Περίληψη:
The direct radiative effects of atmospheric aerosols are essential for climate, as well as for other societal areas, such as the energy sector. The goal of the present study is to exploit the newly developed ModIs Dust AeroSol (MIDAS) dataset for quantifying the direct effects on the down-welling surface solar irradiance (DSSI), induced by the total and dust aerosol amounts, under clear-sky conditions and the associated impacts on solar energy for the broader Mediterranean Basin, over the period 2003–2017. Aerosol optical depth (AOD) and dust optical depth (DOD) derived by the MIDAS dataset, along with additional aerosol and dust optical properties and atmospheric var-iables, were used as inputs to radiative transfer modeling to simulate DSSI components. A 15-year climatology of AOD, DOD and clear-sky global horizontal irradiation (GHI) and direct normal irradiation (DNI) was derived. The spatial and temporal variability of the aerosol and dust effects on the different DSSI components was assessed. Aerosol attenuation of annual GHI and DNI were 1– 13% and 5–47%, respectively. Over North Africa and the Middle East, attenuation by dust was found to contribute 45–90% to the overall attenuation by aerosols. The GHI and DNI attenuation during extreme dust episodes reached 12% and 44%, respectively, over particular areas. After 2008, attenuation of DSSI by aerosols became weaker mainly because of changes in the amount of dust. Sensitivity analysis using different AOD/DOD inputs from Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) reanalysis dataset revealed that using CAMS products leads to underestimation of the aerosol and dust radiative effects compared to MIDAS, mainly because the former underesti-mates DOD. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Συγγραφείς:
Papachristopoulou, K.
Fountoulakis, I.
Gkikas, A.
Kosmopoulos, P.G.
Nastos, P.T.
Hatzaki, M.
Kazadzis, S.
Λέξεις-κλειδιά:
Atmospheric aerosols; Cams; Dust; Irradiation; Optical properties; Radiation effects; Sensitivity analysis; Solar radiation, Aerosol optical depths; Atmosphere monitoring; Clear sky; Direct radiative effect; Down-welling; Dust aerosols; Mediterranean basin; Optical depth; Radiative effects; Solar irradiances, Solar energy
