History of Mediterranean Aerosol Observations

François Dulac (1) , Nikolaos Mihalopoulos (2, 3, 4) , Dimitris Kaskaoutis (2, 3) , Xavier Querol (5) , Alcide Di Sarra (6) , Olivier Masson (7) , Jorge Pey (8) , Jean Sciare (4) , Michael Sicard (9)

1 LSCE - Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement [Gif-sur-Yvette]
2 IERSD - Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development
3 ECPL - Environmental Chemical Processes Laboratory [Heraklion]
4 Climate and Atmosphere Research Centre (CARE-C), The Cyprus Institute, Nicosia, 2121, Cyprus
5 IDAEA - Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research
6 ENEA - Agenzia Nazionale per le nuove Tecnologie, l’energia e lo sviluppo economico sostenibile = Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development
7 IRSN/PSE-ENV/SERPEN/LEREN - Laboratoire d'étude et d'expertise sur la radioactivité de l'environnement
8 IPE - CSIC - Instituto Pirenaico de Ecologìa = Pyrenean Institute of Ecology [Zaragoza]
9 UPC - Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya = Université polytechnique de Catalogne [Barcelona]

The Mediterranean is a crossroad region for different air masses and, therefore, of many contrasted aerosol types. It has been a natural laboratory to study their long-range transport, the formation of secondary particles from gaseous precursors, the effects of aerosols on the local and regional radiation budgets, and their consequences on air quality, atmospheric dynamics, clouds, precipitation, and climate. This chapter reviews the evolution of observational studies on tropospheric aerosols over the Mediterranean basin and surrounding areas after almost six decades of research. The dispersion of radionuclides following worldwide atmospheric nuclear bomb tests and then intense desert dust episodes were the motivations of the first studies in the 1960s. Our historical perspective describes the evolution of observation strategies in the Mediterranean region. It reflects to what extent the development of new instruments and observation strategies, or the expansion of high quality-high resolution remote sensing data, has contributed to our knowledge of aerosol phenomenology in this region. We review actions including intensive land and cruise field campaigns, surface monitoring stations, air quality studies, ground-based aerosol networks with a special focus on AERONET, satellite surveys, and finally, address aerosol speciation and health impacts.

Mots clés: VELETA; GAMARF; MORE; SAPUSS; KRIPIS; ChArMEx; ChArMEx-SOP0/TRAQA; ChArMEx-SOP1A/ADRIMED; ChArMEx-SOP1B/SAFMED; ChArMEx-SOP2A/SAFMED+; ChArMEx-SOP2B/GLAM; BACCHUS-ChArMEX/CyAr; CARE; PEACETIME; A-LIFE; QUEST; VESSAER; OPERA; EUSAAR; ACTRIS; APHEA; Mediterranean aerosol; Observational studies; List of past aerosol studies; Surface stations; In situ measurements; Airborne measurements; Field campaigns; Oceanographic cruises; Aircraft; Ultra-light aircraft (ULA); Unmanned aircraft (UA); Balloons; Radionuclides; Ultra-fine particles; Air quality; PM; Dust; Azores anticyclone; Monitoring; Ground-based networks; AERONET; EARLINET; SKYNET; Remote sensing; Lidar; Satellite survey; Meteosat; MSG; TOMS; AVHRR; SeaWIFS; MODIS; POLDER; Lite; CALIOP; CALIPSO; AIRS; IASI; GOME-2; Aerosol speciation studies; Health impacts; MEDPOL; BAPMoN; EOLO; MEIDEX; PANACEA; EMEP; MEDCAPHOT-TRACE; SECAP; PAUR; ADIOS; MINOS; FAME; THALES; EROS-2000; ARACHNE; MEDUSE; STAAARTE; MERCYMS; SUB-AERO; EL CID; MINATROC; CYCLOPS; CIRCE; AIRUSE; APICE; PEGASOS; PYREX; PIPAPO; ESCOMPTE

Domaines: Planète et Univers [physics]

François Dulac, Nikolaos Mihalopoulos, Dimitris Kaskaoutis, Xavier Querol, Alcide Di Sarra, et al.. History of Mediterranean Aerosol Observations. Atmospheric Chemistry in the Mediterranean Region, Springer International Publishing, pp.145-252, 2023, ⟨10.1007/978-3-031-12741-0_8⟩. ⟨hal-04184873⟩