Investigation of the effects of the Greek extreme wildfires of August 2021 on air quality and spectral solar irradiance
<p>In August 2021, a historic heatwave was recorded in Greece which resulted in extreme wildfire events that strongly affected the air quality over the city of Athens. Saharan dust was also transferred over Greece on certain days of the same period due to the prevailing southern winds. The imp...
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Copernicus Publications
2023-07-01
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| Series: | Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
| Online Access: | https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/23/8487/2023/acp-23-8487-2023.pdf |
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| author | A. Masoom I. Fountoulakis I. Fountoulakis I. Fountoulakis S. Kazadzis S. Kazadzis I.-P. Raptis A. Kampouri A. Kampouri B. E. Psiloglou D. Kouklaki K. Papachristopoulou K. Papachristopoulou E. Marinou S. Solomos A. Gialitaki A. Gialitaki D. Founda V. Salamalikis D. Kaskaoutis N. Kouremeti N. Mihalopoulos V. Amiridis A. Kazantzidis A. Papayannis A. Papayannis C. S. Zerefos C. S. Zerefos C. S. Zerefos C. S. Zerefos K. Eleftheratos K. Eleftheratos |
| author_facet | A. Masoom I. Fountoulakis I. Fountoulakis I. Fountoulakis S. Kazadzis S. Kazadzis I.-P. Raptis A. Kampouri A. Kampouri B. E. Psiloglou D. Kouklaki K. Papachristopoulou K. Papachristopoulou E. Marinou S. Solomos A. Gialitaki A. Gialitaki D. Founda V. Salamalikis D. Kaskaoutis N. Kouremeti N. Mihalopoulos V. Amiridis A. Kazantzidis A. Papayannis A. Papayannis C. S. Zerefos C. S. Zerefos C. S. Zerefos C. S. Zerefos K. Eleftheratos K. Eleftheratos |
| author_sort | A. Masoom |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p>In August 2021, a historic heatwave was recorded in
Greece which resulted in extreme wildfire events that strongly affected the
air quality over the city of Athens. Saharan dust was also transferred over
Greece on certain days of the same period due to the prevailing southern
winds. The impact of these events on air quality and surface solar radiation is investigated in this study. Event characterization based on active and passive remote sensing instrumentation has been performed. The study shows that significantly increased levels of air pollution were recorded from the end of July to the first week of August. The smoke led to unusually high aerosol optical<span id="page8488"/> depth (AOD) values (up to 3.6 at 500 nm), high Ångström exponent (AE) (up to 2.4 at 440–870 nm), and a strong and negative dependence of single-scattering albedo (SSA) on wavelength that was observed to decrease from 0.93 at 440 nm to 0.86 at 1020 nm, while the dust
event led to high AOD (up to 0.7 at 500 nm), low AE (up to 0.9 at 440–870 nm), and a positive dependence of SSA on wavelength that was observed to increase from 0.89 at 440 nm to 0.95 at 1020. Furthermore, the smoke plume was also detected over the PANhellenic GEophysical observatory of Antikythera on 7 August, which is about 240 km away from Athens. Increased AOD values (up to <span class="inline-formula">∼</span> 0.90 at 500 nm) associated with a high
fine-mode AOD (up to <span class="inline-formula">∼</span> 0.85 at 500 nm) and decrease in SSA
with wavelength suggested the dominance of fine biomass burning
aerosols. The impact of dust and smoke on solar irradiance revealed
significant differences in the spectral dependence of the attenuation caused by the two different aerosol types. The attenuation of solar irradiance in the ultraviolet (UV-B) spectrum was found to be much lower in the case of dust compared to smoke for similar AOD<span class="inline-formula"><sub>500</sub></span> values. Differences were less pronounced in the near-infrared and visible spectral regions. The large AODs during the wildfires resulted in a decrease in the noon UV index by up to 53 %, as well as in the daily effective doses for the production of vitamin D (up to 50 %), in the daily photosynthetically active radiation (up to 21 %) and in the daily global horizontal irradiance (up to 17 %), with serious implications for health, agriculture, and energy. This study highlights the wider impacts of wildfires that are part of the wider problem
for Mediterranean countries, whose frequency is predicted to increase in
view of the projected increasing occurrence of summer heatwaves.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T20:58:12Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-83f24193d79e4d7aa63a4948f07d903c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1680-7316 1680-7324 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T20:58:12Z |
