Dust trends in the Eastern Mediterranean and the surrounding deserts during 2001-2022

The Mediterranean basin is a region of great interest for studying atmospheric aerosols considering that it is one of the most vulnerable areas of the planet for climate change. Due to the extensive range of air masses that it receives, Mediterranean hosts a variety of aerosol species with dust particles constituting the major component of the total aerosol burden. Previous studies have demonstrated that across the Mediterranean, dust loads’ intensity is maximized in the eastern sector of the basin. The prevailing atmospheric circulation as well as the proximity with the most active deserts worldwide (i.e., Sahara, Arabian Peninsula) interpret the pronounced dust presence in the Eastern Mediterranean. The current study seeks to investigate the temporal variation of dust optical depth (DOD) in the Eastern Mediterranean, as well as in the neighboring deserts of North Africa and the Middle East. At a further step, emphasis is given on the understanding of the role/importance of the atmospheric and terrestrial mechanisms driving the obtained dust trends across various time scales. DODs are derived from the updated version of the MIDAS (ModIs Dust AeroSol) dataset, which delivers daily columnar optical depths, on a global scale and at fine spatial resolution (0.1° x 0.1°), over a 22-year period (2001–2022). A collection of ancillary datasets is employed to shed light on the factors governing dust life cycle components (i.e., emission, transport, removal). For the atmospheric state (i.e., synoptic circulation, near-surface winds), we are processing numerical products from the ERA5 reanalysis operated by ECMWF. Data from the Copernicus Climate Data Store (CDS) are exploited for depicting the temporal variability of the surface state (i.e., soil moisture, vegetation). Additionally, we are taking into consideration large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns (e.g., North Atlantic Oscillation). We anticipate that the obtained outcomes will contribute to the continuous effort of the modelling community to advance climate models utilized for the dust projections in the forthcoming decades.   

 

This research has been supported by the CLIMPACT II (“Support for upgrading the operation of the National Network for Climate Change)”, funded by the Public Investment Program of Greece, General Secretary of Research and Technology/Ministry of Development and Investments.