Dust radiative effects and impact on energy production over the Mediterranean Basin
Journal
Atmospheric Measurement Techniques
ISSN
1867-8548
Date Issued
September 7, 2026
Author(s)
Kouklaki, Dimitra
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, National Observatory of Athens, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, University of West Attica
Herrero del Barrio, Celia
Chadoulis, Rizos-Theodoros
Aslanoğlu, S. Yeşer
Herrero-Anta, Sara
Mytilinaios, Michail
Anyfanti, Katerina
Spyrou, Christos
Meloni, Daniela
Derimian, Yevgeny
Abstract
Atmospheric aerosols are among the key factors affecting the Earth's radiation budget, playing a fundamental role in understanding climate forcing, feedback mechanisms, and their impact on future climate projections and on solar energy systems. More specifically, dust aerosol particles, which are characterized by high complexity of their optical and microphysical properties, remain one of the most uncertain components. In this study, we focus on four severe dust events across multiple sites in the broader Mediterranean Basin between 2021 and 2022. We employ a combination of ground-based remote sensing observations along with Radiative Transfer (RT) modelling, with the libRadtran package and METAL-WRF scheme, as well as photovoltaic (PV) power generation simulations using the Global Solar Energy Estimator (GSEE) to investigate the impact of the different optical and geometrical aspects of these events on solar radiation and solar energy. The results revealed that the strongest dust-induced attenuation under clear-sky conditions was systematically observed in the direct component of solar radiation (DNI), with maximum losses frequently exceeding 60 %–80 %, while Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI) typically ranged between 5 % and 25 %. These findings were reflected directly into substantial PV power output losses, for both fixed-tilt and two-axis tracking systems, reaching ∼ 45 % and 80 %, respectively, with the impact on the latter being significantly higher due to their strong dependence on DNI. A sensitivity analysis based on how aerosol optical properties and solar geometry jointly influence PV energy production revealed that Solar Zenith Angle (SZA) plays the most dominant role, followed by Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD), which leads to strong attenuation independently of SZA under altered aerosol load conditions. Finally, the comparison of the modelled PV output estimated from the modelled irradiances based on the two different RT models with the PV output considering ground-based GHI measurements revealed a similar agreement under clear sky conditions, while under cloudy conditions, the analysis revealed the critical role of the diffuse horizontal irradiance (DHI) component in the simulations.
Affiliation
Physicalisch Meteorologisches Observatorium, World Radiation Center
Climate and Atmosphere Research Centre (CARE-C), The Cyprus Institute, Nicosia
Group of Atmospheric Optics (GOA-UVa)
Laboratory for Models and Measurements for Air Quality and Climate Observations, ENEA
Funding
This study is based on the work from COST Action HARMONIA (CA21119), supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology). DK would like to acknowledge the Obs3RvE (Optimising 3D RT Earthcare product using geostationary observations and AI) project, funded from the European Space Agency under Contract No. 4000147848/25/I/AG, and the AIRSENSE (Aerosol and aerosol cloud Interaction from Remote SENSing Enhancement) project, funded from the European Space Agency under Contract No. 4000142902/23/I-NS. GC would like to acknowledge the EXCELSIOR: ERATOSTHENES: Excellence Research Centre for Earth Surveillance and Space-Based Monitoring of the Environment H2020 Widespread Teaming project (http://www.excelsior2020.eu, last access: 13 March 2023). The EXCELSIOR project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement No. 857510, from the Government of the Republic of Cyprus through the Directorate General for the European Programmes, Coordination and Development and the Cyprus University of Technology and ATARRI: This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe Twinning Call (HORIZON-WIDERA-2023-ACCESS-02) under the grant agreement No. 101160258. AP and KF acknowledge EMMECARE and DUST-DN projects for supporting this work under the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (Grant Agreement Nos. 856612 and 101168425). SK would like to acknowledge the Solid PV project (24GRD04 SOLiD-PV) funded from the European Partnership on Metrology, co-financed from the European Union's Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme and by the Participating States.
This research was supported by ENEA within the framework of the Electric System Research Programme (Three-Year Implementation Plan 2025–2027), Project 1.5 “High efficiency buildings for the energy transition”, Work Package 2: “Models, strategies and technological solutions for energy efficiency at the service of the territory”, financed by the Ministry for the Environment and Energy Security. CUP: I53C24003330001. Contributions by Damiano Sferlazzo at Lampedusa are gratefully acknowledged. The support of ACTRIS-ERIC and the University of Valladolid concerning the AERONET photometer calibration at Lampedusa is gratefully acknowledged. The authors would also like to thank the PIs of the AERONET network stations considered in the present study.
This research was supported by ENEA within the framework of the Electric System Research Programme (Three-Year Implementation Plan 2025–2027), Project 1.5 “High efficiency buildings for the energy transition”, Work Package 2: “Models, strategies and technological solutions for energy efficiency at the service of the territory”, financed by the Ministry for the Environment and Energy Security. CUP: I53C24003330001. Contributions by Damiano Sferlazzo at Lampedusa are gratefully acknowledged. The support of ACTRIS-ERIC and the University of Valladolid concerning the AERONET photometer calibration at Lampedusa is gratefully acknowledged. The authors would also like to thank the PIs of the AERONET network stations considered in the present study.
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