Meteorological Patterns Associated with Intense Saharan Dust Outbreaks over Greece in Winter

The Mediterranean Basin and southern Europe are often affected by Saharan dust outbreaks, which influence the aerosol load and properties, air quality standards, visibility and human health. The present work examines, mainly of the meteorological point of view, three intense dust outbreaks occurred over Greece with duration of one or two days, on 4 and 6 February and 5-6 March 2009. The synoptic analysis on the dusty days showed the presence of low-pressure systems in the west coasts of Europe and the north Tyrrhenian Sea, respectively, associated with a trough reaching the north African coast. The result of these conditions was the strong surface and mid troposphere winds that carried significant amounts of dust over Greece. During the dusty days extensive cloud cover associated with the dust plume occurred over Greece. The air-mass trajectories showed a clear Saharan origin in all atmospheric levels, while the satellite (MODIS Terra/Aqua) observations as well as the model (DREAM) predictions verified the intense dust outbreaks over eastern Mediterranean and Greece. The ground based particulate matter concentrations in Athens were excessively increased on the dusty days (PM10: 150–560 μg/m3), while significant dry and wet deposition occurred as forecasted by DREAM model.

[1]  W. E. Galloway,et al.  Reply to the comments of W. Helland-Hansen on "Towards the standardization of sequence stratigraphy" by Catuneanu et al. (Earth-Sciences Review 92(2009)1-33) , 2009 .

[2]  P. Alpert,et al.  Synoptics of dust transportation days from Africa toward Italy and central Europe , 2005 .

[3]  P. Alpert,et al.  Synoptic classification of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer aerosols over Israel , 2009 .

[4]  O. Torres,et al.  ENVIRONMENTAL CHARACTERIZATION OF GLOBAL SOURCES OF ATMOSPHERIC SOIL DUST IDENTIFIED WITH THE NIMBUS 7 TOTAL OZONE MAPPING SPECTROMETER (TOMS) ABSORBING AEROSOL PRODUCT , 2002 .

[5]  Z. Levin,et al.  The Effects of Desert Particles Coated with Sulfate on Rain Formation in the Eastern Mediterranean , 1996 .

[6]  Dimitris G. Kaskaoutis,et al.  Transport pathways of Sahara dust over Athens, Greece as detected by MODIS and TOMS , 2012 .

[7]  G. Kallos,et al.  A model for prediction of desert dust cycle in the atmosphere , 2001 .

[8]  G. Kallos,et al.  Saharan dust contributions to PM10 and TSP levels in Southern and Eastern Spain , 2001 .

[9]  K. V. S. Badarinath,et al.  Investigations of an intense aerosol loading during 2007 cyclone SIDR - A study using satellite data and ground measurements over Indian region , 2009 .

[10]  E. Vermote,et al.  The MODIS Aerosol Algorithm, Products, and Validation , 2005 .

[11]  K. V. S. Badarinath,et al.  Variation in aerosol properties over Hyderabad, India during intense cyclonic conditions , 2008 .

[12]  David Antoine,et al.  Recent increase of Saharan dust transport over the Mediterranean Sea, as revealed from ocean color satellite (SeaWiFS) observations , 2006 .

[13]  D. Hatzidimitriou,et al.  Aerosol physical and optical properties in the Eastern Mediterranean Basin, Crete, from Aerosol Robotic Network data , 2006 .

[14]  R. Draxler.  HYSPLIT (HYbrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory) Model access via NOAA ARL READY Website , 2010 .

[15]  K. V. S. Badarinath,et al.  Long-range transport of dust aerosols over the Arabian Sea and Indian region — A case study using satellite data and ground-based measurements , 2010 .

[16]  Lukas H. Meyer,et al.  Summary for Policymakers , 2022, The Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate.

[17]  Christos Zerefos,et al.  Photochemical Activity and Solar Ultraviolet Radiation (PAUR) Modulation Factors: An overview of the project , 2002 .

[18]  O. Boucher,et al.  Uncertainties in assessing radiative forcing by mineral dust , 1998 .

