ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT: IMPACTS OF THE TRANSPORT OF AEROSOLS FROM SAHARAN DUST AND LIDAR TECHNIQUES

N. Ycekutlu , Y. Ycekutlu
1

T.C. evre ve Orman Bakanl

Faculty of Science, Department of Chemistry, Hacettepe University, Beytepe, Ankara/Turkey 2 The Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Air Management Department, Betepe, Ankara/Turkey
Main author email address: nihal.yuce@gmail.com
In recent years, Saharan dust storms were investigated for atmospheric transport and deposition processes and for their strong impact on the concentration levels and composition of atmospheric aerosol. Researches have been performed integrating tropospheric aerosol optical properties measured by an Elastic/Raman Lidar system and daily concentrations of particulate matter (PM10) measured at ground level by means of a low-volume gravimetric sampler. Lidar vertical resolved measurements allowed characterizing the dust cloud. Moreover, measurements performed during complete diurnal cycles, allowed to follow the temporal evolution of the aerosol vertical distribution. The observations point out the influence of vertical exchanges from higher to lower atmospheric levels on daily PM10 concentrations. This complete set of measurements must include basic number densities, size distributions, mass distributions, chemical composition, optical properties, and basic microphysical properties. Our measurement strategy is aimed at obtaining a significant amount of information on the nature of the Saharan dust aerosols during extreme events in which the dust is transported and deposited in the plot region of Lidar data. European Union integration process and the reduction of air quality limit values for dust which comes from the atmosphere is important to know the amount of contributions. Keywords: Saharan dust, aerosol properties, air quality, natural nutrient, vegetation cover, Lidar techniques. Saharan soil sample had the most essential macro and micro nutrients which analyses with AAS and IC. The results of this study indicate that, wheat varieties fed by Illuminated Saharan desert soil solution gave comparable results to Hewitt nutrient solution. In addition to these, there was not any deficiency or toxicity symptom of the elements during the growth of the plant in illuminated and non-illuminated Saharan soil solution. Following this study the spread of dust from desert regions through a meteorological events and associated rain events along its route should be investigated (Ycekutlu, 2004). Description of Atmospheric Aerosols The optical properties of atmospheric aerosol are determined by chemical composition, concentration, size, shape, and internal structure of liquid and solid particles suspended in air. They exhibit a wide range of compositions and shapes that depend on the origins and subsequent atmospheric processing. Estimates of Emissions Aerosols have various sources from natural and anthropogenic processes. Natural emissions include wind-blown mineral dust, aerosol and precursor gases from volcanic eruptions, natural wild fires, vegetation, and oceans. Anthropogenic sources include emissions from fossil fuel and biofuel combustion, industrial processes, agriculture practices, and humaninduced biomass burning. The indirect effects of aerosols are complex processes involving interactions between aerosols, dynamics, cloud microphysics and both gas and heterogeneous phase chemistry. Figure 5 exemplifies this coupled nature of the indirect effect and the various connections that need to be considered to assess this effect (Feingold, 2003). Mineral composition, particle mixing state, and particle shapes influence the refractive indices of dust particles. While the factors described above (wind speed, wind threshold, vegetation cover, soil moisture) influence the dislocation of soil particles and the horizontal particle flux, the vertical flux of dust particles into the atmosphere leading to transport over long distances is determined by emission factors, which depend on soil types (Gillette, 1978).
? Responsibility distribution in case of exceedance in limit values (Yucekutlu and Sanalan,

2005). Results of these research efforts will potentially lead to new instruments that can be used to provide better observations for weather, climate and air quality research. In particular, the distribution of small-scale wind events, soil texture and surface properties, as well as seasonal vegetation cover need to be described in more detail. Also, the impact of Saharan desert origin dust distribution on air quality and human health from Mediterranean region through Southeastern Anatolia is very important which is observed by lidar techniques. LIDAR: Light Detection & Ranging Description: A remote-sensing technique that uses a laser light source to probe the characteristics of a target (Fig.7);

INTRODUCTION
The GOCART model identified 10 main sources of dust (Fig.1).

