Spatiotemporal variability and contribution of different aerosol types to the aerosol optical depth over the Eastern Mediterranean

Abstract

This study characterizes the spatiotemporal variability and relative contribution of different types of aerosols to the Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) over the Eastern Mediterranean as derived from MODIS Terra (3/2000-12/2012) and Aqua (7/2002-12/2012) satellite instruments. For this purpose, a 0.1° × 0.1° gridded MODIS dataset was compiled and validated against sunphotometric observations from the AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET). The high spatial resolution and long temporal coverage of the dataset allows for the determination of local hot spots like megacities, medium sized cities, industrial zones, and power plant complexes, seasonal variabilities, and decadal averages. The average AOD at 550 nm (AOD) for the entire region is ~ 0.22 ± 0.19 with maximum values in summer and seasonal variabilities that can be attributed to precipitation, photochemical production of secondary organic aerosols, transport of pollution and smoke from biomass burning in Central and Eastern Europe, and transport of dust from the Sahara Desert and the Middle East. The MODIS data were analyzed together with data from other satellite sensors, reanalysis projects and a chemistry-aerosol-transport model using an optimized algorithm tailored for the region and capable of estimating the contribution of different aerosol types to the total AOD. The spatial and temporal variability of anthropogenic, dust and fine mode natural aerosols over land and anthropogenic, dust and marine aerosols over the sea is examined. The relative contribution of the different aerosol types to the total AOD exhibits a low/high seasonal variability over land/sea areas, respectively. Overall, anthropogenic aerosols, dust and fine mode natural aerosols account for ~ 51 %, ~ 34 % and ~ 15 % of the total AOD over land, while, anthropogenic aerosols, dust and marine aerosols account ~ 40 %, ~ 34 % and ~ 26 % of the total AOD over the sea, based on MODIS Terra and Aqua observations.

Trends and Variability of Surface Solar Radiation in Europe Based On Surface‐ and Satellite‐Based Data Records

“…It is affected by sea‐salt aerosols from the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, pollution aerosols from Europe, dust from the Sahara desert, and biomass burning aerosols from eastern Europe. Moreover, depending on the season, different types of aerosols reach different parts of the region (e.g., dust peaks in spring over the eastern Mediterranean, in summer over the western Mediterranean, and in spring and summer over the transitional region of central Mediterranean) (Floutsi et al, ; Georgoulias, Alexandri, Kourtidis, Lelieveld, Zanis, Pschl, et al, ; Georgoulias, Alexandri, Kourtidis, Lelieveld, Zanis, & Amiridis, ; Kanakidou et al, ; Lelieveld et al, ). For this reason, the influence of the aerosol direct effect on SSR is supposed to be large in the region south (Bartók, ; Kambezidis et al, ; Nabat et al, ; Sanchez‐Lorenzo et al, ).…”

Long-term profiling of mineral dust and pollution aerosol with multiwavelength polarization Raman lidar at the Central Asian site of Dushanbe, Tajikistan: case studies

“…This indicates fast changes from dust-dominated to pollution-dominated aerosol conditions. Gkikas et al (2009Gkikas et al ( , 2013Gkikas et al ( , 2016 and Georgoulias et al (2016) classified dust events in the Mediterranean region based on the long-term mean of the AOT measured by satellite and ground stations. According to this classification, a Table 2.…”

Mitochondria‐mediated oxidative stress induced by desert dust in rat alveolar macrophages

“…In this study we investigated the possible health effects due to exposure to desert dust from unperturbed soils which are rich in biological crusts. In the eastern Mediterranean, the frequency of dust storms and exposure of population to local and transported dusts is increasing, possibly due to global drying and warming trends [ Georgoulias et al ., ; Krasnov et al ., ; Zittis et al ., ]. In the southwestern U.S., springtime regional mean PM 2.5 dust concentrations have increased in the last 20 years, due to early onset of the spring dust season by 1 to 2 weeks [ Hand et al ., ].…”