scholarly journals Using the significant dust deposition event on the glaciers of Mt. Elbrus, Caucasus Mountains, Russia on 5 May 2009 to develop a method for dating and "provenancing" of desert dust events recorded in snow pack

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1797-1808 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Shahgedanova ◽  
S. Kutuzov ◽  
K. H. White ◽  
G. Nosenko
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Meteorological Data ◽  
Source Region ◽  
Secondary Source ◽  
Snow Pack ◽  
Dust Deposition ◽  
Hysplit Model ◽  
Pressure System ◽  
Desert Dust ◽  
Caucasus Mountains

Abstract. A significant desert dust deposition event occurred on Mt. Elbrus, Caucasus Mountains, Russia on 5 May 2009, where the deposited dust later appeared as a brown layer in the snow pack. An examination of dust transportation history and analysis of chemical and physical properties of the deposited dust were used to develop a new approach for high-resolution "provenancing" of dust deposition events recorded in snow pack using multiple independent techniques. A combination of SEVIRI red-green-blue composite imagery, MODIS atmospheric optical depth fields derived using the Deep Blue algorithm, air mass trajectories derived with HYSPLIT model and analysis of meteorological data enabled identification of dust source regions with high temporal (hours) and spatial (ca. 100 km) resolution. Dust, deposited on 5 May 2009, originated in the foothills of the Djebel Akhdar in eastern Libya where dust sources were activated by the intrusion of cold air from the Mediterranean Sea and Saharan low pressure system and transported to the Caucasus along the eastern Mediterranean coast, Syria and Turkey. Particles with an average diameter below 8 μm accounted for 90% of the measured particles in the sample with a mean of 3.58 μm, median 2.48 μm. The chemical signature of this long-travelled dust was significantly different from the locally-produced dust and close to that of soils collected in a palaeolake in the source region, in concentrations of hematite. Potential addition of dust from a secondary source in northern Mesopotamia introduced uncertainty in the "provenancing" of dust from this event. Nevertheless, the approach adopted here enables other dust horizons in the snowpack to be linked to specific dust transport events recorded in remote sensing and meteorological data archives.

scholarly journals Using the significant dust deposition event on the glaciers of Mt. Elbrus, Caucasus Mountains, Russia on 5 May 2009 to develop a method for dating and provenancing of desert dust events recorded in snow pack

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 24437-24467
Author(s):  
M. Shahgedanova ◽  
S. Kutuzov ◽  
K. White ◽  
G. Nosenko
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Meteorological Data ◽  
Source Region ◽  
Secondary Source ◽  
Snow Pack ◽  
Dust Deposition ◽  
Hysplit Model ◽  
Pressure System ◽  
Desert Dust ◽  
Caucasus Mountains

Abstract. A significant desert dust deposition event occurred on Mt. Elbrus, Caucasus Mountains, Russia on 5 May 2009, where the deposited dust later appeared as a brown layer in the snow pack. An examination of dust transportation history and analysis of chemical and physical properties of the deposited dust were used to develop a new approach for high-resolution provenancing of dust deposition events recorded in snow pack using multiple independent techniques. A combination of SEVIRI red-green-blue composite imagery, MODIS atmospheric optical depth fields derived using the Deep Blue algorithm, air mass trajectories derived with HYSPLIT model and analysis of meteorological data enabled identification of dust source regions with high temporal (hours) and spatial (ca. 100 km) resolution. Dust, deposited on 5 May 2009, originated in the foothills of the Djebel Akhdar in eastern Libya where dust sources were activated by the intrusion of cold air from the Mediterranean Sea and Saharan low pressure system and transported to the Caucasus along the eastern Mediterranean coast, Syria and Turkey. Particles with an average diameter below 8 μm accounted for 90% of the measured particles in the sample with a mean of 3.58 μm, median 2.48 μm and the dominant mode of 0.60 μm. The chemical signature of this long-travelled dust was significantly different from the locally-produced dust and close to that of soils collected in a palaeolake in the source region, in concentrations of hematite and oxides of aluminium, manganese, and magnesium. Potential addition of dust from a secondary source in northern Mesopotamia introduced uncertainty in the provenancing of dust from this event. Nevertheless, the approach adopted here enables other dust horizons in the snowpack to be linked to specific dust transport events recorded in remote sensing and meteorological data archives.

scholarly journals High-resolution provenance of desert dust deposited on Mt. Elbrus, Caucasus in 2009–2012 using snow pit and firn core records

