References

ANGEO

Annales Geophysicae

ANGEO

Ann. Geophys.

1432-0576

Copernicus Publications

Göttingen, Germany

10.5194/angeo-27-3509-2009

Aerosol events in the broader Mediterranean basin based on 7-year (2000–2007) MODIS C005 data

Gkikas

¹ Hatzianastassiou

¹ ² Mihalopoulos

Laboratory of Meteorology, Department of Physics, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece

Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas, Heraklion, Crete, Greece

Environmental Chemical Processes Laboratory, Dept. of Chemistry, University of Crete, 71300 Heraklion, Crete, Greece

23 09 2009

27 9 3509 3522

2009

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

This article is available from https://angeo.copernicus.org/articles/27/3509/2009/angeo-27-3509-2009.html

The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://angeo.copernicus.org/articles/27/3509/2009/angeo-27-3509-2009.pdf

Aerosol events (their frequency and intensity) in the broader Mediterranean basin were studied using 7-year (2000–2007) aerosol data of optical depth (AOD at 550 nm) from the MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Terra. <br><br> The complete spatial coverage of data revealed a significant spatial variability of aerosol events which is also dependent on their intensity. Strong events occur more often in the western and central Mediterranean basin (up to 14 events/year) whereas extreme events (AOD up to 5.0) are systematically observed in the eastern Mediterranean basin throughout the year. There is also a significant seasonal variability with strong aerosol events occurring most frequently in the western part of the basin in summer and extreme episodes in the eastern part during spring. The events were also analyzed separately over land and sea revealing differences that are due to the different natural and anthropogenic processes, like dust transport (producing maximum frequencies of extreme episodes in spring over both land and sea) or forest fires (producing maximum frequencies in strong episodes in summer over land). The inter-annual variability shows a gradual decrease in the frequency of all aerosol episodes over land and sea areas of the Mediterranean during the period 2000–2007, associated with an increase in their intensity (increased AOD values). The strong spatiotemporal variability of aerosol events indicates the need for monitoring them at the highest spatial and temporal coverage and resolution.

References 1

Adler, R. F., Huffman, G. J., Chang, A., Ferraro, R., Xie, P.-P., Janowiak, J., Rudolf, B., Schneider, U., Curtis, S., Bolvin, D., Gruber, A., Susskind, J., Arkin, P., and Nelkin, E.: The Version-2 Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) Monthly Precipitation Analysis (1979–Present), J. Hydrometeorol., 4, 1147–1167, 2003.

Amiridis, V., Balis, D. S., Kazadzis, S., Bais, A., Giannakaki, E., Papayannis, A., and Zerefos, C.: Four-year aerosol observations with a Raman Lidar at Thessaloniki, Greece, in the framework of European Aerosol Research Lidar Network (EARLINET), J. Geophys. Res., 110, D21203, https://doi.org/10.1029/2005JD006190, 2005.

Arkin, P. A. and Meisner, B. N.: The relationship between large-scale convective rainfall and cold cloud over the western hemisphere during 1982–1984, Mon. Weather Rev., 115, 51–74, 1987.

Athanassiadou, M., Flocas, H., Harrison, M. A. J., Hort, M. C., Witham, C. S., and Millington, S.: The dust event of 17 April 2005 over Athens, Greece, Weather, 61(5), 125–131, 2006.

Balis, D. S., Amiridis, V., Zerefos, C., Gerasopoulos, E., Andreae, M. O., Zanis, P., Kazantzidis, A., Kazadzis, S., and Papayannis, A.: Raman lidar and sunphotometric measurements of aerosol optical properties during a biomass burning episode over Thessaloniki, Greece, Atmos. Environ., 37, 4529–4538, 2003.

Barnaba, F. and Gobbi, G. P.: Aerosol seasonal variability over the Mediterranean region and relative impact of maritime, continental and Saharan dust particles over the basin from MODIS data in the year 2001, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 4, 2367–2391, 2004.

