Atmospheric hazards monitoring and forecasting

Abstract Monitoring and forecasting of atmospheric hazards is one of the major research branches inside the BEYOND Center of Excellence. In this framework several satellite products for aerosol characterization have been developed incorporating advanced satellite retrieval algorithms utilizing CALIPSO and MODIS data. New methodologies based on lidar ratio correction, decomposition of pure dust from dust mixtures and optimized averaging allow the derivation of aerosol climatology over North Africa and Europe. Collocated satellite observations of CALIOP and MISR instruments are used for the identification of fire smoke plumes and the description of their spatial and temporal characteristics. This information is implemented in the atmospheric dispersion model FLEXPART and the simulated evolution of smoke plumes is discussed with regards to satellite observations. We present specific applications and recent findings of the above methodologies and we discuss the capabilities of the atmospheric component of BEYOND as well as future developments.