin.

Football stadium in Cotonou, Benin.

Nokoué Lake, just north of the city of Cotonou, Benin.

Dense rainforest north of Cotonou.

A couple of small settlements in the Benin rainforest, seen from 500ft.

600ft high hills in the Benin rainforest, seen from 500ft and 250 knots.

Mid morning cumulus clouds in the West African Monsoon over Benin.

The rear facing camera on the aircraft captures the release of a dropsonde.

A view of the interior of the FAAM aircraft. Lots of fancy equipment (predominantly for the measurement of chemical species) in a tropical climate makes the front of the aircraft really hot. Luckily I was near the back.

When flying north, the dense tropical rainforest quickly gives way to the semi arid Sahel.

Aptly named Tiger bush over Niger.

More Tiger bush as we descend towards Niamey.

The Sahel in full bloom as we close in on Niamey (River Niger in top right).

The pointy end of FAAM. Much nicer than my office.

The FAAM aircraft taking a well earned rest after a successful mission.

Driving back to the hotel. A small portion of Niamey goat population evident.

Houses seen on the way back to the hotel. Household rubbish is burnt at the side of the road.

Local brew on the Hotel terrace. None too shabby.

FAAM aircraft getting ready to take me on my second flight (Mission B235).

MCS, with nice shelf cloud, dissipating just west of the Niamey airport prior to take off. We got sandblasted by the gust front a bit later.

Nose on view of the FAAM aircraft.

Just after lifting off for mission B235 (track map).

Rice Paddies along the bank of River Niger.

Looking up the River Niger to the city of Niamey.

Niamey in the distance.

Even at the height of the growing season, the Nigerien landscape is pretty barren just a few miles from the river.

Fields of Millet to the south and east of Niamey

An isolated village in southern Niger.

As we head south, shallow cumulus begin to pop-up. Note the hazy horizon caused by the presence of dust lofted from the Sahara.

As we fly further south, the landscape get greener and the cumulus get deeper.

We take a quick descent to 500ft over Niger's Park W, home of West Africa's last remaining herd of wild Giraffe (can't see any in my pic though)

A view of the point end in action after we climb back up to 18,000ft.

The Cumulus continue to grow with the heat of the day.

The tops begin to exceed our cruise altitude of 24,000ft.

Going up!

One CuNim hit the tropopause and spreads out.

CuNim from top to bottom.

A small rural town in Benin.

The city of Parakou, Benin.

Follow a bus of the Nigerien national bus service back toward Niamey.

Sunset over the River Niger, captured from the terrace of the Grand Hotel.

A zoomed in view of the sunset a bit later on.

The AEW that would become hurricane Debby passing over Niamey.

Rear of the Grand Hotel with pool.

Rainbow seen from MIT radar site at Niamey airport.

The MIT radar at sunset.