Air pollution from natural and anthropogenic sources over Mediterranean region: assessment of an online coupled meteorological and air quality model

A study to better understand and quantify the source of air pollution in Italy and the surrounding Mediterranean region is proposed. Suspected sources of pollutants include human activities, natural hydrocarbons from forests (isoprene and terpenes) and episodes of wind-blown mineral dust from the Sahara Desert. A deep understanding of these sources is fundamental to developing science-based mitigation actions. The study addresses specifically the natural hydrocarbons and dust, using a state-of-the-art chemistry transport model (Weather Research and Forecasting with Chemistry)