The objective of the project is to explore the temporal and spatial variability of crucial atmospheric parameters for the dynamics of the climate and Earth system. In particular, the investigation of the spatio-temporal variability of the aerosol optical depth (AOD) and the atmospheric ozone content by utilizing modern tools of non-linear analysis is a principal component of the atmospheric and climate-dynamics modelling. The method is based on the exploitation of the available observations of the ESA and Chinese Earth Observation data as well as the ground-based Dobson and Brewer stations and remote sensing networks (e.g. ERS-GOME, ENVISAT-MIPAS-GOMOS-SCIAMACHY) and AERONET, WDCA, MODIS) performing the detrended fluctuation analysis. This technique eliminates the non-stationarities existing in the time-series and provides information about the intrinsic properties of the parameter under consideration, notably:
1) Does AOD and ozone exhibit long-range correlations? (i.e. some properties of the time series at different times are correlated and its correlation function decays much slower than exponential decay e.g. power-law decay).
2) Does AOD and ozone obey long memory? (i.e. if adjacent values are positively or inversely correlated exhibiting scaling effect). Is there a tendency for an increase / decrease in AOD and ozone to be followed by another increase/decrease in AOD and ozone at a different time?. The results obtained will be used to the validation of the basic climate models over normal and extreme (e.g. forest fires) conditions.
3) Quantification of the uptake of ozone into aerosol and water droplets as a function of height.
The deliverables of the project will be:
1) Climate characteristics of the non-linear dynamics of AOD and O3 on a global scale. Impacts on the solar UV radiation and temperature fields. Case studies for Athens and Beijing at normal and extreme conditions.
2) Scaling properties of air pollution in Athens and Beijing to improve air-pollution forecast modeling.
3) The vertical profile of the uptake of ozone into atmospheric urban aerosol and cloud droplets.
For the Greek group the main funding source to run the project will be the Athens University. Other potential sources will be detected. For the Chinese group, the main funding is from The Multi-Scale Comprehensive Observation and Study of Spatial-Temporal Properties of Aerosol Project funded by the MOST Global Change Study Key Program of China between 2010 and 2015.
The accomplishment of the project is expected to train a number of young post graduate scientists during their Masters, Doctorate degrees or post doctorate research. In addition, the project supports the continuity of the ESA-MOST Dragon 2 relevant projects and themes.
1) Does AOD and ozone exhibit long-range correlations? (i.e. some properties of the time series at different times are correlated and its correlation function decays much slower than exponential decay e.g. power-law decay).
2) Does AOD and ozone obey long memory? (i.e. if adjacent values are positively or inversely correlated exhibiting scaling effect). Is there a tendency for an increase / decrease in AOD and ozone to be followed by another increase/decrease in AOD and ozone at a different time?. The results obtained will be used to the validation of the basic climate models over normal and extreme (e.g. forest fires) conditions.
3) Quantification of the uptake of ozone into aerosol and water droplets as a function of height.
The deliverables of the project will be:
1) Climate characteristics of the non-linear dynamics of AOD and O3 on a global scale. Impacts on the solar UV radiation and temperature fields. Case studies for Athens and Beijing at normal and extreme conditions.
2) Scaling properties of air pollution in Athens and Beijing to improve air-pollution forecast modeling.
3) The vertical profile of the uptake of ozone into atmospheric urban aerosol and cloud droplets.
For the Greek group the main funding source to run the project will be the Athens University. Other potential sources will be detected. For the Chinese group, the main funding is from The Multi-Scale Comprehensive Observation and Study of Spatial-Temporal Properties of Aerosol Project funded by the MOST Global Change Study Key Program of China between 2010 and 2015.
The accomplishment of the project is expected to train a number of young post graduate scientists during their Masters, Doctorate degrees or post doctorate research. In addition, the project supports the continuity of the ESA-MOST Dragon 2 relevant projects and themes.