| publishDate | 2023-07-01 |
| publisher | Copernicus Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
| spelling | doaj.art-83f24193d79e4d7aa63a4948f07d903c2023-07-31T13:22:22ZengCopernicus PublicationsAtmospheric Chemistry and Physics1680-73161680-73242023-07-01238487851410.5194/acp-23-8487-2023Investigation of the effects of the Greek extreme wildfires of August 2021 on air quality and spectral solar irradianceA. Masoom0I. Fountoulakis1I. Fountoulakis2I. Fountoulakis3S. Kazadzis4S. Kazadzis5I.-P. Raptis6A. Kampouri7A. Kampouri8B. E. Psiloglou9D. Kouklaki10K. Papachristopoulou11K. Papachristopoulou12E. Marinou13S. Solomos14A. Gialitaki15A. Gialitaki16D. Founda17V. Salamalikis18D. Kaskaoutis19N. Kouremeti20N. Mihalopoulos21V. Amiridis22A. Kazantzidis23A. Papayannis24A. Papayannis25C. S. Zerefos26C. S. Zerefos27C. S. Zerefos28C. S. Zerefos29K. Eleftheratos30K. Eleftheratos31Physikalisch-Meteorologisches Observatorium Davos/World Radiation Center (PMOD/WRC), 7260 Davos Dorf, SwitzerlandInstitute for Astronomy, Astrophysics, Space Applications and Remote Sensing, National Observatory of Athens, Athens, 15236, GreeceResearch Centre for Atmospheric Physics and Climatology, Academy of Athens, Athens, 10680, GreeceDepartment of Geology and Geoenvironment, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, 15784, GreecePhysikalisch-Meteorologisches Observatorium Davos/World Radiation Center (PMOD/WRC), 7260 Davos Dorf, SwitzerlandInstitute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, National Observatory of Athens, I. Metaxa and Vas. Pavlou, P. Penteli, Athens, 15236, GreeceInstitute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, National Observatory of Athens, I. Metaxa and Vas. Pavlou, P. Penteli, Athens, 15236, GreeceInstitute for Astronomy, Astrophysics, Space Applications and Remote Sensing, National Observatory of Athens, Athens, 15236, GreeceDepartment of Meteorology and Climatology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, 54124, GreeceInstitute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, National Observatory of Athens, I. Metaxa and Vas. Pavlou, P. Penteli, Athens, 15236, GreeceDepartment of Geology and Geoenvironment, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, 15784, GreeceInstitute for Astronomy, Astrophysics, Space Applications and Remote Sensing, National Observatory of Athens, Athens, 15236, GreeceDepartment of Geology and Geoenvironment, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, 15784, GreeceInstitute for Astronomy, Astrophysics, Space Applications and Remote Sensing, National Observatory of Athens, Athens, 15236, GreeceResearch Centre for Atmospheric Physics and Climatology, Academy of Athens, Athens, 10680, GreeceEarth Observation Science Group, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, United KingdomLaboratory of Atmospheric Physics, Physics Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, 54124, GreeceInstitute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, National Observatory of Athens, I. Metaxa and Vas. Pavlou, P. Penteli, Athens, 15236, GreeceLaboratory of Atmospheric Physics, Department of Physics, University of Patras, Patras, 26500, GreeceInstitute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, National Observatory of Athens, I. Metaxa and Vas. Pavlou, P. Penteli, Athens, 15236, GreecePhysikalisch-Meteorologisches Observatorium Davos/World Radiation Center (PMOD/WRC), 7260 Davos Dorf, SwitzerlandInstitute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, National Observatory of Athens, I. Metaxa and Vas. Pavlou, P. Penteli, Athens, 15236, GreeceInstitute for Astronomy, Astrophysics, Space Applications and Remote Sensing, National Observatory of Athens, Athens, 15236, GreeceLaboratory of Atmospheric Physics, Department of Physics, University of Patras, Patras, 26500, GreeceLaser Remote Sensing Unit, Department of Physics, National and Technical University of Athens, Zografou, 15780, GreeceLaboratory of Atmospheric Processes and Their Impacts, School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, SwitzerlandResearch Centre for Atmospheric Physics and Climatology, Academy of Athens, Athens, 10680, GreeceCenter for Environmental Effects on Health, Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens, Athens, 11527, GreeceMariolopoulos-Kanaginis Foundation for the Environmental Sciences, Athens, 10675, GreeceNavarino Environmental Observatory (NEO), Costa Navarino, Messinia, 