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The Role of Natural Aerosols in Climate and Extreme Meteorological...
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The Role of Natural Aerosols in Climate and Extreme Meteorological Events

A special issue of Remote Sensing (ISSN 2072-4292). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Remote Sensing".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2023) | Viewed by 9836

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Umberto Rizza

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
National Research Council of Italy, Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (CNR-ISAC), 73100 Lecce, Italy
Interests: numerical weather prediction; severe weather; aerosol; atmospheric dispersion
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Giorgio Passerini

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
DIISM/UNIVPM, Ancona, Italy
Interests: atmospheric composition
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Andrea Mazzino

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
DICCA/UNIGE, Genova, Italy
Interests: numerical modeling of turbulence and mesoscale meteorology
Dr. Enrico Mancinelli

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
DIISM/UNIVPM, Ancona, Italy
Interests: atmospheric composition

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Aerosols are one of the most important forcing agents that largely contribute to the total uncertainties in estimating the global radiative forcing on the climatic time scale. They directly modify the radiation budget by absorbing and scattering long- and shortwave radiation and they affect the microphysics properties of clouds, altering the likelihood of precipitations. Depending on their chemical compositions and diameters, aerosol particles can act as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and ice nuclei (IN), and deeply impact the microphysical processes inside clouds and the atmosphere’s optical properties, henceforth referred to as the hydrological cycle and climate.

Although in situ measurements and satellite- and ground-based remote sensing provide important information regarding aerosol loading, distribution, and influences, such measurements are essentially limited in space and time and, above all, are limited in their ability to distinguish between natural and anthropogenic aerosol components. In this context, the assessment of aerosols’ influences on climate by means of numerical simulations is essential for interpreting the climate in the past and for projecting future changes for different emission scenarios. This assessment requires an accurate representation within global/regional models of the physical and chemical properties of the particles that comprise atmospheric aerosols and the processes that influence these properties. Key processes that must be represented include: the emission of primary particles, such as mineral dust, sea-spray, volcanic ash, black carbon, and organic carbon; dry and wet depositions to the surface; and all the processes that are dependent on aerosol radiation and microphysics feedbacks.

This Special Issue aims at studies covering different approaches concerning the role of natural aerosols on meteorological events (hurricanes, medicanes, convective systems, extreme flooding) through their connections with radiation and cloud systems.  

Solicited contributions include but are not limited to modeling and experimental studies on the emission of natural aerosols, the role of aerosols in clouds and radiation and the role of sea-spray in air–sea interactions, hurricane and medicane dynamics and mesoscale convective systems. Due to their significance in models’ configurations and evaluations, experimental studies concerning the topics described above are also welcome.

Dr. Umberto Rizza
Prof. Dr. Giorgio Passerini
Prof. Dr. Andrea Mazzino
Dr. Enrico Mancinelli
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Remote Sensing is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • dust-radiation feedbacks
  • dust-microphysics feedbacks
  • sea-spray and medicanes
  • transport of volcanic ash
  • mineral dust emission
  • numerical modeling
  • satellite retrievals

