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Atmosphere
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Characteristics of the Atmosphere and Their Impact on Quality of...
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Characteristics of the Atmosphere and Their Impact on Quality of Life, Ecosystems, and Human Activities

A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Air Quality and Human Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (29 February 2024) | Viewed by 4169

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Kostadin Ganev

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
National Institute of Geophysics, Geodesy and Geography—Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Acad. G. Bonchev str., bl. 3 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria
Interests: air pollution transport modelling; planetary boundary layer dynamics; mesoscale flow systems; adjoined functions and inversed air pollution problems; regional climate modelling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Georgi Gadzhev

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
National Institute of Geophysics, Geodesy and Geography—Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Acad. G. Bonchev str., bl. 3 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria
Interests: computer simulations of regional climate; air pollution transport; air quality; quality of life and health risk
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The Special Issue “Characteristics of the Atmosphere and Their Impact on Quality of Life, Ecosystems and Human Activities” is focused on the following problems of great societal and scientific importance:

1.) The air is the living environment of human beings and obviously a number of atmospheric parameters (chemical composition) and physical parameters (temperature, humidity, wind, pressure) have a great impact on quality of life and human health, ecosystems and human activities.

2.) Due to the warming climate, the global factors which the atmospheric properties are subject to are currently changing. This leads to changes in flow systems of different scales and hence to air pollution propagation and possible changes of atmospheric composition. That is why previous evaluations of the air quality and its impact on quality of life may no longer be valid and so have to be upgraded.

3.) The regional/local atmospheric characteristics are formed by the interaction of different scale processes and mechanisms, so they cannot be simulated correctly by global models. That is why the regional/local scale specifics of the atmospheric properties and their consequences have to be taken into account. Thus, regional to local to urban scale modeling has to be applied in order to simulate the characteristics of the atmosphere.

The Special Issue aims at promoting atmospheric studies in particular in the fields of atmospheric composition. Papers on air quality, impact of air quality on environment and human health, origin of air pollution and the processes which form it, impact of atmosphere properties on the environment, quality of life and human activities, stratospheric ozone and UV radiation studies and operational forecast, computer simulations validation and sensitivity studies, study of interactions of different scales and evaluation of the effect of resolution on the simulated results are welcomed.

Prof. Dr. Kostadin Ganev
Dr. Georgi Gadzhev
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Atmosphere is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • atmospheric composition
  • atmospheric composition impact on environment and quality of life
  • strategies and measures for mitigation of adverse air pollution impact
  • operation air quality control systems
  • air quality indices and indices of discomfort
  • stratospheric ozone and biologically active UV radiation
  • regional to local to urban scale studies
  • computer simulations
  • data analysis
  • instrumental studies