Fig. 7. LIDAR operations and system block diagram Atmospheric Control; 1) Density, 2) Temperature, 3) Wind, 4) Pollution... Distance, Speed Measurement; 1) Rayleigh, Mie scattering, 2) Raman scattering, 3) Fluorescence, 4) Doppler shift LIDAR: Principle The laser light, back-scattered by particulars, is collected by a telescope. ?delay between emission and reception represents the distance (time of flight). The time ? The intensity is an image of the particulars density ? Laser/telescope unit is mounted on a mobile system LIDAR: Applications, (Measure of the atmosphere around the world), ? Localization of pollution emission ?of the limit layer of the atmosphere Measure ?of the diffusion of pollution clouds (Fig.8) Measure ? (lambdaphoto.co.uk, 2009) Ozone hole

Fig.1. Where dust is born? ; 1) the Salton Sea, 2) Patagonia, 3) the Altiplno, 4) the Sahel region, 5) the Sahara Desert, 6) the Namibian desert lands, 7) the Indus Valley, 8) the Taklimakan Desert, 9) the Gobi Desert, and 10) the Lake Eyre basin (Taylor, 2002). Saharan dust can be lifted by convection over hot desertic areas, and can thus reach very high altitudes; from there it can be transported worldwide by winds, covering distances of thousands of kilometers. Saharan dust storm events are responsible for injecting huge amounts of mineral dusts into the atmosphere by some estimates as much as two billion metric tons annually (Griffin, 2002). Dust emanates from North Africa year-round and at times throughout the year impacts air quality in Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Asia, the Caribbean, and the Americas (Fig.2).

Fig. 5. The interconnections between various types of processes that need to be included in assessing the direct and indirect effects of aerosols on climate. Aerosols and Climate Effect Aerosol particles have been found to play a key role in human health, in pollution problems and in global climate change. The quantity of dust has the potential to induce regional health impacts, such as asthma outbreaks, particularly in sensitive subpopulations like the elderly, infants, and adolescents, and ecosystem responses such as red tides or degradation of coral reefs due to infestation of foreign fungal or microbial populations. Saharan or mineral dust has recently been implicated as a significant force factor in regional climate changes, specifically in influencing local precipitation patterns (Rosenfeld, et al., 2001). Air-sea exchange of particulate matter contributes to the global cycles of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur aerosols, such as dimethylsulfide (DMS) produced by phytoplankton. Four other significant sources of aerosols are terrestrial biomass burning, volcanic eruptions, windblown dust from arid and semi-arid regions, and pollution from industrial emissions (Fig.6).

Fig. 8. Aerosol measurements LIDAR: Vegetation mapping Lidar is a new technology that offers a potential alternative to field surveying and photogrammetric techniques for the collection of elevation data. It has the advantages of being rapid accurate and able to map areas that are difficult to access. Lidar has demonstrated the capability to accurately estimate important vegetation structural characteristics such as forest canopy height. For these reasons, airborne Lidar data were used to compare vegetation height determinations with field observations on one selected sample region (Fig.9). Even though Lidar is a relatively new technology, its application to resource management issues is already well established. Lidar is used to measure the three-dimensional characteristics of plant canopies and can estimate the vertical structure of vegetation communities (forestry.gov.uk, 2009).

Fig.2. Primary sources of desert dust and their atmospheric pathways. Yellow lines show Asian desert dust atmospheric routes, orange lines show African dust routes, brown lines show routes of other desert dust sources, and broken black lines depict wind patterns (Griffin, 2007). Effects of Saharan dust inputs on ecosystem

