A case study of the behavior of aerosol optical properties under the incidence of a saharan dust intrusion event

Abstract

In this paper a local-scale study of Saharan dust loading over Iasi city, Romania, during July 2012 is reported. The intrusion of Saharan dust above the monitoring site [Iasi_LOASL, Romania (47.19N, 27.55E)] and the variations of ozone and NO2 concentrations are estimated by using advanced remote sensing techniques (i.e. Aerosol Robotic NETwork – AERONET, Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations – CALIPSO) and forecast models (i.e. DREAM and MAP 3D). The time interval was appropriately selected, to remove the influence of precipitation and clouds on photochemical processes. During intrusion events, the Saharan dust represents the main source for changes in optical and chemical parameters of the atmosphere.