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

31 pages, 21474 KiB  
Article
Airspace Contamination by Volcanic Ash from Sequences of Etna Paroxysms: Coupling the WRF-Chem Dispersion Model with Near-Source L-Band Radar Observations
by Umberto Rizza, Franck Donnadieu, Mauro Morichetti, Elenio Avolio, Giuseppe Castorina, Agostino Semprebello, Salvatore Magazu, Giorgio Passerini, Enrico Mancinelli and Clothilde Biensan
Remote Sens. 2023, 15(15), 3760; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15153760 - 28 Jul 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1502
Abstract
Volcanic emissions (ash, gas, aerosols) dispersed in the atmosphere during explosive eruptions generate hazards affecting aviation, human health, air quality, and the environment. We document for the first time the contamination of airspace by very fine volcanic ash due to sequences of transient [...] Read more.
Volcanic emissions (ash, gas, aerosols) dispersed in the atmosphere during explosive eruptions generate hazards affecting aviation, human health, air quality, and the environment. We document for the first time the contamination of airspace by very fine volcanic ash due to sequences of transient ash plumes from Mount Etna. The atmospheric dispersal of sub-10 μm (PM10) ash is modelled using the WRF-Chem model, coupled online with meteorology and aerosols and offline with mass eruption rates (MERs) derived from near-vent Doppler radar measurements and inferred plume altitudes. We analyze two sequences of paroxysms with widely varied volcanological conditions and contrasted meteorological synoptic patterns in October–December 2013 and on 3–5 December 2015. We analyze the PM10 ash dispersal simulation maps in terms of time-averaged columnar ash density, concentration at specified flight levels averaged over the entire sequence interval, and daily average concentration during selected paroxysm days at these flight levels. The very fine ash from such eruption sequences is shown to easily contaminate the airspace around the volcano within a radius of about 1000 km in a matter of a few days. Synoptic patterns with relatively weak tropospheric currents lead to the accumulation of PM10 ash at a regional scale all around Etna. In this context, closely interspersed paroxysms tend to accumulate very fine ash more diffusively at a lower troposphere and in stretched ash clouds higher up in the troposphere. Low-pressure, high-winds weather systems tend to stretch ash clouds into ~100 km wide clouds, forming large-scale vortices 800–1600 km in diameter. Daily average PM10 ash concentrations commonly exceed the aviation hazard threshold, up to 1000 km downwind from the volcano and up to the upper troposphere for intense paroxysms. Vertical distributions show ash cloud thicknesses in the range 0.7–3 km, and PM10 sometimes stagnates at ground level, which represent a potential health hazard. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Natural Aerosols in Climate and Extreme Meteorological Events)
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25 pages, 22184 KiB  
Article
The Role of Aerosol Concentration on Precipitation in a Winter Extreme Mixed-Phase System: The Case of Storm Filomena
by Enrique Pravia-Sarabia, Juan Pedro Montávez, Amar Halifa-Marin, Pedro Jiménez-Guerrero and Juan José Gomez-Navarro
Remote Sens. 2023, 15(5), 1398; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15051398 - 1 Mar 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1947
Abstract
Aerosol concentration, size and composition are fundamental in hydrometeor formation processes. Meteorological models often use prescribed aerosol concentrations and a single substance. In this study, we analyze the role of aerosol concentration, acting both as CCN and IN, in the development of precipitation [...] Read more.
Aerosol concentration, size and composition are fundamental in hydrometeor formation processes. Meteorological models often use prescribed aerosol concentrations and a single substance. In this study, we analyze the role of aerosol concentration, acting both as CCN and IN, in the development of precipitation in a mixed phase system in numerical weather simulations. To this end, Storm Filomena was selected as the case study. In such a mixed-phase system, the coexistence of supercooled water with ice crystals, as well as the particular existence of a thermal inversion, led to the formation of precipitation in the form of rain, snow and graupel. Several high resolution experiments varying the fixed background aerosol concentration as well as a simulation with an interactive aerosol calculation were performed by means of the WRF-Chem model, using the same physics suite, domain and driving conditions. Results show that the total precipitation remains basically unaltered, with maximum changes of 5%; however, the production of snow is heavily modified. The simulation with maximum prescribed aerosol concentration produced 27% more snow than the interactive aerosol simulation, and diminished the graupel (74%) and rain production (28%). This redistribution of precipitation is mainly linked to the fact that under fixed ice crystal population the variation of aerosol concentration translates into changes in the liquid water content and droplet size and number concentration, thus altering the efficiency of precipitation production. In addition, while modifying the prescribed aerosol concentration produces the same precipitation pattern with the concentration modulating the precipitation amount, interactive aerosol calculation leads to a different precipitation pattern due to the spatial and temporal variability induced in the dynamical aerosol distribution. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Natural Aerosols in Climate and Extreme Meteorological Events)
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19 pages, 6870 KiB  
Article
Analysis of the Winter AOD Trends over Iran from 2000 to 2020 and Associated Meteorological Effects
by Robabeh Yousefi, Fang Wang, Quansheng Ge, Abdallah Shaheen and Dimitris G. Kaskaoutis
