Mediterranean aerosols: Satellite observations, atmospheric circulation and direct radiative effect

Date: 11/Jul/2014 Time: 12:00

Place:

Vertex building, room VS219. Campus Nord UPC

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Speakers

Dr. Antonis Gkikas

Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC)

Dr. Antonis Gkikas has a degree in Natural Resources and Environmental Engineering from the Technological Educational Institute of Crete (Branch of Chania), MSc degree in Meteorology, Climatology and Atmospheric Physics and Phd in Atmospheric Physics (Thesis title: «Study of aerosol episodes over the broader area of the Mediterranean basin based on contemporary satellite data»). He accomplished his MSc and Phd studies in the Physics Department (Laboratory of Meteorology) of the University of Ioannina. From May of 2014, he is working as a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Earth Sciences Department of BSC (Barcelona Supercomputing Center).

Summary
In this talk my intention is to present a summary of results from my research activity in the field of aerosol studies as well as to present the main tasks of the MDRAF. At first, emphasis is given to the analysis of satellite retrievals for the description of aerosols’ regime in the Mediterranean and the surrounded areas, the intercomparison of satellite measurements, their implementation in neural networks in order to retrieve dust microphysical and optical parameters and their usage as initial conditions in radiation transfer models for the estimation of UV irradiances and the direct radiative effect (DRE). In the second part, is going to be presented an objective and dynamic algorithm which classifies, in terms of intensity and type, the aerosol episodes occurred in the broader Mediterranean basin over the period 2000-2007. Based on its outputs, the main characteristics of aerosol episodes (e.g. frequency), their relation with the prevailing atmospheric circulation and their effect on the radiation field, are analyzed. At the end, the main tasks of the MDRAF, a project funded by the European Commission in the framework of Marie Curie-IEF (Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowships for Career Development), are briefly described.