Cachorro, V. E., Vergaz, R., de Frutos, A. M., Vilaplana, J. M., Henriques, D., Laulainen, N., and Toledano, C.: Study of desert dust events over the southwestern Iberian Peninsula in year 2000: two case studies, Ann. Geophys., 24, 1493–1510, 2006.

Chu, D. A., Kaufman, Y. J., Ichoku, C., Remer, L. A., Tanre, D., and Holben, B. N.: Validation of MODIS aerosol optical depth retrieval over land, Geophys. Res. Lett., 29, 8007, https://doi.org/10.1029/ 2001GL013205, 2002.

Collaud Coen, M., Weingartner, E., Schaub, D., Hueglin, C., Corrigan, C., Henning, S., Schwikowski, M., and Baltensperger, U.: Saharan dust events at the Jungfraujoch: detection by wavelength dependence of the single scattering albedo and first climatology analysis, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 4, 2465–2480, 2004.

Dayan, U., Heffter, J., Miller, J., and Gutman, G.: Dust intrusion events into the Mediterranean basin, J. Appl. Meteorol., 30, 1185–1199, 1991.

Gkikas, A., Hatzianastassiou, N., and Mihalopoulos, N.: Study and characterization of aerosol episodes in the Mediterranean basin for the 7-year period 2000–2007 based on MODIS data, European Aerosol Conference, Greece, Thessaloniki, 24–29 August 2008.

Hurrell, J. W.: Decadal trends in the North Atlantic Oscillation: Regional temperatures and precipitation, Science, 269, 676–679, 1995.

Hatzianastassiou, N., Katsoulis, B., and Vardavas, I.: Global distribution of aerosol direct radiative forcing in ultraviolet-visible wavelengths and consequences for the heat budget, Tellus, 56B, 51–71, 2004.

Hatzianastassiou, N., Matsoukas, C., Drakakis, E., Stackhouse Jr., P. W., Koepke, P., Fotiadi, A., Pavlakis, K. G., and Vardavas, I.: The direct effect of aerosols on solar radiation based on satellite observations, reanalysis datasets, and spectral aerosol optical properties from Global Aerosol Data Set (GADS), Atmos. Chem. Phys., 7, 2585–2599, 2007.

Husar, R. B., Prospero, J. M., and Stowe, L. L.: Characterization of tropospheric aerosols over the oceans with the NOAA advanced very high resolution radiometer optical thickness operational product, J. Geophys. Res., 102, 16889–16909, 1997.

Husar, R. B., Tratt, D. M., Schichtel, B. A., Falke, S. R., Li, F., Jaffe, D., Gassó, S., Gill, T., Laulainen, N. S., Lu, F., Reheis, M. C., Chun, Y., Westphal, D., Holben, B. N., Gueymard, C., McKendry, I., Kuring, N., Feldman, G. C., McClain, C., Frouin, R. J., Merrill, J., DuBois, D., Vignola, F., Murayama, T., Nickovic, S., Wilson, W. E., Sassen, K., Sugimoto, N., and Malm, W. C.: Asian dust events of April 1998, J. Geophys. Res., 106(D16), 18317–18330, 2001.

Ichoku, C., Chu, D. A., Mattoo, S., Kaufman, Y. J., Remer, L. A., Tanré, D., Slutsker, I., and Holben, B. N.: A spatio-temporal approach for global validation and analysis of MODIS aerosol products, Geophys. Res. Lett., 29, 8006, https://doi.org/10.1029/2001GL013206, 2002.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC): Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Summary for Policymakers, Paris, February 2007.

Jacobson, M. Z.: Global direct radiative forcing due to multicomponent anthropogenic and natural aerosols, J. Geophys. Res., 106, 1551–1568, 2001.

Kalivitis, N., Gerasopoulos, E., Vrekoussis, M., Kouvarakis, G., Kubilay, N., Hatzianastassiou, N., Vardavas, I., and Mihalopoulos, N.: Dust transport over the eastern Mediterranean derived from TOMS, AERONET and surface measurements, J. Geophys. Res., 112, D03202, https://doi.org/10.1029/2006JD007510, 2007.