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 1481-1498 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Kutuzov ◽  
M. Shahgedanova ◽  
V. Mikhalenko ◽  
P. Ginot ◽  
I. Lavrentiev ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Meteorological Data ◽  
Source Region ◽  
Anthropogenic Sources ◽  
Dust Deposition ◽  
Hysplit Model ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Caucasus Mountains ◽  
Modal Values ◽  
Firn Core

Abstract. The first record of dust deposition events on Mt. Elbrus, Caucasus Mountains derived from a snow pit and a shallow firn core is presented for the 2009–2012 period. A combination of isotopic analysis, SEVIRI red-green-blue composite imagery, MODIS atmospheric optical depth fields derived using the Deep Blue algorithm, air mass trajectories derived using the HYSPLIT model and analyses of meteorological data enabled identification of dust source regions with high temporal (hours) and spatial (ca. 20–100 km) resolution. Seventeen dust deposition events were detected; fourteen occurred in March–June, one in February and two in October. Four events originated in the Sahara, predominantly in northeastern Libya and eastern Algeria. Thirteen events originated in the Middle East, in the Syrian Desert and northern Mesopotamia, from a mixture of natural and anthropogenic sources. Dust transportation from Sahara was associated with vigorous Saharan depressions, strong surface winds in the source region and mid-tropospheric southwesterly flow with daily winds speeds of 20–30 m s−1 at 700 hPa level. Although these events were less frequent than those originating in the Middle East, they resulted in higher dust concentrations in snow. Dust transportation from the Middle East was associated with weaker depressions forming over the source region, high pressure centred over or extending towards the Caspian Sea and a weaker southerly or southeasterly flow towards the Caucasus Mountains with daily wind speeds of 12–18 m s−1 at 700 hPa level. Higher concentrations of nitrates and ammonium characterised dust from the Middle East deposited on Mt. Elbrus in 2009 indicating contribution of anthropogenic sources. The modal values of particle size distributions ranged between 1.98 μm and 4.16 μm. Most samples were characterised by modal values of 2.0–2.8 μm with an average of 2.6 μm and there was no significant difference between dust from the Sahara and the Middle East.

scholarly journals Desert dust deposition on Mt. Elbrus, Caucasus Mountains, Russia in 2009–2012 as recorded in snow and shallow ice core: high-resolution "provenancing", transport patterns, physical properties and soluble ionic composition

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 1621-1672
Author(s):  
S. Kutuzov ◽  
M. Shahgedanova ◽  
V. Mikhalenko ◽  
I. Lavrentiev ◽  
S. Kemp
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Meteorological Data ◽  
Ionic Composition ◽  
Source Region ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Anthropogenic Sources ◽  
Dust Deposition ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Caucasus Mountains ◽  
Modal Values

Abstract. A record of dust deposition events between 2009 and 2012 on Mt. Elbrus, Caucasus Mountains derived from a snow pit and a shallow ice core is presented for the first time for this region. A combination of isotopic analysis, SEVIRI red-green-blue composite imagery, MODIS atmospheric optical depth fields derived using the Deep Blue algorithm, air mass trajectories derived using the HYSPLIT model and analysis of meteorological data enabled identification of dust source regions with high temporal (hours) and spatial (cf. 20–100 km) resolution. Seventeen dust deposition events were detected; fourteen occurred in March–June, one in February and two in October. Four events originated in the Sahara, predominantly in north-eastern Libya and eastern Algeria. Thirteen events originated in the Middle East, in the Syrian Desert and northern Mesopotamia, from a mixture of natural and anthropogenic sources. Dust transportation from Sahara was associated with vigorous Saharan depressions, strong surface winds in the source region and mid-tropospheric south-westerly flow with daily winds speeds of 20–30 m s−1 at 700 hPa level and, although these events were less frequent, they resulted in higher dust concentrations in snow. Dust transportation from the Middle East was associated with weaker depressions forming over the source region, high pressure centered over or extending towards the Caspian Sea and a weaker southerly or south-easterly flow towards the Caucasus Mountains with daily wind speeds of 12–18 m s−1 at 700 hPa level. Higher concentrations of nitrates and ammonium characterise dust from the Middle East deposited on Mt. Elbrus in 2009 indicating contribution of anthropogenic sources. The modal values of particle size distributions ranged between 1.98 μm and 4.16 μm. Most samples were characterised by modal values of 2.0–2.8 μm with an average of 2.6 μm and there was no significant difference between dust from the Sahara and the Middle East.

scholarly journals Understanding the seasonality of performance resilience to climate volatility in Mediterranean dairy sheep

