On the Interplay between Desert Dust and Meteorology Based on WRF-Chem Simulations and Remote Sensing Observations in the Mediterranean Basin
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...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Remote Sensing |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/15/2/435 |
| _version_ | 1827622289313628160 |
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| author | Umberto Rizza Elenio Avolio Mauro Morichetti Luca Di Liberto Annachiara Bellini Francesca Barnaba Simone Virgili Giorgio Passerini Enrico Mancinelli |
| author_facet | Umberto Rizza Elenio Avolio Mauro Morichetti Luca Di Liberto Annachiara Bellini Francesca Barnaba Simone Virgili Giorgio Passerini Enrico Mancinelli |
| author_sort | Umberto Rizza |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | 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<sup>−2</sup>. 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<sup>−2</sup>) and a stronger cooling at the surface (−14.2 W m<sup>−2</sup>). At the same time, analysis of the perturbation on the surface energy budget yields a reduction of −7 W m<sup>−2</sup> when considering the FULL-coupled simulation, a positive perturbation of +3 W m<sup>−2</sup> when only considering microphysics coupling and −10.4 W m<sup>−2</sup> 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. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T11:20:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a84662c1f85f4ce58b703428ccdd868f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-4292 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T11:20:27Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj.art-a84662c1f85f4ce58b703428ccdd868f2023-12-01T00:20:46ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922023-01-0115243510.3390/rs15020435On the Interplay between Desert Dust and Meteorology Based on WRF-Chem Simulations and Remote Sensing Observations in the Mediterranean BasinUmberto Rizza0Elenio Avolio1Mauro Morichetti2Luca Di Liberto3Annachiara Bellini4Francesca Barnaba5Simone Virgili6Giorgio Passerini7Enrico Mancinelli8National Research Council—Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (CNR-ISAC), 73100 Lecce, ItalyNational Research Council—Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (CNR-ISAC), 88046 Lamezia Terme, ItalyNational Research Council—Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (CNR-ISAC), 73100 Lecce, ItalyNational Research Council—Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (CNR-ISAC), 00133 Rome, ItalyNational Research Council—Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (CNR-ISAC), 00133 Rome, ItalyNational Research Council—Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (CNR-ISAC), 00133 Rome, ItalyDepartment of Industrial Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, Università Politecnica delle Marche, 60131 Ancona, ItalyDepartment of Industrial Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, Università Politecnica delle Marche, 60131 Ancona, ItalyDepartment of Industrial Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, Università Politecnica delle Marche, 60131 Ancona, ItalyIn 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<sup>−2</sup>. 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<sup>−2</sup>) and a stronger cooling at the surface (−14.2 W m<sup>−2</sup>). At the same time, analysis of the perturbation on the surface energy budget yields a reduction of −7 W m<sup>−2</sup> when considering the FULL-coupled simulation, a positive perturbation of +3 W m<sup>−2</sup> when only considering microphysics coupling and −10.4 W m<sup>−2</sup> 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.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/15/2/435dust–radiation couplingWRF-Chem modelMediterranean hot spot |
| spellingShingle | Umberto Rizza Elenio Avolio Mauro Morichetti Luca Di Liberto Annachiara Bellini Francesca Barnaba Simone Virgili Giorgio Passerini Enrico Mancinelli On the Interplay between Desert Dust and Meteorology Based on WRF-Chem Simulations and Remote Sensing Observations in the Mediterranean Basin Remote Sensing dust–radiation coupling WRF-Chem model Mediterranean hot spot |
| title | On the Interplay between Desert Dust and Meteorology Based on WRF-Chem Simulations and Remote Sensing Observations in the Mediterranean Basin |
| title_full | On the Interplay between Desert Dust and Meteorology Based on WRF-Chem Simulations and Remote Sensing Observations in the Mediterranean Basin |
| title_fullStr | On the Interplay between Desert Dust and Meteorology Based on WRF-Chem Simulations and Remote Sensing Observations in the Mediterranean Basin |
| title_full_unstemmed | On the Interplay between Desert Dust and Meteorology Based on WRF-Chem Simulations and Remote Sensing Observations in the Mediterranean Basin |
| title_short | On the Interplay between Desert Dust and Meteorology Based on WRF-Chem Simulations and Remote Sensing Observations in the Mediterranean Basin |
| title_sort | on the interplay between desert dust and meteorology based on wrf chem simulations and remote sensing observations in the mediterranean basin |
| topic | dust–radiation coupling WRF-Chem model Mediterranean hot spot |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/15/2/435 |
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