Christina Mitsakou

Impact of natural aerosols on atmospheric radiation and consequent feedbacks with the meteorological and photochemical state of the atmosphere

This paper addresses the aerosol effects on radiation and the feedback on meteorology and photochemical activity, applying the online model RAMS/ICLAMS. The model treats meteorology and chemical pollutants on an interactive way. Cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), giant cloud condensation nuclei, and ice nuclei are treated as predictive quantities. The calculation of the aerosol optical properties accounts for size-resolved mineral dust and size- and humidity-dependent optical properties of sea salt. The simulations with and without aerosol impacts reveal the complex direct and indirect mechanisms through which the alteration of radiation fluxes influences meteorology and photochemical processes. For the specific dust event, the reduction in the surface shortwave radiation over cloudless regions affected by dust averages at ~ −75 W m−2 at 12:00 UTC per unit dust loading (1 g m−2). The increase on downwelling longwave radiation over the same areas and time averages at ~ 40 W m−2 per unit dust loading (1 g m−2). Surface upwelling longwave radiation over Mediterranean exhibits a complex daytime behavior. During midnight, the inclusion of dust leads to larger upwelling longwave radiation fluxes over the African continent. The net downward longwave radiation over cloudless areas exhibits an increase both during noon and midnight with the inclusion of dust. The results show that the vertical structure of the dust layer governs the magnitude of the feedback on radiation. The activation of natural particles as CCN causes small changes in radiation fluxes and temperature. Precipitation is influenced more by the indirect rather than the direct and semidirect effects.

Particulate Matter Exposure and Dose Relationships Derived from Realistic Exposure Scenarios

Day-averaged outdoor aerosol concentrations from fixed ambient air monitoring stations are associated with the daily lung dose of an individual and the consequent health effects in most studies. The applicability of such measurements for dose assessment is evaluated in this study by comparing the estimated total and regional lung doses using the above concentrations, continuous (hourly) or day-averaged, to the dose derived from actual exposure. Dosimetric calculations are performed using experimentally determined indoor and outdoor concentrations during realistic exposure under variant physical exertion in both environments. The results show that the daily dose can be closely estimated by day-averaged data.

Modeling of the dispersion of depleted uranium aerosol

Abstract— Depleted uranium is a low-cost radioactive material that, in addition to other applications, is used by the military in kinetic energy weapons against armored vehicles. During the Gulf and Balkan conflicts concern has been raised about the potential health hazards arising from the toxic and radioactive material released. The aerosol produced during impact and combustion of depleted uranium munitions can potentially contaminate wide areas around the impact sites or can be inhaled by civilians and military personnel. Attempts to estimate the extent and magnitude of the dispersion were until now performed by complex modeling tools employing unclear assumptions and input parameters of high uncertainty. An analytical puff model accommodating diffusion with simultaneous deposition is developed, which can provide a reasonable estimation of the dispersion of the released depleted uranium aerosol. Furthermore, the period of the exposure for a given point downwind from the release can be estimated (as opposed to when using a plume model). The main result is that the depleted uranium mass is deposited very close to the release point. The deposition flux at a couple of kilometers from the release point is more than one order of magnitude lower than the one a few meters near the release point. The effects due to uncertainties in the key input variables are addressed. The most influential parameters are found to be atmospheric stability, height of release, and wind speed, whereas aerosol size distribution is less significant. The output from the analytical model developed was tested against the numerical model RPM-AERO. Results display satisfactory agreement between the two models.

Natural and anthropogenic aerosols in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East: Possible impacts

The physical and chemical properties of airborne particles have significant implications on the microphysical cloud processes. Maritime clouds have different properties than polluted ones and the final amounts and types of precipitation are different. Mixed phase aerosols that contain soluble matter are efficient cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and enhance the liquid condensate spectrum in warm and mixed phase clouds. Insoluble particles such as mineral dust and black carbon are also important because of their ability to act as efficient ice nuclei (IN) through heterogeneous ice nucleation mechanisms. The relative contribution of aerosol concentrations, size distributions and chemical compositions on cloud structure and precipitation is discussed in the framework of RAMS/ICLAMS model. Analysis of model results and comparison with measurements reveals the complexity of the above links. Taking into account anthropogenic emissions and all available aerosol-cloud interactions the model precipitation bias was reduced by 50% for a storm simulation over eastern Mediterranean.

