Aerosols in the atmosphere scatter and absorb radiation, which reduces the transmission of electro-optical radiation through the atmosphere and impacts on the radiative balance of the planet. To accurately predict the performance of electro-optical systems for naval applications, fine-scale modeling of the atmospheric dynamics of aerosols in the coastal zone is crucial. To this end, the MIO laboratory has coupled the numerical meteorological model MESO-NH in its LES version to the particle extinction model MEDEX (Mediterranean Extinction Model MEDEX, Piazzola et al., 2003). The numerical aerosol concentrations in the Mediterranean coastal zone were compared to experimental data acquired in May 2008 on board a research vessel and on the island of Porquerolles. This provided insight in our capability to model the fine-scale spatiotemporal variation of aerosol and visibility for a coastal area of complex geography.
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