Sea-salt aerosol forecasts compared with wave and sea-salt measurements in the open mediterranean sea

Sea salt aerosol (SSA) could influence the Earth's climate acting as cloud condensation nuclei. However, there were no regular measurements of SSA in the open sea. At Tel Aviv University, the DREAM Salt prediction system has been producing daily forecasts of 3-D distribution of sea salt aerosol concentrations over the Mediterranean Sea (http://wind.tau.ac.il/saltina/ salt.html). In order to evaluate the model performance in the open sea, daily modeled concentrations were compared directly with SSA measurements taken at the tiny island of Lampedusa, in the Central Mediterranean. In order to further test the robustness of the model, the model performance over the open sea was indirectly verified by comparing modeled SSA concentrations with wave height measurements collected by the ODAS Italia 1 buoy and the Llobregat buoy. Model vs. measurement comparisons show that the model is capable of producing realistic SSA concentrations and their day today variations over the open sea, in accordance with observed wave height and wind speed. © 2012 European Space Agency.