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentina Tsartsianidou ◽  
Vanessa Varvara Kapsona ◽  
Enrique Sánchez-Molano ◽  
Zoitsa Basdagianni ◽  
Maria Jesús Carabaño ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Control ◽  
Milk Production ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Meteorological Data ◽  
Genetic Correlations ◽  
Farm Animals ◽  
Seasonal Effects ◽  
Cold Weather ◽  
Adverse Weather ◽  
The Impact

AbstractAs future climate challenges become increasingly evident, enhancing performance resilience of farm animals may contribute to mitigation against adverse weather and seasonal variation, and underpin livestock farming sustainability. In the present study, we develop novel seasonal resilience phenotypes reflecting milk production changes to fluctuating weather. We evaluate the impact of calendar season (autumn, winter and spring) on animal performance resilience by analysing 420,534 milk records of 36,908 milking ewes of the Chios breed together with relevant meteorological data from eastern Mediterranean. We reveal substantial seasonal effects on resilience and significant heritable trait variation (h2 = 0.03–0.17). Resilience to cold weather (10 °C) of animals that start producing milk in spring was under different genetic control compared to autumn and winter as exemplified by negative genetic correlations (− 0.09 to − 0.27). Animal resilience to hot weather (25 °C) was partially under the same genetic control with genetic correlations between seasons ranging from 0.43 to 0.86. We report both favourable and antagonistic associations between animal resilience and lifetime milk production, depending on calendar season and the desirable direction of genetic selection. Concluding, we emphasise on seasonal adaptation of animals to climate and the need to incorporate the novel seasonal traits in future selective breeding programmes.

scholarly journals Saharan Dust Deposition Effects on the Microbial Food Web in the Eastern Mediterranean: A Study Based on a Mesocosm Experiment

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paraskevi Pitta ◽  
Maria Kanakidou ◽  
Nikolaos Mihalopoulos ◽  
Sylvia Christodoulaki ◽  
Panagiotis D. Dimitriou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Web ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Mesocosm Experiment ◽  
Saharan Dust ◽  
Microbial Food Web ◽  
Dust Deposition

scholarly journals Climatic and atmospheric circulation pattern variability from ice-core isotope/geochemistry records (Altai, Tien Shan and Tibet)

2006 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
pp. 49-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladimir B. Aizen ◽  
Elena M. Aizen ◽  
Daniel R. Joswiak ◽  
Koji Fujita ◽  
Nozomu Takeuchi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Temperature ◽  
Isotope Geochemistry ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Meteorological Data ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Snow Accumulation ◽  
Tien Shan ◽  
Synoptic Climatology ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau

AbstractSeveral firn/ice cores were recovered from the Siberian Altai (Belukha plateau), central Tien Shan (Inilchek glacier) and the Tibetan Plateau (Zuoqiupu glacier, Bomi) from 1998 to 2003. The comparison analyses of stable-isotope/geochemistry records obtained from these firn/ice cores identified the physical links controlling the climate-related signals at the seasonal-scale variability. The core data related to physical stratigraphy, meteorology and synoptic atmospheric dynamics were the basis for calibration, validation and clustering of the relationships between the firn-/ice-core isotope/ geochemistry and snow accumulation, air temperature and precipitation origin. The mean annual accumulation (in water equivalent) was 106 gcm−2 a−1 at Inilchek glacier, 69 gcm−2 a−1 at Belukha and 196 g cm−2 a−1 at Zuoqiupu. The slopes in regression lines between the δ18O ice-core records and air temperature were found to be positive for the Tien Shan and Altai glaciers and negative for southeastern Tibet, where heavy amounts of isotopically depleted precipitation occur during summer monsoons. The technique of coupling synoptic climatology and meteorological data with δ18O and d-excess in firn-core records was developed to determine climate-related signals and to identify the origin of moisture. In Altai, two-thirds of accumulation from 1984 to 2001 was formed from oceanic precipitation, and the rest of the precipitation was recycled over Aral–Caspian sources. In the Tien Shan, 87% of snow accumulation forms by precipitation originating from the Aral–Caspian closed basin, the eastern Mediterranean and Black Seas, and 13% from the North Atlantic.

scholarly journals A comparative analysis of air pollutant concentrations and inflow trajectories: a case study of selected cities in South-Eastern Poland

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 ◽  
pp. 00060 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Oleniacz ◽  
Tomasz Gorzelnik ◽  
Adriana Szulecka
Keyword(s):  
Meteorological Data ◽  
Road Transport ◽  
Air Pollutant ◽  
Hysplit Model ◽  
Urban Background ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Pollutant Concentrations ◽  
High Concentrations ◽  
Air Pollutant Concentrations