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 3704 KiB  
Article
Convection-Permitting Future Climate Simulations for Bulgaria under the RCP8.5 Scenario
by Rilka Valcheva, Ivan Popov and Nikola Gerganov
Atmosphere 2024, 15(1), 91; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos15010091 - 10 Jan 2024
Viewed by 726
Abstract
In recent decades, climate change has become a critical global issue with far-reaching consequences for regional climates and ecosystems. While regional climate models provide valuable information, there is a growing need for high-resolution simulations to assess local impacts. This paper addresses this gap [...] Read more.
In recent decades, climate change has become a critical global issue with far-reaching consequences for regional climates and ecosystems. While regional climate models provide valuable information, there is a growing need for high-resolution simulations to assess local impacts. This paper addresses this gap by presenting the first simulation of a 3 km convection-permitting (CP) scenario simulation for Bulgaria. The main aim of this study is to assess different precipitation indices and their future changes for Bulgaria under the Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5 (RCP8.5) scenario following the Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment Flagship Pilot Study protocol. The simulations are evaluated against high-resolution observations. We downscale Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 5 Global Climate Model (CMIP5 GCM) data for historical (1995–2004) and future (2089–2098) periods using a regional climate model (RCM) at 15 km grid spacing and parametrized convection. We use these fields as initial and boundary conditions for convection-permitting kilometer-scale simulations. The 15 km grid spacing driving model is used as a reference to assess the added value of the kilometer-scale simulation. Additionally, the 3 km seasonal mean and projected 2 m temperature and the winter snow water equivalent are presented. The results show that the kilometer-scale simulation shows better performance of wet-hour intensity in all seasons, wet-hour frequency in the spring, fall, and winter, and extreme precipitation (99.9th percentile of all precipitation events, p99.9) in the winter and fall. The kilometer-scale simulation improves the projected precipitation distribution and modifies the signal of the precipitation frequency, intensity, and heavy precipitation change over some areas. A positive projected change in the wet-hour intensity is expected in all seasons (13.86% in spring, MAM, 17.48% in summer, JJA, 1.97% in fall, SON, and 17.43% in winter, DJF) and in the heavy precipitation in the spring (13.14%) and winter (31.19%) in the kilometer-scale experiment. The projected increase in mean winter precipitation is accompanied by a significant decrease in mean winter snowfall over lowlands (50−70%). The convection-permitting Regional Climate Model, version 4.7.1 (RegCM4.7.1) suggests an increase in winter snowfall over the highest parts of the country, but a significant increase in the 2 m temperatures there. The results of this study are encouraging and may be of interest to the community of climate scientists and users of climate data for making reliable estimates of the local impacts of future climate change. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Characteristics of the Atmosphere and Their Impact on Quality of Life, Ecosystems, and Human Activities)
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17 pages, 8096 KiB  
Article
Stratospheric Warming Events in the Period January–March 2023 and Their Impact on Stratospheric Ozone in the Northern Hemisphere
by Plamen Mukhtarov, Nikolay Miloshev and Rumiana Bojilova
Atmosphere 2023, 14(12), 1762; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14121762 - 29 Nov 2023
Viewed by 721
Abstract
In this investigation, a comparison is presented between variations in temperature and ozone concentration at different altitude levels in the stratosphere for the Northern Hemisphere in the conditions of Sudden Stratospheric Warming (SSW) for the period January–March 2023. Spatial and altitude distribution of [...] Read more.
In this investigation, a comparison is presented between variations in temperature and ozone concentration at different altitude levels in the stratosphere for the Northern Hemisphere in the conditions of Sudden Stratospheric Warming (SSW) for the period January–March 2023. Spatial and altitude distribution of atmospheric characteristics derived from MERRA-2 are represented by their Fourier decomposition. A cross-correlation analysis between temperature and Total Ozone Column (TOC) is used. The longitudinal inhomogeneities in temperature, caused by stationary Planetary Waves with wavenumber 1 (SPW1), are found to be significant at altitudes around the maximum of the maximum of the ozone number density vertical distribution. As a result, it is established that the latitudinal and longitudinal distribution of TOC has a noticeable similarity with that of the temperature at altitudes close to the ozone concentration maximum. The results of correlation between temperature at individual stratospheric levels and ozone concentration show that (i) in the region around the ozone concentration maximum, the correlation is high and positive, (ii) at higher altitudes the sign of the correlation changes to negative (~37 km). The examination shows that the anomalous increases in TOC during SSW are due to an increase in ozone concentration in the altitudes between 10 km and 15 km. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Characteristics of the Atmosphere and Their Impact on Quality of Life, Ecosystems, and Human Activities)
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22 pages, 6542 KiB  
Article