Kaufman, Y. J., Tanré, D., Remer, L. A., Vermote, E. F., Chu, A., and Holben, B. N.: Operational remote sensing of tropospheric aerosol over land from EOS Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, J. Geophys. Res., 102, 17051–17065, 1997.

Kaufman, Y. J., Smirnov, A., Holben, B. N., and Dubovik, O.: Baseline maritime aerosol: methodology to derive the optical thickness and the scattering properties, Geophys. Res. Lett., 28, 3251–3254, 2001.

Kaufmann, Y. J., Tanré, D., and Boucher, O.: A satellite view of aerosols in the climate system, Nature, 419, 215–223, 2002.

Kubilay, N., Cokacar, T., and Oguz, T.: Optical properties of mineral dust outbreaks over the northeastern Mediterranean, J. Geophys. Res., 108(D21), 4666, https://doi.org/10.1029/2003JD003798, 2003.

Kukkonen, J., Pohjola, M., Sokhi, R. S., Luhana, L., Kitwiroon, N., Fragkou, L., Rantamäki, M., Berge, E., Ødegaard, V., Slørdal, L. H., Denby, B., and Finardi, S.: Analysis and evaluation of selected local-scale PM10 air pollution episodes in four European cities: Helsinki, London, Milan and Oslo, Atmos. Environ., 39, 2759–2773, 2005.

Lau, K. M., Kim, M. K., and Kim, K. M.: Asian summer monsoon anomalies induced by direct forcing: The role of the Tibetan plateau, Clim. Dynam., 26, 855–864, 2006.

Levy, R. C., Remer, L. A., Tanré, D., Kaufman, Y. J., Ichoku, C., Holben, B. N., Livingston, J. M., Russell, P. B., and Maring, H.: Evaluation of the Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) retrievals of dust aerosol over the ocean during PRIDE, J. Geophys. Res., 108(D19), 8594, https://doi.org/10.1029/2002JD002460, 2003.

Levy, R. C., Remer, L. A., and Dubovik, O.: Global aerosol optical properties and application to Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer aerosol retrieval over land, J. Geophys. Res., 112, D13210, https://doi.org/10.1029/2006JD007815, 2007.

Lohmann, U.: Aerosol effects on precipitation locally and globally, edited by: Brönimman, S., Luterbacher, J., Ewen, T., et al., Climate Variability and Extremes during the past 1000 years, Springer, 2008.

Lyamani, H., Olmo, F. J., and Alados-Arboledas, L.: Saharan dust outbreak over southeastern Spain as detected by sun photometer, Atmos. Environ., 39, 7276–7284, 2005.

Marenco, F., Mazzei, F., Prati, P., and Gatti, M.: Aerosol advection and sea salt events in Genoa, Italy, during the second half of 2005, Sci. Tot. Environ., 377, 396–407, 2007.

Meloni, D., di Sarra, A., Monteleone, F., Pace, G., Piacentino, S., and Sferlazzo, D. M.: Seasonal transport patterns of intense Saharan dust events at the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa, Atmos. Res., 88, 134–148, 2008.

Metaxas, D. A. and Bartzokas, A.: Pressure covariability over the Atlantic, Europe and N. Africa. application: Centers of action for temperature, winter precipitation and summer winds in Athens, Greece, Theor. Appl. Climatol., 49, 9–18, 1994.

Millán, M., Salvador, R., Mantilla, E., and Kallos, G.: Photo-oxidant dynamics in the Mediterranean basin in summer: results from European research projects, J. Geophys. Res., 102, 8811–8823, 1997.

Moulin, C., Dulac, F., Lambert, C. E., Chazette, P., Jankowiak, I., Chatenet, B., and Lavenu, F.: Long-term daily monitoring of Saharan dust load over ocean using Meteosat ISCCP-B2 data 2. Accuracy of the method and validation using Sun photometer measurements, J. Geophys. Res., 102(D14), 16959–16969, 1997.

