Sorry, you need to enable JavaScript to visit this website.

Large aerosol effects on ozone photolysis in the Mediterranean

TitleLarge aerosol effects on ozone photolysis in the Mediterranean
Publication TypeArticolo su Rivista peer-reviewed
Year of Publication2011
AuthorsCasasanta, G., Di Sarra Alcide, Meloni Daniela, Monteleone Francesco, Pace Giandomenico, Piacentino Salvatore, and Sferlazzo Damiano Massimo
JournalAtmospheric Environment
Volume45
Pagination3937-3943
ISSN13522310
KeywordsActinic flux, aerosol, Aerosol effect, Aerosol optical depths, Agrigento, Amplification factors, article, Atmospheric aerosols, autumn, Brewer spectrophotometers, Central Mediterranean, Climate observations, Correlation analysis, data set, Data sets, diode, Diode arrays, Italy, Lampedusa, Mediterranean environment, Mediterranean Sea, oceanic regions, optical depth, Ozone, Ozone changes, Ozone photolysis, Pelagi Islands, photic zone, Photochemistry, photolysis, Photolysis frequencies, Photolysis frequency, priority journal, radiometer, Rotating shadowband radiometer, Scanning, Sicily, Solar zenith angle, spectrophotometry, Total ozone, weather station, winter, zenith angle
Abstract

Measurements of spectral actinic flux were performed at the ENEA Station for Climate Observations on the island of Lampedusa, in the central Mediterranean, during several periods in 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2008 with a METCON diode array spectrometer. The ozone photolysis frequency, J(O1D), was calculated from the spectral actinic fluxes. Actinic fluxes determinations were complemented with measurements of total ozone and aerosol optical depth, made with a Brewer spectrophotometer and a multi-filter rotating shadowband radiometer, respectively. As expected, J(O1D) shows a strong dependency on total ozone. The behaviour of J(O1D) was examined at fixed values of total ozone and solar zenith angle; a significant dependency on the aerosol optical depth emerges. The dependency on the aerosol optical depth at 416 nm appears to be linear, and weakly dependent on the total ozone value. The photolysis frequency amplification factor for aerosol is between 0.09 and 0.17 at 30°, and between 0.12 and 0.22 at 60° solar zenith angle, depending on total ozone. Day-to-day changes in AOD produce larger effects on J(O1D) than day-to-day changes in total ozone in summer, and comparable effects in spring. Ozone changes are dominant in autumn and winter. To our knowledge, this is the first attempt to characterize the influence of aerosol optical depth on J(O1D) from a relatively large dataset. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.

Notes

cited By 20

URLhttps://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-79959505916&doi=10.1016%2fj.atmosenv.2011.04.065&partnerID=40&md5=6a1c4ed1c214db4b3d86f2f50c8b793f
DOI10.1016/j.atmosenv.2011.04.065
Citation KeyCasasanta20113937