Abstract
In this study, we analyze the variation of the aerosol optical depth (AOD) at 500 nm using measurements from January 1999 to August 2015 in the central Arabian Peninsula. The magnitudes of the annual, monthly, seasonal, and hourly trends of the AOD are studied and statistically tested using the least-squares method and supported by Mann-Kendall rank statistics at different significance levels. A significant increase of about 0.119 in the annual mean AOD is found for the entire period. AOD increased in all the seasons, in which the spring trend is the highest (0.289/17 years) and significant. The high AOD value found in spring may be attributed to the effect of dust events transported by northeasterly winds from the arid and semi-arid regions around the Arabian Gulf. In its monthly basis, AOD values in January, July, August, and September show no significant trends. On the contrary, March, April, June, and December show a clear increasing trend with different significance levels. April shows the highest increases in AOD (0.021/year), about 81.58% higher than the mean April value. Variations of the AOD on the hourly scale are investigated. Increasing trends with different significance levels are found and established. We found that the early mornings and very late afternoons presented the highest increasing trend. For the rest of the day, the AOD varies slightly due to the meteorological processes.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alharbi BH (2009) Airborne dust in Saudi Arabia: source areas, entrainment, simulation and composition. Ph.D. thesis. Monash University, Monash, Australia
Alharbi B, Moied K(2005) Riyadh air quality report (1999–2004). King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology 279-25-ER, p 116
Alharbi B, Maghrabi AH, Tapper N (2013) The March 2009 dust event in Saudi Arabia: precursor and supportive environment. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 94(4):515–528. https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-11-00118.1
Barkan J, Kutiel H, Alpert P (2004) Climatology of dust sources in North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, based on TOMS data. Indoor and Built Environment 13(6):407–419. https://doi.org/10.1177/1420326X04046935
Che H, Wang Y, Sun J, Zhang X, Xia Z (2013) Variation of aerosol optical properties over the Taklimakan Desert in China. Aerosol Air Qual Res 13:777–785
Coen CM, Weingartner E, Nyeki S, Cozic J, Henning S, Verheggen B, Gehrig R, Baltensperger U (2006) Long-term trend analysis of aerosol variables at the high-alpine site Jungfraujoch. J Geophys Res 112:D13213. https://doi.org/10.1029/2006JD007995
Dubovik O, Holben BN, Eck TF, Smirnov A, Kaufman YJ, King MD, Tanre D, Slutsker I (2002) Variability of absorption and optical properties of key aerosol types observed in worldwide locations. J Atmos Sci 59:590–608
Gai CS, Li XQ, Zhao FS (2006) Mineral aerosol properties observed in the northwest region of China. Glob Planet Chang 52(1-4):173–181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2005.10.003
Haywood JM, Boucher O (2000) Estimates of the direct and indirect radiative forcing due to tropospheric aerosols. A review. Review of Geophysics 38(4):513–543. https://doi.org/10.1029/1999RG000078
Helsel DR, Hirsch RM (2002) Statistical methods in water resources techniques of water resources investigations, Book 4, chapter A3. U.S. Geological Survey
Holben BN, Tanre D, Smirnov A, Eck TF, Slutsker I et al (2001) An emerging ground-based aerosol climatology: aerosol optical depth from AERONET. J Geophys Res 106(097):12,067–12,012
Horvath H, Catalan L, Trier A (1997) A study of aerosol of Santiago de Chile III: light absorption measurements. Atmos Environ 31(22):3737–3744. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1352-2310(97)00215-X
Jayaraman A, Lubin D, Ramachndran S, Ramanathan V, Woodbridge E, Collins WD, Zalupuri KS (1998) Direct observation of aerosol radiative forcing over the tropical Indian Ocean during the Jan.-Feb. 1996 pre-INDOEX cruise. J Geophys Res 103(D12):13827–13836. https://doi.org/10.1029/98JD00559
Kahn RA, Gaitley BJ, Garay MJ, Diner DJ, Eck T, Smirnov A, Holben BN (2010) MISR aerosol product assessment by comparison with AERONET. J Geophys Res 115 (D23209). https://doi.org/10.1029/2010JD014601
Kambezidis HD, Kaskaoutis DG (2008) Aerosol climatology over four AERONET sites: an overview. Atmos Environ 42(8):1892–1906. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2007.11.013
Kaskaoutis DG, Kambezidis HD, Jacovides CP, Steven MD (2006) Modification of solar radiation components under different atmospheric conditions in the Greater Athens Area, Greece. J Atmos Sol Terr Phys 68(10):1043–1052. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jastp.2005.05.002
Kendall MG (1975) Rank Correlation Methods. 4th Edition, Charles Griffin, London
Klingmüller K, Pozzer A, Metzger S, Georgiy L, Stenchikov, Lelieveld J (2016) Aerosol optical depth trend over the Middle East. Atmos Chem Phys 16(8):5063–5073. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-5063-2016
