Study on an intense dust storm over Greece

Citation:

Kaskaoutis, D.G., Kambezidis, H.D., Nastos, P.T. & Kosmopoulos, P.G. Study on an intense dust storm over Greece. Atmospheric Environment 42, 6884 - 6896 (2008). Copy at http://www.tinyurl.com/y2vsnfdp
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Abstract:

Springtime constitutes the most favorable period for Sahara dust outbreaks and transport over Eastern Mediterranean. This study investigates the aerosol properties during April 2005 using remote-sensing and ground-based measurements. Three dust events with high aerosol optical depth (AOD) values have been observed during the measuring period, with duration of two days, i.e. 11-12, 16-17 and 25-26 April 2005. In this paper we mainly focus on the intense dust event of 16-17 April 2005, when a thick dust layer transported from Libya affected the whole Greek territory. Very high AOD values obtained from Aqua-MODIS sensor were observed over Greece (mean 2.42 ± 1.25) on 17 April, while the respective mean April value was 0.31 ± 0.09. The AOD at 550 nm (AOD 550) values over Crete were even larger, reaching ∼4.0. As a consequence, the PM 10 concentrations over Athens dramatically increased reaching up to 200 μg m -3. On the other hand, the fine-mode fraction values obtained from Terra-MODIS showed a substantial decrease in the whole Greek area on 17 April with values below 0.2 in the Southern regions. The intense dust layer showed a complex behavior concerning its spatial and temporal evolution and allowed us to study the changes in the optical properties of the desert dust particles along their transport routes due to the mixing processes with other aerosol types. The results from different measurements (ground-based and remote-sensing) did not contradict each other and, therefore, are adequate for monitoring of dust load over the Eastern Mediterranean. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Notes:

Cited By :64Export Date: 2 November 2015CODEN: AENVECorrespondence Address: Kambezidis, H.D.; Atmospheric Research Team, Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, National Observatory of Athens, P.O. Box 20048, Lofos Nymphon, GR-11810 Athens, Greece; email: harry@meteo.noa.grReferences: d' Almeida, G.A., A model for Saharan dust transport (1986) J. Climatol. Appl. Meteorol, 25, pp. 903-916;Alpert, P., Kishcha, P., Shtivelman, A., Krichak, S.O., Joseph, J.H., Vertical distribution of Saharan dust based on 2.5-year model predictions (2004) Atmos. Res., 70, pp. 109-130; Antoine, D., Nobileau, D., Recent increase of Saharan dust transport over the Meditterenean Sea, as revealed from ocean color satellite (SeaWiFS) observations (2006) J. Geophys. 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