One-year observations of the vertical structure of Saharan dust over Athens, Greece monitored by NTUA's lidar system in the frame of EARLINET

Papayannis, A; Chourdakis, G; Tsaknakis, G; Serafetinides, A

dc.contributor.author	Papayannis, A	en
dc.contributor.author	Chourdakis, G	en
dc.contributor.author	Tsaknakis, G	en
dc.contributor.author	Serafetinides, A	en
dc.date.accessioned	2014-03-01T02:49:15Z
dc.date.available	2014-03-01T02:49:15Z
dc.date.issued	2002	en
dc.identifier.issn	0277786X	en
dc.identifier.uri	https://dspace.lib.ntua.gr/xmlui/handle/123456789/34446
dc.subject	Atmospheric aerosols	en
dc.subject	Eastern Mediterranean	en
dc.subject	Lidar	en
dc.subject	Saharan dust	en
dc.subject.other	Aerosols	en
dc.subject.other	Dust	en
dc.subject.other	Frequencies	en
dc.subject.other	Meteorology	en
dc.subject.other	Optical radar	en
dc.subject.other	Ozone	en
dc.subject.other	Satellites	en
dc.subject.other	Spectrometers	en
dc.subject.other	Troposphere	en
dc.subject.other	Atmospheric aerosols	en
dc.subject.other	Remote sensing	en
dc.title	One-year observations of the vertical structure of Saharan dust over Athens, Greece monitored by NTUA's lidar system in the frame of EARLINET	en
heal.type	conferenceItem	en
heal.identifier.primary	10.1117/12.454434	en
heal.identifier.secondary	http://dx.doi.org/10.1117/12.454434	en
heal.publicationDate	2002	en
heal.abstract	Suspended aerosol particles play a significant role in the Global Change issue. Every year huge quantities of Saharan dust are transported to the European continent and North Atlantic Sea. Since May 1, 2000, an elastic backscatter lidar station is in operation in Athens, Greece, in the frame of the European LIDAR Network (EARLINET), aiming at the monitoring of extreme aerosol events over the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. During the first year of operation 20 cases of Saharan dust transport to the East Mediterranean Sea (EMS), were successfully observed. The lidar data are correlated with meteorological and satellite observations, including the aerosol index (AI) data from the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) and the SeaWiFS satellite images. The analysis of the data collected so far, made possible a first statistical approach of the vertical and horizontal extent and of the seasonal variation of free tropospheric Saharan dust layers over the EMS area. The main results of this work are: i) multiple dust layers of variable thickness (0.5-4 km) are systematically observed in the altitude region 2-6 km, ii) Saharan dust outbreaks take place all year round, with more pronounced frequencies during the summer period and can persist for a few days (1-5), iii) 24-48 hours are usually needed for the Saharan air masses to reach the EMS area, and finally iv) the TOMS AI values can reach 1.5-3.5 over Greece. These lidar data gave the aerosol vertical structure over the Eastern Mediterranean Sea during Saharan dust outbreaks and can be a direct input for global radiative transfer models.	en
heal.journalName	Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering	en
dc.identifier.doi	10.1117/12.454434	en
dc.identifier.volume	4539	en
dc.identifier.spage	146	en
dc.identifier.epage	157	en