Advancing Atmospheric Research in the Eastern Mediterranean: Insights from the Cyprus Atmospheric Remote Sensing Observatory
Date Issued
September 1, 2025
Abstract
The Cyprus Atmospheric Remote Sensing Observatory (CARO), a National Facility (NF) for remote sensing of aerosols and clouds, is under evaluation to become an ACTRIS National Research Infrastructure facility for Cyprus. It comprises the Aerosol Remote Sensing (ARS) and Cloud Remote Sensing (CRS) observational platforms. Located in Limassol, a coastal city in Cyprus (34.677°N, 33.0375°E, 2.8 m above sea level), CARO is poised to serve as the reference observatory for the Eastern Mediterranean, North Africa, and Middle East (EMMENA) region.
Cyprus’s climate and air quality are strongly influenced by a diverse mix of aerosols, including urban haze from industrial and urban activities in Southeast Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa; biomass-burning smoke from northern regions (e.g., Black Sea countries); mineral dust from arid zones in Turkey and Middle Eastern deserts (often mixed with anthropogenic pollution); and Saharan dust from North Africa (Mamouri and Ansmann, 2017). Additionally, Mamouri et al. (2023) documented the long-range transport of wildfire smoke from intense fires in the United States and Canada toward Cyprus’s atmosphere. As an island, Cyprus is also significantly affected by marine aerosols.
Situated at a strategic location, CARO provides critical data for understanding atmospheric aerosols, cloud dynamics, and radiative forcing, contributing to regional and global climate studies. Recently, CARO acquired a comprehensive suite of active and passive remote sensing instruments (see Table 1). Beyond aerosol-cloud interaction studies, CARO supports the EarthCARE satellite validation through the CORAL project (Cyprus Observations for EarthCARE Validation), delivering ground-truth observations of the atmosphere’s vertical structure. The CARO infrastructure, enhanced through the ATARRI project (Atmospheric and Solar Research and Innovation in the Eastern Mediterranean), enables a synergistic measurement-modelling approach to address major environmental and atmospheric research challenges.
Cyprus’s climate and air quality are strongly influenced by a diverse mix of aerosols, including urban haze from industrial and urban activities in Southeast Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa; biomass-burning smoke from northern regions (e.g., Black Sea countries); mineral dust from arid zones in Turkey and Middle Eastern deserts (often mixed with anthropogenic pollution); and Saharan dust from North Africa (Mamouri and Ansmann, 2017). Additionally, Mamouri et al. (2023) documented the long-range transport of wildfire smoke from intense fires in the United States and Canada toward Cyprus’s atmosphere. As an island, Cyprus is also significantly affected by marine aerosols.
Situated at a strategic location, CARO provides critical data for understanding atmospheric aerosols, cloud dynamics, and radiative forcing, contributing to regional and global climate studies. Recently, CARO acquired a comprehensive suite of active and passive remote sensing instruments (see Table 1). Beyond aerosol-cloud interaction studies, CARO supports the EarthCARE satellite validation through the CORAL project (Cyprus Observations for EarthCARE Validation), delivering ground-truth observations of the atmosphere’s vertical structure. The CARO infrastructure, enhanced through the ATARRI project (Atmospheric and Solar Research and Innovation in the Eastern Mediterranean), enables a synergistic measurement-modelling approach to address major environmental and atmospheric research challenges.
Funding
This study supported by the ‘EXCELSIOR’: ERATOSTHENES: EΧcellence Research Centre for Earth Surveillance and Space-Based Monitoring of the Environment H2020 Widespread Teaming project (www.excelsior2020.eu) and the EVID39 CORAL project as part of the CAL/VAL EarthCARE activities. The ‘EXCELSIOR’ project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No857510, 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. The authors also acknowledge the ATARRI project funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe Twinning Call (HORIZONWIDERA- 2023-ACCESS-02) under the grant agreement No 101160258.
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