Spatiotemporal Assessment of SO<sub>2</sub>, SO<sub>4</sub> and AOD from over MENA Domain from 2006-2016 Using Multiple Satellite and Reanalysis MERRA-2 Data

Abstract

The sulfur pollutants are the source of a sizeable portion of the air pollution. In this work, the spatial distribution and temporal trend of the mass concentration of two of the critical sulfur pollutants, SO2 and SO4, in addition to the aerosol optical properties (AOD( were analyzed over the region of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) from multiple satellite recourses and Modern Era-Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications version 2 (MERRA-2) reanalysis data.The So2 and So4 data used in these analyses are obtained from (MERRA-2) with a resolution of 0.5°×0.625° throughout a period of 10 years (2005 -2015). On the other hand, the temporal trend and spatial distribution of AOD was identified from four different satellite data. (1) moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) Level 3 AOD data at 550 nm wavelengths from Collection 6 algorithm (combined dark target and deep blue algorithms) are used for 10 years temporal analysis (2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015). Data were obtained for the period 2006-2015 (2) Multi-angle imaging spectroradiometer (MISR) with 0.5 deg spatial resolution for the same 10 years (2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015). (3) Sea-Viewing Wide Fieldof-View Sensor (SeaWIFS) with 0.5 deg for the period (2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010). (4) Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) AOD at 500 nm wavelength with resolution 1 degree

Continental and Ecoregion‐Specific Drivers of Atmospheric NO2 and NH3 Seasonality Over Africa Revealed by Satellite Observations

“…There are no large sources of SO 2 in the Somalia Acacia ecoregion, but SO 4 concentrations may be influenced by anthropogenic emissions from the Middle East, which are substantial (Lee et al., 2011). Sulfate tends to reach its seasonal maximum in July and August in North Africa and the Middle East (Eltahan et al., 2019) (Eltahan et al., 2019), which is also when maxima are observed over Somalia Acacia in ModelE. However, as with the dry savanna, additional surface observations are needed to better understand the causes of seasonal variation in NH 3 concentrations in the ecoregion.…”