[19]  E. Yang,et al.  Does dust change the clear sky top of atmosphere shortwave flux over high surface reflectance regions? , 2009 .

[20]  Panagiotis T. Nastos,et al.  The combined use of satellite data, air-mass trajectories and model applications for monitoring dust transport over Athens, Greece , 2010 .

[21]  F. Monteleone,et al.  Seasonal transport patterns of intense Saharan dust events at the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa , 2008 .

[22]  Dimitris G. Kaskaoutis,et al.  Temporal changes of particulate concentration in the ambient air over the city of Zahedan, Iran , 2013, Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health.

[23]  Richard Washington,et al.  North African dust emissions and transport , 2006 .

[24]  E. Mediterranean.  Study on an intense dust storm over Greece , 2008 .

[25]  Athanasios G. Paliatsos,et al.  Diagnosis of the Relationship between Dust Storms over the Sahara Desert and Dust Deposit or Coloured Rain in the South Balkans , 2010 .

[26]  V. Cachorro,et al.  A long Saharan dust event over the western Mediterranean: Lidar, Sun photometer observations, and regional dust modeling , 2006 .

[27]  M. Perrone,et al.  Saharan dust particle properties over the central Mediterranean , 2006 .

[28]  G. Kallos,et al.  Transatlantic Saharan dust transport : Model simulation and results , 2006 .

[29]  C. Hueglin,et al.  Saharan dust events at the Jungfraujoch: detection by wavelength dependence of the single scattering albedo and first climatology analysis , 2004 .

[30]  Christos Zerefos,et al.  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 , 2005 .

[31]  E. Samoli,et al.  Acute effects of air pollution on pediatric asthma exacerbation: evidence of association and effect modification. , 2011, Environmental research.

[32]  Gionata Biavati,et al.  Seasonal behavior of Saharan dust events at the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa in the period 1999-2005 , 2007 .

[33]  Mihalis Vrekoussis,et al.  Origin and variability of particulate matter (PM10) mass concentrations over the Eastern Mediterranean , 2006 .

[34]  Panagiotis T Nastos,et al.  Outdoor particulate matter and childhood asthma admissions in Athens, Greece: a time-series study , 2010, Environmental health : a global access science source.

[35]  P. Nastos,et al.  Spatial distribution of PM 1 and PM 10 during Saharan dust episodes in Athens, Greece , 2009 .

[36]  C. Velden,et al.  ARTICLES: The Impact of the Saharan Air Layer on Atlantic Tropical Cyclone Activity. , 2004 .

[37]  V. Masson,et al.  Satellite climatology of African dust transport in the Mediterranean atmosphere , 1998 .

[38]  G. Kallos,et al.  Air pollution modeling in the Mediterranean Region: Analysis and forecasting of episodes , 2008 .

[39]  R. Reynolds,et al.  The NCEP/NCAR 40-Year Reanalysis Project , 1996, Renewable Energy.

[40]  G. Gobbi,et al.  Estimating the impact of Saharan dust on the year 2001 PM10 record of Rome, Italy , 2007 .

[41]  Pinhas Alpert,et al.  Vertical distribution of Saharan dust based on 2.5-year model predictions , 2004 .

[42]  Oleg Dubovik,et al.  Global aerosol optical properties and application to Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer aerosol retrieval over land , 2007 .

[43]  X. Querol,et al.  Assessing the performance of methods to detect and quantify African dust in airborne particulates. , 2010, Environmental science & technology.

[44]  B. Nsom,et al.  Impact of Saharan dust on PM10 concentration in the Mediterranean Tunisian coasts. , 2009 .

[45]  S. Kinne,et al.  Aerosol radiative forcing for Asian continental outflow , 2001 .

[46]  Mihalis Vrekoussis,et al.  Dust transport over the eastern Mediterranean derived from Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer, Aerosol Robotic Network, and surface measurements , 2007 .

[47]  A. Matzarakis,et al.  Environmental impacts on human health during a Saharan dust episode at Crete Island, Greece , 2011 .