Some observational and modeling evidence of long‐range transport of air pollutants from Europe toward the Israeli coast

Wanger, A.; Peleg, Mordechai; Sharf, Geula; Mahrer, Yitzhak; Dayan, Uri; Kallos, George; Kotroni, Vassiliki; Lagouvardos, Konstantinos; Varinou, M.; Παπαδόπουλος, Αναστάσιος; Luria, Menachem

doi:10.1029/1999jd901060

Cited by 50 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 15 publications

(5 reference statements)

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“…The averaged O 3 concentration of the first campaign was 39 ± 7 ppbv compared to 48 ± 9 ppbv in the second period. Wanger et al (2000) model simulations showed that the pollution sources in southern Europe and the Balkans did not affect the EM coasts in September 1993, contrarily to the synoptic conditions and simulation results for the June 1994 period where the winds over the EM tended to be northwesterly and thus forced the polluted air masses toward the coasts of the EM.…”

Section: Processes Controlling O 3 Formationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They found that the concentration of particulate SO 4 observed during the summer was relatively high compared to other world locations, exceeding occasionally 500 nmole m −3 as compared to wintertime levels that were in the range of 50-100 nmole m −3 . From airborne observations, Wanger et al (2000) measured an averaged SO 4 concentration of 38 ± 7 nmole m −3 in their first series of measurement between 5 and 9 September 1993, and up to 108 ± 63 nmole m −3 between 15 and 21 June 1994. The annual average, calculated in Luria et al (1996), is 100 ± 15 nmole m −3 , which is twice as high as predicted for the region by a global model and as high as reported for some of the most polluted regions in the USA.…”

Section: Particulate Sulfate (So 4 ) Abundancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…During this season, the levels doubled the averages for late summer (0.085 Tg yr −1 ) and were over 5 times the average levels measured for the autumn (0.035 Tg yr −1 ). The wide range in fluxes derived is Luria et al (1996), (b) Wanger et al (2000), and (c) Matvev et al (2002 explained by the varying distance from the polluted coastline. The aerosol optical depth (AOD), the vertical integral over an atmospheric column of the incident light scattered and absorbed by aerosols, is often used to estimate the aerosol loading in the atmosphere.…”

Section: Particulate Sulfate (So 4 ) Abundancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…To investigate such changes, Wanger et al (2000) performed a comprehensive study that included 150 h of instrumented aircraft monitoring flights comparing two events of air mass transport (September 1993 andJune 1994) representing two distinct types of LRT. This airborne study comprised flight paths performed approximately 70 km offshore parallel to the Israeli coastline and 180 km in length with Tel Aviv in the center.…”

Section: Processes Controlling O 3 Formationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, air pollutants emitted from upwind sources to the west of the EM will reach the EM and will be added to those emitted locally. Indeed, numerous observational and modeling studies have confirmed that the EM is affected by the long-range transport of air pollutants originating from Europe (e.g., Dayan, 1986;Luria et al, 1996;Wanger et al, 2000;Erel et al, 2002Erel et al, , 2007Erel et al, , 2013Matvev et al, 2002;Rudich et al, 2008;Drori et al, 2012). To get insight into the LRT over the EM, the Air Resources Laboratory's trajectory model (GAMBIT -Gridded Atmospheric Multi-Level Backward Isobaric Trajectories; Harris, 1982) was applied over 1978-1982(Dayan, 1986.…”

Section: Air Mass Origins Over the Eastern Mediterraneanmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Atmospheric pollution over the eastern Mediterranean during summer – a review

et al. 2017

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Abstract. The eastern Mediterranean (EM) is one of the regions in the world where elevated concentrations of primary and secondary gaseous air pollutants have been reported frequently, mainly in summer. This review discusses published studies of the atmospheric dispersion and transport conditions characterizing this region during the summer, followed by a description of some essential studies dealing with the corresponding concentrations of air pollutants such as ozone, carbon monoxide, total reactive nitrogen, methane, and sulfate aerosols observed there.The interlaced relationship between the downward motion of the subsiding air aloft induced by global circulation systems affecting the EM and the depth of the Persian Trough, a low-pressure trough that extends from the Asian monsoon at the surface controlling the spatiotemporal distribution of the mixed boundary layer during summer, is discussed. The strength of the wind flow within the mixed layer and its depth affect much the amount of pollutants transported and determine the potential of the atmosphere to disperse contaminants off their origins in the EM. The reduced mixed layer and the accompanying weak westerlies, characterizing the summer in this region, led to reduced ventilation rates, preventing an effective dilution of the contaminants. Several studies pointing at specific local (e.g., ventilation rates) and regional peculiarities (long-range transport) enhancing the build-up of air pollutant concentrations are presented.Tropospheric ozone (O 3 ) concentrations observed in the summer over the EM are among the highest over the Northern Hemisphere. The three essential processes controlling its formation (i.e., long-range transport of polluted air masses, dynamic subsidence at mid-tropospheric levels, and stratosphere-to-troposphere exchange) are reviewed. Airborne campaigns and satellite-borne initiatives have indicated that the concentration values of reactive nitrogen identified as precursors in the formation of O 3 over the EM were found to be 2 to 10 times higher than in the hemispheric background troposphere. Several factors favor sulfate particulate abundance over the EM. Models, aircraft measurements, and satellite-derived data have clearly shown that sulfate has a maximum during spring and summer over the EM. The carbon monoxide (CO) seasonal cycle, as obtained from global background monitoring sites in the EM, is mostly controlled by the tropospheric concentration of the hydroxyl radical (OH) and therefore demonstrates high concentrations over winter months and the lowest concentrations during summer when photochemistry is active. Modeling studies have shown that the diurnal variations in CO concentration during the summer result from long-range CO transport from European anthropogenic sources, contributing 60 to 80 % of the boundary-layer CO over the EM. The values retrieved from satellite data enable us to derive the spatial distribution of methane (CH 4 ), identifying August as the month with the highest levels over the EM. The outcomes of a...

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Section: Processes Controlling O 3 Formationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Particulate Sulfate (So 4 ) Abundancementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Particulate Sulfate (So 4 ) Abundancementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Processes Controlling O 3 Formationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Air Mass Origins Over the Eastern Mediterraneanmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Atmospheric pollution over the eastern Mediterranean during summer – a review

et al. 2017

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Differing atmospheric scales of motion and their impact on air pollutants

Levy

Dayan

Mahrer

2009

Intl Journal of Climatology

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ABSTRACT:Identifying the dominant atmospheric scale of motion over a given airshed can be of great importance for many applications such as air pollutants dispersion, pollen dispersion and wind energy. In this work, a method is proposed for differentiating between the synoptic, meso and local scales that can be applied on a daily basis from data collected at several wind-measuring sites in a given airshed. The method is based on the daily mean quantitative measure of wind recirculation measured at each site, and the mean and standard deviation between sites.The method is applied to a 5-year time series of wind observations at seven sites in the Tel Aviv airshed on the East Mediterranean Sea. The high frequency of synoptic-scale dominant flows is found during winter and December in particular, whereas high dominance of mesoscale flows is found during October. The coastal location of the airshed causes the land-sea breeze to overrule local-scale variations. While NO x and SO 2 concentrations are shown to increase as the dominant scale is smaller, O 3 concentrations decrease as a result of titration with NO x on the one hand and the contribution of long-range transport on the other.

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