Dust transport over the eastern Mediterranean derived from Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer, Aerosol Robotic Network, and surface measurements

Abstract

Multiyear surface PM10 measurements performed on Crete Island, Greece, have been used in conjunction with satellite (Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS)) and ground‐based remote sensing measurements (Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET)) to enhance our understanding of the evolution of mineral dust events over the eastern Mediterranean. An analysis of southerly air masses at altitudes of 1000 and 3000 m over a 5 year period (2000–2005), showed that dust can potentially arrive over Crete, either simultaneously in the lower free troposphere and inside the boundary layer (vertical extended transport (VET)) or initially into the free troposphere with the heavier particles gradually being scavenged inside the boundary layer (free troposphere transport (FTT)). Both pathways present significant seasonal variations but on an annual basis contribute almost equally to the dust transport in the area. During VET the aerosol index (AI) derived from TOMS was significantly correlated with surface PM10, and in general AI was found to be adequate for the characterization of dust loadings over the eastern Mediterranean on a climatological basis. A significant covariance between PM10 and AOT was observed during VET as well, indicating that AOT levels from AERONET may be estimated by PM10 levels at the surface. Surface measurements are thus crucial for the validation of remote sensing measurements and hence are a powerful tool for the investigation of the impact of aerosols on climate.

Composition and Mass Closure of PM2.5 in Urban Environment (Athens, Greece)

“…1, aluminum concentrations do not follow such a seasonal pattern and present abrupt increases mainly during spring and autumn. These abrupt increases are associated to Saharan dust transport events occurring during spring and autumn (Fotiadi et al, 2006;Gerasopoulos et al, 2006;Kalivitis et al, 2007). From the air mass trajectories, it was obvious that all [Al] maxima were associated to Saharan dust transport events.…”

Seasonal variability and synoptic characteristics of dust cases over southwestern Saudi Arabia

“…Note that this data set is consistent and adequate for characterizing the dust loading on a climatological basis (Kalivitis et al, 2007;Kiss et al, 2007;Li et al, 2009).…”

Synoptic conditions favouring the occurrence of aerosol episodes over the broader Mediterranean basin

“…These episodes are: (i) desert dust (e.g. Dayan et al, 1991;Moulin et al, 1997a;Tsidulko et al, 2002;Kubilay et al, 2003;Papayannis et al, 2005;Kalivitis et al, 2007;Toledano et al, 2007;Meloni et al, 2008), (ii) fine pollution aerosols (Kukkonen et al, 2005;Ladstätter-Weißenmayer et al, 2007;Sciare et al, 2008), (iii) forest fires Niemi et al, 2005;Pace et al, 2005), and (iv) sea-salt aerosols (Marenco et al, 2007). Nevertheless, most of these studies either focus on episodes of specific aerosol types or they refer to the local scale only.…”

“…The 700 hPa level (at about 3000 metres) has been selected since at this altitude dust transport is more intense or frequent (Kalivitis et al, 2007).…”