Articles | Volume 19, issue 17
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-5633-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-5633-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
07 Sep 2026
Research article |
| 07 Sep 2026
| 07 Sep 2026
Dust radiative effects and impact on energy production over the Mediterranean Basin
Institute for Astronomy, Astrophysics, Space Applications and Remote Sensing, National Observatory of Athens, Athens, Greece
Department of Geology and Geoenvironment, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
Georgia Charalampous
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Eratosthenes Centre of Excellence, Limassol, Cyprus
Department of Civil Engineering Geomatics, Cyprus University of Technology, Limassol, Cyprus
Anna Moustaka
Physicalisch Meteorologisches Observatorium, World Radiation Center, Davos, Switzerland
Department of Physics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
Alkistis Papetta
Climate and Atmosphere Research Centre (CARE-C), The Cyprus Institute, Nicosia, Cyprus
Celia Herrero del Barrio
Group of Atmospheric Optics (GOA-UVa), Universidad de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
Laboratory of Disruptive Interdisciplinary Science (LaDIS), Universidad de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
Rizos-Theodoros Chadoulis
Department of Physics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
S. Yeşer Aslanoğlu
Department of Environmental Engineering, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Türkiye
Sara Herrero-Anta
Group of Atmospheric Optics (GOA-UVa), Universidad de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
Laboratory of Disruptive Interdisciplinary Science (LaDIS), Universidad de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
Michail Mytilinaios
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche – Istituto di Metodologie per l'Analisi Ambientale (CNR-IMAA), Tito, Italy
Nikolaos Papadimitriou
Research Centre for Atmospheric Physics and Climatology of the Academy of Athens, Athens, Greece
Katerina Anyfanti
Research Centre for Atmospheric Physics and Climatology of the Academy of Athens, Athens, Greece
Christos Spyrou
Research Centre for Atmospheric Physics and Climatology of the Academy of Athens, Athens, Greece
Daniela Meloni
Sustainable Department, National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, Rome, Italy
Konstantinos Fragkos
Climate and Atmosphere Research Centre (CARE-C), The Cyprus Institute, Nicosia, Cyprus
Yevgeny Derimian
Univ. Lille, CNRS, UMR 8518 – LOA – Laboratoire d'Optique Atmosphérique, 59000 Lille, France
Tatiana Di Iorio
Laboratory for Models and Measurements for Air Quality and Climate Observations, ENEA, Rome, Italy
Rodanthi-Elisavet Mamouri
Department of Geology and Geoenvironment, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
Eratosthenes Centre of Excellence, Limassol, Cyprus
Vassilis Amiridis
Institute for Astronomy, Astrophysics, Space Applications and Remote Sensing, National Observatory of Athens, Athens, Greece
Stavros Solomos
Research Centre for Atmospheric Physics and Climatology of the Academy of Athens, Athens, Greece
Stelios Kazadzis
Physicalisch Meteorologisches Observatorium, World Radiation Center, Davos, Switzerland
Ilias Fountoulakis
Research Centre for Atmospheric Physics and Climatology of the Academy of Athens, Athens, Greece
Data sets
METAL WRF Simulation results for major dust events in the Mediterranean A. Papetta et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20179898
Short summary
In the present study we investigated how aerosols, and specifically dust, affect solar radiation and energy production by investigating several dust events across multiple sites in the Mediterranean Basin between 2021 and 2022 through ground-based observations and model simulations. The results revealed that dust can significantly attenuate solar radiation and, therefore, lead to considerable losses in solar power generation, specifically in the case of solar tracking systems.
In the present study we investigated how aerosols, and specifically dust, affect solar radiation...