Remote Sens. 2023, 15(4), 905; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15040905 - 6 Feb 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2738
Abstract
High aerosol levels pose severe air pollution and climate change challenges in Iran. Although regional aerosol optical depth (AOD) trends have been analyzed during the dusty season over Iran, the specific factors that are driving the spatio-temporal variations in winter AOD and the [...] Read more.
High aerosol levels pose severe air pollution and climate change challenges in Iran. Although regional aerosol optical depth (AOD) trends have been analyzed during the dusty season over Iran, the specific factors that are driving the spatio-temporal variations in winter AOD and the influence of meteorological dynamics on winter AOD trends remain unclear. This study analyzes the long-term AOD trends over Iran in winter during the period 2000–2020 using the updated Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications version 2 (MERRA-2) and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) datasets. Our results showed that the winter AOD exhibited a significant upward trend during the period 2000–2010 followed by a significant decrease during the period 2010–2018. We found that the winter AOD trends are important over this arid region due to multiple meteorological mechanisms which also affect the following spring/summer dusty period. Ground-based observations from Aerosol Robotic Network data (AERONET) in the Middle East region display trends comparable to those of both MERRA-2 and MODIS and indicated that aeolian dust and the meteorological dynamics associated with it play a central role in winter AOD changes. Furthermore, this study indicated that a significant downward trend in winter sea level pressure (SLP) during the early period (2000–2010) induced hot and dry winds which originated in the desert regions in Iraq and Arabia and blew toward Iran, reducing relative humidity (RH) and raising the temperature and thus promoting soil drying and dust AOD accumulation. In contrast, a significant increase in winter SLP during the late period (2010–2018) induced cold and wet winds from northwestern regions which increased RH and lowered the temperature, thus reducing dust AOD. This suggests that the changes in AOD over Iran are highly influenced by seasonal meteorological variabilities. These results also highlight the importance of examining wintertime climatic variations and their effects on the dust aerosol changes over the Middle East. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Natural Aerosols in Climate and Extreme Meteorological Events)
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31 pages, 23306 KiB  
Article
On the Interplay between Desert Dust and Meteorology Based on WRF-Chem Simulations and Remote Sensing Observations in the Mediterranean Basin
by Umberto Rizza, Elenio Avolio, Mauro Morichetti, Luca Di Liberto, Annachiara Bellini, Francesca Barnaba, Simone Virgili, Giorgio Passerini and Enrico Mancinelli
Remote Sens. 2023, 15(2), 435; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15020435 - 11 Jan 2023
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2837
Abstract
In this study, we investigate a series of Saharan dust outbreaks toward the Mediterranean basin that occurred in late June 2021. In particular, we analyze the effect of mineral dust aerosols on radiation and cloud properties (direct, semi-direct and indirect effects), and in [...] Read more.
In this study, we investigate a series of Saharan dust outbreaks toward the Mediterranean basin that occurred in late June 2021. In particular, we analyze the effect of mineral dust aerosols on radiation and cloud properties (direct, semi-direct and indirect effects), and in turn, on meteorological parameters. This is achieved by running the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) over a domain covering North Africa and the Central Mediterranean Basin. The simulations were configured using a gradual coupling strategy between the GOCART aerosol model and the Goddard radiation and microphysics schemes available in the WRF-Chem package. A preliminary evaluation of the model performances was conducted in order to verify its capability to correctly reproduce the amount of mineral dust loaded into the atmosphere within the spatial domain considered. To this purpose, we used a suite of experimental data from ground- and space-based remote sensing measurements. This comparison highlighted a model over-estimation of aerosol optical properties to the order of 20%. The evaluation of the desert dust impact on the radiation budget, achieved by comparing the uncoupled and the fully coupled (aerosol–radiation–clouds) simulation, shows that mineral dust induces a net (shortwave–longwave) cooling effect to the order of −10 W m−2. If we consider the net dust radiative forcing, the presence of dust particles induces a small cooling effect at the top of the atmosphere (−1.2 W m−2) and a stronger cooling at the surface (−14.2 W m−2). At the same time, analysis of the perturbation on the surface energy budget yields a reduction of −7 W m−2 when considering the FULL-coupled simulation, a positive perturbation of +3 W m−2 when only considering microphysics coupling and −10.4 W m−2 when only considering radiation coupling. This last result indicates a sort of “superposition” of direct, indirect and semi-direct effects of dust on the radiation budget. This study shows that the presence of dust aerosols significantly influences radiative and cloud properties and specifically the surface energy budget. This suggests (i) that dust effects should be considered in climate models in order to increase the accuracy of climate predictions over the Mediterranean region and (ii) the necessity of performing fully coupled simulations including aerosols and their effects on meteorology at a regional scale. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Natural Aerosols in Climate and Extreme Meteorological Events)
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