Mineral dust aerosol is a major contributor to the atmospheric aerosol burden. Knowledge on the life-cycle of atmospheric dust is crucial for understanding various aerosol-atmosphere interactions including these on the Earth’s radiation budget, cloud and precipitation formation processes, and bio-productivity ultimately modulating the carbon cycle and human wellbeing. The presentation will discuss results from research that makes complementary use of satellite data, field experiments and numerical modelling in order to improve our understanding of the atmospheric dust cycle, which is inevitable for assessing the climate system and its variability.