Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
2.5 Sea-Salt Aerosol Forecasts over the Mediterranean
Sea
P. Kishcha
1
, S. Nickovic
2
, A. Luvchik
1
, Z. Janjic
3
, N. Pérez
4
, M. Viana
4
,
N. Mihalopoulos
5
, Mamane
6
, O. Yossef
6
, and P. Alpert
1
1
Department of Geophysics and Planetary Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, 69978 Tel-Aviv,
Israel,
2
World Meteorological Organization, Geneva, Switzerland,
3
NCEP/UCAR, Washington, DC, USA,
4
Institute for Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA-CSIC), Barcelona,
Spain,
5
University of Crete, Heraklion, Crete, Greece,
6
Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Technion, Haifa, Israel
Abstract
Numerical simulations of sea-salt aerosol (SSA) over the Mediterranean
were conducted and compared with sea-salt ground-based measurements taken at
the following three sites: Barcelona, Spain, a 2-year data set (2006-2007); Tel-Aviv,
Israel, from March 12 to April 9, 2006; and Finokalia, Crete, Greece, from May 2
to 30, 2008. The comparison showed that the model was capable of producing
reasonable sea-salt concentrations. We found that specific features of the moni-
toring site located over the land could contribute to some discrepancy between model
data and measurements. In summer, the model underestimated SSA-measurements
when actual sea-wave height did not correspond to observed surface sea winds. In
winter, winds which do not blow from sea to land create sea-salt aerosols over the
sea in the vicinity of Barcelona: these aerosols are not transported inland. Under
these circumstances, the model overestimated sea-salt measurements.
1. Introduction
SSA scatters solar radiation and thereby plays an important role in the atmospheric
radiation budget. Acting as cloud condensation nuclei, sea-salt could affect cloud
formation in the marine boundary layer. The Mediterranean Sea is of specific
interest as it is a crossroad where natural aerosols and anthropogenic aerosols from
different sources are superimposed. Because of the lack of in situ ground-based
sea-salt measurements, model-based 24-h forecasts of SSA could be helpful, pro-
viding valuable information about space and time distributions of sea-salt aerosols
in the Mediterranean region. This study was aimed at comparing quantitatively
madel-predicted sea-salt aerosol concentrations with sea-salt ground-based