The paper presents a comparison of air pollutant concentrations in three cities in South-Eastern Poland (Krakow, Tarnow and Rzeszow) using statistical analyses and backward trajectory modelling (the HYSPLIT model). The analyses were based on particulate matter (PM10), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and sulphur dioxide (SO2) levels as well as meteorological data from year 2017. The performed analyses revealed, among others, that the PM10 and SO2 concentrations in the air depend on the season of the year, while the NO2 concentrations are seasonally independent, which is mainly associated with emissions from road transport. Air quality in the analysed cities depends on local meteorological conditions and the structure of emission sources, including the inflowing background. The most unfavourable situation regarding high concentrations of PM10 and NO2 occurs in Krakow. For all analysed urban background stations very similar low SO2 air concentrations are observed which proves the decreasing significance of emissions from coal combustion sources.

scholarly journals Particle fluxes in the deep Eastern Mediterranean basins: the role of ocean vertical velocities

2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 333-348 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Patara ◽  
N. Pinardi ◽  
C. Corselli ◽  
E. Malinverno ◽  
M. Tonani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
General Circulation ◽  
Model Simulation ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Circulation Model ◽  
Ocean Current ◽  
Sedimentation Rates ◽  
Dust Deposition ◽  
Tight Coupling ◽  
Offshore Area ◽  
Particle Fluxes

Abstract. This paper analyzes the relationship between deep sedimentary fluxes and ocean current vertical velocities in an offshore area of the Ionian Sea, the deepest basin of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. Sediment trap data are collected at 500 m and 2800 m depth in two successive moorings covering the period September 1999–May 2001. A tight coupling is observed between the upper and deep traps and the estimated particle sinking rates are more than 200 m day−1. The current vertical velocity field is computed from a 1/16°×1/16° Ocean General Circulation Model simulation and from the wind stress curl. Current vertical velocities are larger and more variable than Ekman vertical velocities, yet the general patterns are alike. Current vertical velocities are generally smaller than 1 m day−1: we therefore exclude a direct effect of downward velocities in determining high sedimentation rates. However we find that upward velocities in the subsurface layers of the water column are positively correlated with deep particle fluxes. We thus hypothesize that upwelling would produce an increase in upper ocean nutrient levels – thus stimulating primary production and grazing – a few weeks before an enhanced vertical flux is found in the sediment traps. High particle sedimentation rates may be attained by means of rapidly sinking fecal pellets produced by gelatinous macro-zooplankton. Other sedimentation mechanisms, such as dust deposition, are also considered in explaining large pulses of deep particle fluxes. The fast sinking rates estimated in this study might be an evidence of the efficiency of the biological pump in sequestering organic carbon from the surface layers of the deep Eastern Mediterranean basins.

scholarly journals Role of the NO<sub>3</sub> radicals in oxidation processes in the eastern Mediterranean troposphere during the MINOS campaign

2004 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 169-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Vrekoussis ◽  
M. Kanakidou ◽  
N. Mihalopoulos ◽  
P. J. Crutzen ◽  
J. Lelieveld ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Meteorological Data ◽  
Optical Absorption Spectroscopy ◽  
North Coast ◽  
Ionization Mass ◽  
Oh Radical ◽  
Mixing Ratios ◽  
The North ◽  
South East Europe ◽  
No3 Radical

Abstract. During the MINOS campaign (28 July-18 August 2001) the nitrate (NO3) radical was measured at Finokalia station, on the north coast of Crete in South-East Europe using a long path (10.4 km) Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy instrument (DOAS). Hydroxyl (OH) radical was also measured by a Chemical Ionization Mass-Spectrometer (Berresheim et al., 2003). These datasets represent the first simultaneous measurements of OH and NO3 radicals in the area. NO3 radical concentrations ranged from less than 3x107 up to 9x108 radicals· cm-3 with an average nighttime value of 1.1x108 radicals· cm-3. The observed NO3 mixing ratios are analyzed on the basis of the corresponding meteorological data and the volatile organic compound (VOC) observations which were measured simultaneously at Finokalia station. The importance of the NO3 radical chemistry relatively to that of OH in the dimethylsulfide (DMS) and nitrate cycles is also investigated. The observed NO3 levels regulate the nighttime variation of DMS. The loss of DMS by NO3 during night is about 75% of that by OH radical during day. NO3 and nitrogen pentoxide (N2O5) reactions account for about 21% of the total nitrate (HNO3(g)+NO-3(g)) production.

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