Kutiel H, Furman H (2003) Dust storms in the Middle East: sources of origin and their temporal characteristics. Indoor and Built Environment 12(6):419–426
Liu CM, Ou S (1990) Effects of tropospheric aerosols on the solar radiative heating in a clear atmosphere. J Theor Appl Climatol 41(3):97–106. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00866432
Liu J, Zheng Y, Li Z, Wu R (2008) Ground-based remote sensing of optical properties in one city Northwest China. Atmos Res 89(1-2):194–205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2008.01.010
Lyamani H, Olmo F, Alados-Arboledas L (2010) Physical and optical properties of aerosols over an urban location in Spain: seasonal and diurnal variability. Atmos Chem Phys 10(1):239–254. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-10-239-2010
Maghrabi AH, Al-Dosari AF (2016) Effects on surface meteorological parameters and radiation levels of a heavy dust storm occurred in Central Arabian Peninsula. Atmos Res 182:30–35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2016.07.024
Maghrabi AH, Alharbi B, Tapper N (2011) Impact of the March 2009 dust event in Saudi Arabia on aerosol optical properties, meteorological parameters, sky temperature and emissivity. Atmos Environ 13(45):2164–2173
Mann HB (1945) Non-parametric test against trend. Econometrica 13(3):245–259. https://doi.org/10.2307/1907187
de Meij A, Lelieveld J (2011) Evaluating aerosol optical properties observed by ground-based and satellite remote sensing over the Mediterranean and the Middle East in 2006. Atmos Res 99(3-4):415–433. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2010.11.005
de Meij A, Pozzer A, Lelieveld J (2012) Trend analysis in aerosol optical depths and pollutant emission estimates between 2000 and 2009. Atmos Environ 51:75–85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2012.01.059
Middleton NJ (1986) Dust storms in the Middle East. J Arid Environ 10(2):83–96
Mitchell JM (1971) The effect of atmospheric particles on radiation and temperature. In: Mathews WH, Kellogg WW, Robinson GD (eds) Man’s inspection on the Climate. M.I.T. Press, Cambridge, p 295–301
Navas-Guzman F, Guerrero-Rascado JL, Fernandez-Medina AB, Adame JA, Alados-Arboledas L (2007) Mixing layer height determination by Lidar and radiosounding data. European Aerosol Conference, Salzburg, Austria, pp 9–14 September 2007, Cd1, T20A014
Qiu J, Yang L (2000) Variation characteristics of atmospheric aerosol optical depths and visibility in North China during 1980–1994. Atmos Environ 34(4):603–609
Satheesh SK, Ramanathan V (2000) Large differences in tropical aerosol forcing at the top of the atmosphere and Earth’s surface. Nature 405(6782):60–63. https://doi.org/10.1038/35011039
Smirnov A, Holben BN, Dubovik O, Neil N, Eck TF (2002) Atmospheric aerosol optical properties in the Persian Gulf. Atmospheric Science 59(3):620–634. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(2002)059<0620:AAOPIT>2.0.CO;2
Streets DG, Yan F, Chin M, Diehl T, Mahowald N, Schultz M, Wild M, Wu Y, Yu C (2009) Anthropogenic and natural contributions to regional trends in aerosol optical depth. J Geophys Res 114(D00D18):1980e2006. https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JD011624
Xia XA, Chen HB, Wang PC, Zhang WX, Goloub P, Chatenet B, Eck T, Holben B (2006) Variation of column-integrated aerosol properties in a Chinese urban region. J Geophys Res 111(D5):D05204. https://doi.org/10.1029/ 2005JD006203
Xia X, Li Z, Wang P, Chen H, Cribb M (2007) Estimation of aerosol effects on surface irradiance based on measurements and radiative transfer model simulations in northern China. J Geophys Res 112:D22S10. https://doi.org/10.1029/2006JD008337
Xie J, Xiangao X (2008) Long-term trend in aerosol optical depth from 1980 to 2001 in north China. Particuology 6(2):106–111
Yue S, Pilon P (2004) A comparison of the power of the t test, Mann–Kendall and bootstrap tests for trend detection. Hydrol Sci J 49(1):21–37. https://doi.org/10.1623/hysj.49.1.21.53996
Zhang J, Reid JS (2010) A decadal regional and global trend analysis of the aerosol optical depth using a data-assimilation grade overwater MODIS and L2 MISR aerosol products. Atmos Chem Phys Discuss 10, 18879e18917(8):18879–18917. https://doi.org/10.5194/ acpd-10-18879-2010
Zhao TXP et al (2008) Study of long-term trend in aerosol optical thickness observed from operational AVHRR satellite instrument. J Geophys Res 113:D07201
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Electronic supplementary material
ESM 1
(DOCX 63 kb).
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Maghrabi, A.H., Alotaibi, R.N. Long-term variations of AOD from an AERONET station in the central Arabian Peninsula. Theor Appl Climatol 134, 1015–1026 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-017-2328-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-017-2328-x