%0 Journal Article
%T Trends of Dust Transport Episodes in Cyprus Using a Classification of Synoptic Types Established with Artificial Neural Networks
%A S. Michaelides
%A F. Tymvios
%A S. Athanasatos
%A M. Papadakis
%J Journal of Climatology
%D 2013
%R 10.1155/2013/280248
%X The relationship between dust episodes over Cyprus and specific synoptic patterns has long been considered but also further supported in recent studies by the authors. Having defined a dust episode as a day when the average PM10 measurement exceeds the threshold of 50£¿mg/(m3£¿day), the authors have utilized Artificial Neural Networks and synoptic charts, together with satellite and ground measurements, in order to establish a scheme which links specific synoptic patterns with the appearance of dust transport over Cyprus. In an effort to understand better these complicated synoptic-scale phenomena and their associations with dust transport episodes, the authors attempt in the present paper a followup of the previous tasks with the objective to further investigate dust episodes from the point of view of their time trends. The results have shown a tendency for the synoptic situations favoring dust events to increase in the last decades, whereas, the synoptic situations not favoring such events tend to decrease with time. 1. Introduction It is common knowledge that dust transport from desert areas is not confined to the regions adjacent to the desert source itself, but dust can be transported extensively, and the final deposition can be thousands of kilometers away from the originating source (see [1]). According to Marelli [2], this natural contribution to Particulate Matter (PM) may range from 5% to 50% in different European countries. The Mediterranean Basin is generally recognized as a major recipient of desert dust originating from the Sahara and Saudi Arabia deserts; several t/km2 are deposited each year in the Mediterranean Sea [3] profoundly affecting its coastal regions (see [4¨C15]). Dust transport can be defined as a three-stage process: initially, dust is lifted and suspended in the atmospheric air, resulting in the occurrence of high level concentrations of dust in desert areas and then transported to great distances from the initial source where it finally settles on the ground. This is a quite complex phenomenon since a large number of factors contribute to its intensity and frequency. Particularly, in countries of the southeastern Mediterranean region which is particularly affected, there is an acute interest in understanding the phenomenon itself as well as the various mechanisms which govern important attributes like the severity, duration, and time trends of dust transportation (see [16]). The present study focuses on the third stage of dust transportation, namely the deposition of desert dust at ground level. The importance of such a task
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jcli/2013/280248/