24001, GreeceDepartment of Geology and Geoenvironment, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, 15784, GreeceCenter for Environmental Effects on Health, Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens, Athens, 11527, Greece<p>In August 2021, a historic heatwave was recorded in Greece which resulted in extreme wildfire events that strongly affected the air quality over the city of Athens. Saharan dust was also transferred over Greece on certain days of the same period due to the prevailing southern winds. The impact of these events on air quality and surface solar radiation is investigated in this study. Event characterization based on active and passive remote sensing instrumentation has been performed. The study shows that significantly increased levels of air pollution were recorded from the end of July to the first week of August. The smoke led to unusually high aerosol optical<span id="page8488"/> depth (AOD) values (up to 3.6 at 500 nm), high Ångström exponent (AE) (up to 2.4 at 440–870 nm), and a strong and negative dependence of single-scattering albedo (SSA) on wavelength that was observed to decrease from 0.93 at 440 nm to 0.86 at 1020 nm, while the dust event led to high AOD (up to 0.7 at 500 nm), low AE (up to 0.9 at 440–870 nm), and a positive dependence of SSA on wavelength that was observed to increase from 0.89 at 440 nm to 0.95 at 1020. Furthermore, the smoke plume was also detected over the PANhellenic GEophysical observatory of Antikythera on 7 August, which is about 240 km away from Athens. Increased AOD values (up to <span class="inline-formula">∼</span> 0.90 at 500 nm) associated with a high fine-mode AOD (up to <span class="inline-formula">∼</span> 0.85 at 500 nm) and decrease in SSA with wavelength suggested the dominance of fine biomass burning aerosols. The impact of dust and smoke on solar irradiance revealed significant differences in the spectral dependence of the attenuation caused by the two different aerosol types. The attenuation of solar irradiance in the ultraviolet (UV-B) spectrum was found to be much lower in the case of dust compared to smoke for similar AOD<span class="inline-formula"><sub>500</sub></span> values. Differences were less pronounced in the near-infrared and visible spectral regions. The large AODs during the wildfires resulted in a decrease in the noon UV index by up to 53 %, as well as in the daily effective doses for the production of vitamin D (up to 50 %), in the daily photosynthetically active radiation (up to 21 %) and in the daily global horizontal irradiance (up to 17 %), with serious implications for health, agriculture, and energy. This study highlights the wider impacts of wildfires that are part of the wider problem for Mediterranean countries, whose frequency is predicted to increase in view of the projected increasing occurrence of summer heatwaves.</p>https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/23/8487/2023/acp-23-8487-2023.pdf |
| spellingShingle | A. Masoom I. Fountoulakis I. Fountoulakis I. Fountoulakis S. Kazadzis S. Kazadzis I.-P. Raptis A. Kampouri A. Kampouri B. E. Psiloglou D. Kouklaki K. Papachristopoulou K. Papachristopoulou E. Marinou S. Solomos A. Gialitaki A. Gialitaki D. Founda V. Salamalikis D. Kaskaoutis N. Kouremeti N. Mihalopoulos V. Amiridis A. Kazantzidis A. Papayannis A. Papayannis C. S. Zerefos C. S. Zerefos C. S. Zerefos C. S. Zerefos K. Eleftheratos K. Eleftheratos Investigation of the effects of the Greek extreme wildfires of August 2021 on air quality and spectral solar irradiance Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
| title | Investigation of the effects of the Greek extreme wildfires of August 2021 on air quality and spectral solar irradiance |
| title_full | Investigation of the effects of the Greek extreme wildfires of August 2021 on air quality and spectral solar irradiance |
| title_fullStr | Investigation of the effects of the Greek extreme wildfires of August 2021 on air quality and spectral solar irradiance |
| title_full_unstemmed | Investigation of the effects of the Greek extreme wildfires of August 2021 on air quality and spectral solar irradiance |
| title_short | Investigation of the effects of the Greek extreme wildfires of August 2021 on air quality and spectral solar irradiance |
| title_sort | investigation of the effects of the greek extreme wildfires of august 2021 on air quality and spectral solar irradiance |
| url | https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/23/8487/2023/acp-23-8487-2023.pdf |
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