Atmospheric Chemistry in the Mediterranean Region (eBook)

This two-volume set provides an extensive review of the abundant past and recent literature on the atmospheric chemistry in the Mediterranean region. ­The books document the experience gained on the atmospheric composition over the Mediterranean basin and close areas after almost six decades of studies, starting from early studies of radioactive aerosol fallouts and intense desert dust events in the 1960s, aerosol samples collected during oceanographic cruises in the early 1980s and including discoveries from subsequent surface monitoring stations, intensive campaigns, satellite climatologies, laboratory studies, as well as chemistry-transport and climate models. Through ten thematic sections, the authors examine the sources and fates of atmospheric pollutants over the Mediterranean basin and what we know about their major impacts on air quality and health, on the radiative budget and climate, on marine chemistry and biogeochemistry. ­ This overview not only considers the full cycle of both aerosol and reactive gases including emissions, transport, transformation, and sinks, but also addresses the main impacts of the regional atmospheric chemistry.­ The volumes are an initiative from the ending ChArMEx project that has federated many studies on those topics in the past decade, and update the scientific knowledge by integrating the ChArMEx and non-ChArMEx literature.  The books are contributed by a large pool of well-known authors from the respective fields, mainly from France and Greece, but also from fourteen other countries. All chapters have been peer-reviewed by international scientific experts in the corresponding domains.

Volume 1 provides background information on the Mediterranean atmosphere, and focuses on the synoptic and dynamic conditions affecting pollutant concentrations over the Mediterranean basin, aerosol concentrations and variability, and reactive gas concentrations and variability. ­ The targeted audience is the academic community working on atmospheric chemistry and its impacts on climate, air quality and marine biogeochemistry, especially teams having a special interest in the Mediterranean region, which includes many countries and institutes worldwide.

Dr. François Dulac is a senior research scientist in atmospheric chemistry from the French Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique (CEA). He is working at the Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement (LSCE) that is also part of CNRS, Univ. of Versailles-St-Quentin and Univ. of Paris-Saclay, and member of the Institut Pierre Simon Laplace des Sciences de l'Environnement d'Ile de France (IPSL). He co-signs 76 papers published in high-level peer reviewed international journals including 2 in Nature, and has an Isi Web of Knowledge H-Index of 33. His main field of research is tropospheric aerosols, especially mineral dust, and their impacts on the surface ocean biogeochemistry, radiative budget, and air quality. Since his PhD in atmospheric chemistry and environmental physics (Univ. Paris-7, 1986) focused on Mediterranean aerosols, he has developed synergetic approaches based on multi parameter data, combining in situ observations, remote sensing and model approaches.