Analysis of aerosol optical depth over Bahrain and Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia based on MERRA-2 model
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Analysis of aerosol optical depth over Bahrain and Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia based on MERRA‑2 model M. S. Jassim1 · G. Coskuner1 · M. Zaid1 · U. Malik1 Received: 30 May 2020 / Revised: 1 October 2020 / Accepted: 14 October 2020 © Islamic Azad University (IAU) 2020
Abstract Spatial and temporal variability of aerosol optical depth (AOD) together with aerosol-type specification were analyzed over Eastern Province of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and Bahrain from 2008 to 2019. To investigate study region with more details, the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain was divided into three and four zones, respectively. This work utilized comprehensive satellite-based air quality data using NASA’s Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2 (MERRA-2) model. The retrieved total AOD data exhibited relatively lower average values in the Bahraini zones in comparison with the Eastern KSA during the study period. The monthly total AOD values in Bahraini zones were in the range of 0.20 and 0.87, while they were in the range of 0.23 and 0.91 in KSA zones. The AOD values were positively correlated with ambient air temperature (r = 0.43), while they were negatively correlated with relative humidity (r = 0.59) in Bahrain. Seasonal wind rose diagrams for Bahrain and monthly synoptic maps of (20–40°N, 40–60°E) West Asia region demonstrates that dominant wind direction is from NNW to Bahrain. The data assimilation algorithms in MERRA-2 showed that the major aerosol species that contributed to total AOD were as follows: mineral dust (68–74%), sulfate (17–20%), organic carbon (4–5%), sea salt (3–5%) and black carbon (2%). Monthly, seasonal and annual variations of speciated AOD values assisted in understanding aerosols loading over study area. Keywords Aerosol speciation · Air pollution · Arabian Peninsula · Meteorology · Middle East · Mineral dust · Satellitederived data
Introduction The United Nations (UN) sustainable development goals embedded clean air as an ultimate target to achieve environmental sustainability (United Nations 2015). Epidemiological studies identified air pollutants that reduce life expectancy and effects human health. Air quality indices incorporated major air pollutants and quantified standards. Particulate matter (PM) is considered as one of the key air pollutants and their influence extends to climate change, visibility, and human health (Kaufman et al. 2002; Ostro et al. 2006). Aerosols are stable microscopic solids or liquid particles airborne in the atmosphere. The term aerosol mainly refers Editorial responsibility: Mohamed F. Yassin. * M. S. Jassim [email protected] 1
Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Bahrain, Isa Town, P.O. Box 32038, Bahrain
to the particulate/air mixture, as opposed to the PM alone. Source approportionate studies of PM identified both natural and anthropogenic sources such as dust storms, fires, volcanoes, fossil fuels, sea salts, and industrial processes (Colbeck and Lazaridi
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