Fig 6. Main sources and types of aerosols that are affect climate (Hess, 1998). Fig. 3. Middle Eastern dust storm is impacting the eastern Mediterranean (March 24, 2008, NASA MODIS Web). In the Mediterranean region, Saharan dust is important as it represents the major source of nutrients for phytoplankton and other aquatic organisms (Fig.3). The biogeochemical impact of desert dust also remains a matter of discussion regarding its contribution for different macro and micro nutrient elements to terrestrial and marine systems, and especially its potential fertilizing role for remote oceanic areas by supplying micronutrients as phosphorus and iron (Jickells and Spokes, 2000). This natural source of bioavailable iron (Fig.4) is very essential since for many years iron deficiency suggested to be a limiting oceanic micronutrient in some oceanic regions, away from lands (Martin et al., 1990). It has been further shown that besides the photochemical production of Fe(II) as well as producing some other essential nutrient elements like Zn, Mn along with PO4 2- (Saydam and Senyuva, 2002). Atmosphere and Physical Parameters In recent years, Saharan dust storms were investigated for atmospheric transport and deposition processes and for their strong impact on the concentration levels and composition of atmospheric aerosol. Nevertheless, simulating and forecasting air pollution processes have proven a useful and adequate methodology for investigating air quality degradation in various scales and locations. Advanced analysis techniques will be applied to measurements from wind profiling, precipitation, and cloud radars, wind lidars, and combinations of sensors to stimulate advances in estimation of important parameters such as small-scale turbulence, vertical fluxes of heat and momentum, supercooled water, cloud microphysical and radiative properties. The Constitution provides the rights to live in a healthy Environment for each individual, and the laws and regulations comprise of cautions to be taken for the protection of human health, ecosystems and physical environment. Implementation of Ambient Air Quality Legislation The implementation of the Air Quality Directives and main aspects of implementation can be described through the following elements: Zones and ? agglomerations are declared by the Member States, covering the complete territory. The zones represent basic areas for which assessment and management provisions are prescribed. Assessment ? of ambient air quality through monitoring, modeling, and objective estimation provides information on the compliance with the environmental standards and informs further air pollution abatement effort. Time extensions: three years (PM10) or up to five years (NO2, benzene) for complying with ? limit values, based on conditions and the assessment by the European Commission. Exceedances of limit values for public health: This link provides up-to-date information on ? zones and agglomerations in exceedance of mandatory limit values for public health. Management of air pollution: In order to reduce adverse effects of air pollution on health and ? environment, measures need to be taken (The Commission prepared a Review Report of Council Directive 1999/30/EC which was adopted in January 2005). Air pollution occurs with emission of several pollutants (dust, SO2, NOx, VOC, OCs, PCB, PAH) in high rates and concentrations to the common receiving medium. These air pollution reduction measures are compiled in air quality plans or programmes which describe how the measures are bringing concentrations below respective limit or target values by the attainment date. Level of pollution is also affected by factors such as dilution capacity of the region, topography, meteorological conditions and operation patterns of the plants. The concentrations of these pollutants are observed in the samples of terrestrial vegetation by new air monitoring techniques. Future Scope: EU Harmonization: EU practice in abatement of regional air pollution has certain principles: ?monitoring of the air quality in identified zones, Relevant ? action plans relevant to the level of air pollution considering source Preparing apportionment studies, ? Implementation of action plans on sources of the pollution. 17th International Conference on Advanced Laser Technologies 26 Sept.- 1 Oct. 2009 Antalya/Turkey

Fig. 9. LIDAR technologies provide information on the comparative height of forest canopy elements. In addition to their ability to assess dust structure and optical properties with high vertical resolution, lidars should play a major role in future operational dust model validation and assimilation activities if observations are performed in regular time intervals and with reasonably good density and distribution of stations in the horizontal located over a particular region (Prez, et al. 2006). CONCLUSION The impact of Saharan Desert dust transport on air quality monitoring with lidar techniques and its impact on vegetative development, determination of environmental activities, mineral nutrition and natural fertilizers of plants, distribution and accumulation of bacteria, fungi spores and microorganisms at the select plot region are observed. In conclusion, the main aim of the paper is to discuss lidar techniques that are representative of Saharan dust outbreaks happening over the Mediterranean regions. It is believed that the data presented may help scientists to understand, describe and forecast Saharan dust characteristics and effects over the Mediterranean area. REFERENCES
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Fig. 4. Schematic view of global iron and dust connections, (www.sciencemag.org, 2005). In this study (Ycekutlu 2004, M.Sc); the impact of elemental composition of Saharan dust of various growth media on development (under specific conditions) of some selected bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and durum wheat (Triticum durum L.) cultivars have been investigated. As a four different nutrient media, Hewitt (Hewitt, 1966) nutrient solution, illuminated and non-illuminated Saharan desert soil solutions and Deiyonized water have been utilized. Shoot length (cm.seedling-1), leaf area (cm2 seedling-1) and photosynthetic pigments [a, b, total chlorophyll and carotenoids (mg.ml-1g F.W.-1)] have been determined. The experiments were performed in randomized design. Statistical variance analysis of the independent data with six replicates (n=6) was performed by using the SPSS packet program and the differences between the means were compared with least significant differences at the 5% level (LSD %5). Saharan desert soil samples were analyzed by X-Ray Diffraction. Mineral analyses of the used Saharan soil sample are composed of 55% quartz, 23% gypsum, 17% calcite, 4% clay and 1% feldspar. These results were agreed with literature (Ganor et al., 1996). Non-Illuminated