Moulin, C., Lambert, C., Dayan, U., Masson, V., Ramonet, M., Bousquet, P., Legrand, M., Balkanski, Y., Guelle, W., Marticorena, B., Bergametti, G., and Dulac, F.: Satellite climatology of African dust transport in the Mediterranean atmosphere, J. Geophys. Res., 103, 13137–13144, 1998.

Niemi, J. V., Tervahattu, H., Vehkamäki, H., Martikainen, J., Laakso, L., Kulmala, M., Aarnio, P., Koskentalo, T., Sillanpää, M., and Makkonen, U.: Characterization of aerosol particle episodes in Finland caused by wildfires in Eastern Europe, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 5, 2299–2310, 2005.

Pace, G., Meloni, D., and di Sarra, A.: Forest fire aerosol over the Mediterranean basin during summer 2003, J. Geophys. Res., 110, D21202, https://doi.org/10.1029/2005JD005986, 2005.

Papadimas, C. D., Hatzianastassiou, N., Mihalopoulos, N., Querol, X., and Vardavas, I.: Spatial and temporal variability in aerosol properties over the Mediterranean basin based on 6-year (2000–2006) MODIS data, J. Geophys. Res., 113(D11), D11205, https://doi.org/10.1029/2007JD009189, 2008.

Papadimas, C. D., Hatzianastassiou, N., Mihalopoulos, N., Kanakidou, M., Katsoulis, B. D., and Vardavas, I.: Assessment of the MODIS Collections C005 and C004 aerosol optical depth products over the Mediterranean basin, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 9, 2987–2999, 2009.

Papayannis, A., Balis, D., Amiridis, V., Chourdakis, G., Tsaknakis, G., Zerefos, C., Castanho, A. D. A., Nickovic, S., Kazadzis, S., and Grabowski, J.: Measurements of Saharan dust aerosols over the Eastern Mediterranean using elastic backscatter-Raman lidar, spectrophotometric and satellite observations in the frame of the EARLINET project, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 5, 2065–2079, 2005.

Pérez-Marrero, J., Llinás, O., Maroto, L., Rueda, M. J., and Cianca, A.: Saharan dust storms over the Canary Islands during winter 1998 as depicted from the advanced very high-resolution radiometer, Deep-Sea Res. II, 49, 3465–3479, 2002.

Pérez, C., Nickovic, S., Baldasano, J. M., Sicard, M., Rocadenbosch, F., and Cachorro, V. E.: A long Saharan dust event over the western Mediterranean: Lidar, Sun photometer observations, and regional dust modeling, J. Geophys. Res., 111, D15214, https://doi.org/10.1029/2005JD006579, 2006.

Pérez, N., Castillo, S., Pey, J., Alastuey, A., Viana, M., and Querol, X.: Interpretation of the variability of regional background aerosols in the Western Mediterranean, Sci. Total Environ., 407(1), 527–540, 2008.

Pruppacher, H. R. and Klett, J. D.: Microphysics of clouds and precipitation, second revised and enlarged edition with an introduction to cloud chemistry and cloud electricity, 954 pp., Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, 1997.

Ramanathan, V., Crutzen, P. J., Kiehl, J. T., and Rosenfeld, D.: Aerosols, climate, and the hydrological cycle, Science, 294, 2119–2124, 2001.

Remer, L. A., Tanré, D., Kaufman, Y. J., Ichoku, C., Mattoo, S., Levy, R., Chu, D. A., Holben, B., Dubovik, O., Smirnov, A., Martins, J. V., Li, R.-R., and Ahman, Z.: Validation of MODIS aerosol retrieval over ocean, Geophys. Res. Lett., 29(12), 8008, https://doi.org/10.1029/2001/GL013204, 2002.

