The FAAM BAe-146 Research Aircraft was deployed to in Niger, West Africa for the AMMA-UK campaign, as part of the International AMMA project.

During this campaign the Leeds aircraft FAGE instrument successfully detected OH and HO2 in the troposphere and boundary layer over West Africa. It took 5 years of hard work from the Trevor and Cedric (and 10 months from me) to get that data and we were delighted!

The AMMA campaign aims to improve our understanding of the processes which control the West African monsoon and its impacts. There are many aspects to the entire campaign but we were part of the aircraft intensive centered around the monsoon peak in July-August 2006. These field measurements will be used to test and improve predictive models for the environment and climate of Africa, and for the impact of the African monsoon on the global environment.