Ten-year operational dust forecasting – Recent model development and future plans

The Sahara desert is one of the major sources of mineral dust on Earth, producing up to 2x108 t yr-1. A combined effort has been devoted during the last ten years at the University of Athens (UOA) from the Atmospheric Modeling and Weather Forecasting Group (AM&WFG) to the development of an analysis and forecasting tool that will provide early warning of Saharan dust outbreaks. The developed tool is the SKIRON limited-area forecasting system, based on the Eta limited area modeling system with embedded algorithms describing the dust cycle. A new version of the model is currently available, with extra features like eight-size particle bins, radiative transfer corrections, new dust source identification and utilization of rocky soil characterization and incorporation of more accurate deposition schemes. The new version of SKIRON modeling system is coupled with the photochemical model CAMx in order to study processes like the shading effect of dust particles on photochemical processes and the production of second and third generation of aerosols. Moreover, another new development in the AM&WFG is based on the RAMS model, with the incorporation of processes like dust and sea-salt production, gas and aqueous phase chemistry and particle formation. In this study, the major characteristics of the developed (and under development) modeling systems are presented, as well as the spatiotemporal distribution of the transported dust amounts, the interaction with anthropogenically-produced particles and the potential implications on radiative transfer.

Mechanisms of Climate Variability, Air Quality and Impacts of Atmospheric Constituents in the Mediterranean Region

This chapter describes the physicochemical mechanisms that formulate the air quality over the Mediterranean region and the resulted impacts on the regional climate. At first, a detailed description of the teleconnections and regional flow patterns that dominate in the region is provided. The dominant flow patterns during the different seasons of the year determine the transport paths of air pollutants and aerosols towards and across the study area. The analysis on the characteristics of the air pollution transport is separated for the different parts of the Mediterranean region (eastern, western and entire), since the sources of pollutants that reach at different points in the region vary, while specific pollutant transport paths may influence the wider Mediterranean area. Similarities and differences in patterns are discussed. The air quality over the region, as recorded from black/organic carbon, ozone, aerosol observations, is extensively discussed, along with seasonal variabilities and annual trends. There is particular discussion on the suspension of naturally-produced aerosols and especially desert dust particles in the region and their spatial influence on the aerosol levels. At the last part of the chapter, the major impacts of the transport and transformation processes (natural and anthropogenic pollutants) on the regional climate are discussed. The impacts of aerosols are distinguished in direct (the impacts on radiation budget), health (the amounts of inhaled particles and impacts on health) and indirect effects (impacts on clouds and precipitation), are discussed on qualitative and quantitative way.

An Integrated Weather and Sea State Forecasting System for the Arabian Peninsula (WASSF)

Saudi Aramco is the oil industry of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with several activities related to the environment. In order to optimize daily operations and minimize environmental risks a forecasting system has been employed and setup in operations. The objectives of the system include prevention and mitigation of environmental problems, as well as early warning of local conditions associated with extreme weather events. The management and operations part is related to early warning of weather and dust storms that affect operations of various facilities, whereas the environmental part is mainly focused on air quality and desert dust levels in the atmosphere.

An Online Coupled Two Way Interactive Modelling Study of Air Pollution Over Europe and Mediterranean

During the last decade, the efforts in the field of atmospheric modeling have been directed towards a joint ‘online’ approach of the meteorological and chemical processes in order to treat, in an integrated way, their complex and interactive links. This approach allows for the use of all meteorological fields as input in the chemical submodel, at each model time step, as well as takes into consideration the concentration of the pollutants on the meteorological processes (radiation and cloud microphysics). In this work, the air pollution over East Mediterranean is assessed with the use of the fully coupled, two-way interactive modeling system ICLAMS. Simulations have been performed for several test cases enhancing on the feedback mechanisms that occur. The summer case (July 2005) is used as base evaluation case due the increased insolation and high photolytic activity. The ozone model results are compared with measurements from stations from the European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP). The correlation coefficient over all model domain reaches 0.7 with a root mean square error 22.78 μg/m3 and mean bias 0.74 μg/m3. The spring case (April 2004) highlights on the impact of mineral dust and sea salt on the photolysis rates that in turn determine the concentration of ozone in the area. The presence of dust over Finokalia station (Crete, Greece) leads to a decrease in the photolysis rates of NO2 and O3. Another winter case has also been discussed regarding the role of anthropogenic aerosols on clouds and precipitation.

The Effects of Naturally Produced Dust Particles on Radiative Transfer

Mineral dust has a profound effect on the radiative budget and energy distribution of the atmosphere. By absorbing and scattering the solar radiation aerosols reduce the amount of energy reaching the surface. In addition aerosols enhance the greenhouse effect by absorbing and emitting longwave radiation. Desert dust forcing exhibits large regional and temporal variability due to its short lifetime and diverse optical properties further complicate the quantification of the Direct Radiative Effect (DRE). The complexity of the above processes, indicate the need of an integrated approach in order to examine these impacts. To this end the radiative transfer module RRTMG has been incorporated into the framework of the SKIRON model. The updated system was used to perform a 6-year long simulation over the Mediterranean region. As it was found, the most profound effect dust clouds have in areas away from the sources is the surface cooling through the “shading” effect. The long wave radiation forcing below and above the dust cloud is considerable and drives changes in the tropospheric temperature. In general dust particles cause warming near the ground and at mid-tropospheric layers and at the same time cooling of the lower troposphere.