Remer, L. A., Kaufman, Y. J., Tanré, D., Mattoo, S., Chu, D. A., Martins, J. V., Li, R.R., Ichoku, C., Levy, R. C., Kleidman, R. G., Eck, T. F., Vermote, E., and Holben, B. N.: The MODIS aerosol algorithm, products and validation, J. Atmos. Sci., 62(4), 947–973, 2005.

Remer, L., Kaufman, Y., Tanré, D., Mattoo, S., Li, R. R., Martins, J. V., Levy, R., Chu, D. A., Kleidman, R., Ichoku, C., and Koren, I.: Collection 005 Change Summary for MODIS Aerosol (04{_}L2) Algorithms, (<a href="http://modis-atmos.gsfc.nasa.gov/products_C005update.html">http://modis-atmos.gsfc.nasa.gov/products_C005update.html</a>), 2006.

Remer, L. A. and Kaufman, Y. J.: Aerosol direct radiative effect at the top of the atmosphere over cloud free ocean derived from four years of MODIS data, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 6, 237–253, 2006.

Rodríguez, S., Querol, X., Alastuey, A., and Mantilla, E.: Origin of high PM10 and TSP concentrations in summer in Eastern Spain, Atmos. Environ., 36, 3101–3112, 2002.

Rodríguez, S., Querol, X., Alastuey, A., Viana, M., Alarcón, M., Mantilla, E., and Ruiz, C. R.: Comparative PM10–PM2.5 source contribution study at rural, urban and industrial sites during PM episodes in Eastern Spain, Sci. Total Environ., 328, 95–113, 2004.

Rosenfeld, D., Lohmann, U., Raga, G. B., O'Dowd, C. D., Kulmala, M., Fuzzi, S., Reissell, A., and Andreae, M. O.: Flood or Drought: How do aerosols affect precipitation?, Science, 321, 1309–1313, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1160606, 2008.

Salvador, P., Artíñano, B., Querol, X., and Alastuey, A.: A combined analysis of backward trajectories and aerosol chemistry to characterise long-range transport episodes of particulate matter: The Madrid air basin, a case study. Sci. Total Environ., 390, 495–506, 2008.

Sciare, J., Oikonomou, K., Favez, O., Liakakou, E., Markaki, Z., Cachier, H., and Mihalopoulos, N.: Long-term measurements of carbonaceous aerosols in the Eastern Mediterranean: evidence of long-range transport of biomass burning, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 8, 5551–5563, 2008.

Sodemann, H., Palmer, A. S., Schwierz, C., Schwikowski, M., and Wernli, H.: The transport history of two Saharan dust events archived in an Alpine ice core, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 6, 667–688, 2006.

Tanré, D., Kaufman, Y. J., Herman, M., and Mattoo, S.: Remote sensing of aerosol properties over oceans using the MODIS/EOS spectral radiances, J. Geophys. Res., 102, 16971–16988, 1997.

Toledano, C., Cachorro, V. E., de Frutos, A. M., Sorribas, M., Prats, N., and de la Morena, B. A.: Inventory of African desert dust events over the southwestern Iberian Peninsula in 2000–2005 with an AERONET Cimel Sun photometer, J. Geophys. Res., 112, D21201, https://doi.org/10.1029/2006JD008307, 2007.

Tsidulko, M., Krichak, S. O., Alpert, P., Kakaliagkou, O., Kallos, G., and Papadopoulos, A.: Numerical study of a very intensive eastern Mediterranean dust storm, 13–16 March 1998, J. Geophys. Res., 107(D21), 4581, https://doi.org/10.1029/2001JD001168, 2002.

van der Werf, G. R., Randerson, J. T., Giglio, L., Collatz, G. J., Kasibhatla, P. S., and Arellano Jr., A. F.: Interannual variability in global biomass burning emissions from 1997 to 2004, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 6, 3423–3441, 2006.

Zhang, P., Lu, N., Hu, X., and Dong, C.: Identification and physical retrieval of dust storm using three MODIS thermal IR channels, Global Planet. Change, 52, 197–206, 2006.