Overview of atmospheric composition in Western Mediterranean during PEACETIME cruise
Abstract
The PEACETIME project (ProcEss studies at the Air-sEa Interface after dust deposition in the MEditerranean sea) investigates the fundamental physical, chemical and biological processes and their interactions at this key interface in the Mediterranean Sea in order to assess how these processes impact, and will impact, the functioning of the pelagic ecosystem and the feedback to the atmosphere, today and in the future. Indeed, the Mediterranean Sea which is considered as a hot spot for biodiversity but also for climate change and anthropogenic pressure is an ideal natural laboratory to study these processes. The PEACETIME project is based on a cruise conducted in May/June 2017 over Western Mediterranean on the R/V Pourquoi Pas?. An instrumented mobile station was deployed on the R/V in order to monitor the atmospheric composition of the boundary layer at the ocean-atmosphere interface using a suite of in situ aerosol and gas probes and samplers as well as observations of meteorological, atmospheric dynamics and radiative parameters (incident radiation, atmospheric optical thickness). Measurements allowed us to document the composition of the lower troposphere in contrasted areas from the remote Ionian Sea to Balearics Islands through the Tyrrhenian Sea and Messina Strait with its high maritime ship traffic. Particulate and gas concentrations will be presented and discussed with synoptic information from the back-trajectories of air masses and operational satellite-derived and 3-D model products. Local vs. remote emission sources, in particular marine sources, and photochemical processes will be addressed.
- Publication:
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EGU General Assembly Conference Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- April 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018EGUGA..2018609D