Preface

Over the past few decades numerous studies have shown an alarming increase in the concentration of atmospheric particular matter called aerosols resulting from a variety of human activities, ranging from agricultural to combustion of fossil fuels. Besides having serious impacts on the health of all living creatures, these particles can affect planetary radiation budget. Consequences of this change include global temperature shifts and the altering of atmospheric and oceanic circulation patterns. It is therefore essential to quantify and characterize these particles, while also studying the chemical and physical processes they are subject to.

This book presents recent studies conducted by internationally recognized scientists from all over the world. It is divided into two sections. The first section presents characterization of atmospheric aerosol particles and their impact on regional climate from East Asia to the Pacific. Ground-based, air-born, and satellite data were collected and analyzed. Detailed information about measurement techniques and atmospheric conditions were provided as well. In the second section, authors provide detailed information about the properties of the organic and inorganic constituents of atmospheric aerosols. They discuss the chemical and physical processes, temporal and spatial distribution, emissions, formation, and transportation of aerosol particles. In addition, new measurement techniques are introduced. This book hopes to serve as a useful resource to resolve some of the issues associated with the complex nature of the interaction between atmospheric aerosols and climatology.

**Hayder Abdul-Razzak** 

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Texas, USA

**Section 1** 

**Aerosols Regional Characteristics** 

**Aerosols Regional Characteristics** 

**Chapter 1** 

© 2012 Plakhina, licensee InTech. This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use,

Hoshiko et al., licensee InTech. This is a paper distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons

distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2012 Plakhina, licensee InTech. This is a paper distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Investigation results of the atmospheric aerosol over the Russia territory are of great interest for the ecology and climate developments. The regularities of spatial and temporal variations in the Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) and Air Turbidity Factor (T) can be received by the Russian actinometric network data (RussianHydrometeorologicalResearchCenter). Our analysis will be based on the "Atmosphere Transparency" special-purpose database created at the Voeikov Main Geophysical Observatory (MGO) on the basis of observational actinometric data. Author has many years cooperation with MGO in the region of the processing and analysis of these observation data. The relationship between the increases in the global surface air temperature and in the atmospheric content of greenhouse gases has been proven. The warming over the past 50 years has mainly been related to human activities (IPCC, Climate Change 2001, 2007). Along with the anthropogenic factor, climate is affected by such natural factors as variations in the solar constant, cyclic interactions between the atmosphere and the ocean, and atmospheric aerosol; these factors are pronounced within time intervals of several years to several decades. The sign of aerosol forcing may be different: the stratospheric aerosol layer causes the reflection of solar radiation incident upon the atmospheric upper boundary and, thus, decreases the warming of the underlying air layers. For example, the sulfate aerosol which formed in the stratosphere after the Pinatubo eruption (June 1991) caused "short" (in 1993) global cooling. Tropospheric aerosol can increase or decrease the surface air temperature, and its influence on the ecological state of the air is well understood (Isaev, 2001). Therefore, monitoring the atmospheric aerosol component is important and necessary now from the standpoints of its

**Variations in the Aerosol Optical Depth** 

**Obtained at the Russian Actinometric** 

**Above the Russia from the Data** 

**Network in 1976–2010 Years** 

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

Inna Plakhina

**1. Introduction** 

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/48618
