Remote sensing of aerosols over the Solar Village, Saudi Arabia

Aerosol optical properties over Solar Village, Saudi Arabia have been studied using ground-based remote sensing observations through the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET). Our analysis covered 8 recorded years of aerosol measurements, starting from February 1999 through January 2007. The seasonal mean values of aerosol optical thickness (AOT), the Angstrom wavelength exponent alpha and the surface wind speed Q), exhibit a one year cyclical pattern. Seasonal variations are clearly found in the shape and magnitude of the volume size distribution (VSD) of the coarse size mode due to dust emission. The Spring is characterized by dusty aerosols as the modal value of the exponent alpha was low similar to 0.25 while that of AOT was high similar to 0.3. The modal value of wind speed was the highest similar to 3.6 m/s in spring. The increase in wind speed is responsible for increasing the concentration of dust particles during Spring. Spring of 2003 has the highest mean values of AOT, V and VSD and the lowest mean value for the exponent cc. The seasonal mean values of the exponent alpha are anticorrelated with those of the wind speed (r=-0.63). The annual mean values of the exponent a are well correlated (r=0.77) with those of the difference between the maximum and minimum values of temperature AT They are anticorrelated (r=-0.74) with the annual mean values of the relative humidity. Large aerosol particles and high relative humidity increase the radiative forcing. This results in reduction of the values of the temperature difference A T (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.