Saharan Dust Around Lake Chad
13.3N 14.1EDust blows southward from the Sahara Desert and Bodélé Depression over Chad and Nigeria, but mostly avoids Lake Chad (top center). Due to the annual cycle in winds over the Sahara, the winter Saharan dust sources are different from the summer sources. In the summer, dust fluxes reaching the Tropical Atlantic shore originate mainly from the northwest and central-west parts of the Sahara. During winter, strong surface winds (the Harmattan winds) occur along the southern border of the Sahara, activating sources on the border of the Sahel, notably the Bodélé depression in Northern Chad.