The Development of METAL-WRF Regional Model for the Description of Dust Mineralogy in the Atmosphere
by Stavros Solomos, Christos Spyrou, Africa Barreto, Sergio Rodríguez, Yenny González, Marina K. A. Neophytou, Petros Mouzourides, Nikolaos S. Bartsotas, Christina Kalogeri, Slobodan Nickovic, Ana Vukovic Vimic, Mirjam Vujadinovic Mandic, Goran Pejanovic, Bojan Cvetkovic, Vassilis Amiridis, Olga Sykioti, Antonis Gkikas and Christos Zerefos
Atmosphere 2023, 14(11), 1615; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14111615 - 27 Oct 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1138
Abstract
The mineralogical composition of airborne dust particles is an important but often neglected parameter for several physiochemical processes, such as atmospheric radiative transfer and ocean biochemistry. We present the development of the METAL-WRF module for the simulation of the composition of desert dust [...] Read more.
The mineralogical composition of airborne dust particles is an important but often neglected parameter for several physiochemical processes, such as atmospheric radiative transfer and ocean biochemistry. We present the development of the METAL-WRF module for the simulation of the composition of desert dust minerals in atmospheric aerosols. The new development is based on the GOCART-AFWA dust module of WRF-Chem. A new wet deposition scheme has been implemented in the dust module alongside the existing dry deposition scheme. The new model includes separate prognostic fields for nine (9) minerals: illite, kaolinite, smectite, calcite, quartz, feldspar, hematite, gypsum, and phosphorus, derived from the GMINER30 database and also iron derived from the FERRUM30 database. Two regional model sensitivity studies are presented for dust events that occurred in August and December 2017, which include a comparison of the model versus elemental dust composition measurements performed in the North Atlantic (at Izaña Observatory, Tenerife Island) and in the eastern Mediterranean (at Agia Marina Xyliatos station, Cyprus Island). The results indicate the important role of dust minerals, as dominant aerosols, for the greater region of North Africa, South Europe, the North Atlantic, and the Middle East, including the dry and wet depositions away from desert sources. Overall, METAL-WRF was found to be capable of reproducing the relative abundances of the different dust minerals in the atmosphere. In particular, the concentration of iron (Fe), which is an important element for ocean biochemistry and solar absorption, was modeled in good agreement with the corresponding measurements at Izaña Observatory (22% overestimation) and at Agia Marina Xyliatos site (4% overestimation). Further model developments, including the implementation of newer surface mineralogical datasets, e.g., from the NASA-EMIT satellite mission, can be implemented in the model to improve its accuracy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Characteristics of the Atmosphere and Their Impact on Quality of Life, Ecosystems, and Human Activities)
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19 pages, 3339 KiB  
Article
Convection-Permitting Regional Climate Simulation over Bulgaria: Assessment of Precipitation Statistics
by Rilka Valcheva, Ivan Popov and Nikola Gerganov
Atmosphere 2023, 14(8), 1249; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14081249 - 5 Aug 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 845
Abstract
With increasing computational power, the regional climate modeling community is moving to higher resolutions of a few kilometers, named convection-permitting (CP) simulations. This study aims to present an assessment of precipitation metrics simulated with the non-hydrostatic regional climate model RegCM-4.7.1 at CP scale [...] Read more.
With increasing computational power, the regional climate modeling community is moving to higher resolutions of a few kilometers, named convection-permitting (CP) simulations. This study aims to present an assessment of precipitation metrics simulated with the non-hydrostatic regional climate model RegCM-4.7.1 at CP scale for a decade-long period (2001–2010) for Bulgaria. The regional climate simulation at 15 km grid spacing uses ERA-Interim (0.75° × 0.75°) re-analysis as the driving data and parametrized deep convection. The kilometer-scale simulation at 3 km horizontal grid spacing is nested into regional climate simulation using parametrized shallow convection only. The CP simulation is evaluated against daily and hourly datasets available for the selected period and is compared with the coarser resolution driving simulation. The results show that the model represents well the spatial distribution of mean precipitation at the regional and kilometer scale for the territory of Bulgaria. However, the CP_RegCM_3km model produces too much precipitation over the mountains and shows the largest biases in the summer season (above 100%). At the daily scale, improvements are found in CP simulation for precipitation wet-day intensity and extreme precipitation in the autumn and for wet-day frequency in the summer. At the hourly scale, the kilometer-scale simulation improved the performance of wet-hour precipitation intensity in all seasons compared with coarse-resolution simulation (−23% vs. −46% in MAM; −10% vs. −37% in JJA; −47% vs. −53% in SON; −54% vs. −62% in DJF) and extreme precipitation in the autumn (−7% vs. −51%) and winter (−34% vs. −58%). The representation of wet-hour frequency was improved by CP_RegCM_3km in all seasons, except summer (−3.1% vs. −6.7% in spring; 0.5% vs. −3.8% in autumn and −7.7% vs. −11.5% in winter). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Characteristics of the Atmosphere and Their Impact on Quality of Life, Ecosystems, and Human Activities)
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