{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,8]],"date-time":"2026-01-08T21:11:31Z","timestamp":1767906691620,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":53,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"15","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,7,26]],"date-time":"2021-07-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1627257600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Remote Sensing"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This study investigates changes in aerosol radiative effects on two highly urbanized regions across the Euro-Mediterranean basin with respect to a natural desert region as Sahara over a decade through space-based lidar observations. The research is based on the monthly-averaged vertically-resolved aerosol optical depth (AOD) atmospheric profiles along a 1\u2218\u00d71\u2218 horizontal grid, obtained from the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) instrument measurements aboard the Cloud-Aerosol lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO). To assess the variability of the anthropogenic aerosols on climate, we compared the aerosol vertical profile observations to a one-dimensional radiative transfer model in two metropolitan climate sensible hot-spots in Europe, namely the Po Valley and Benelux, to investigate the variability of the aerosol radiative effects over ten years. The same analysis is carried out as reference on the Sahara desert region, considered subject just to natural local emission. Our findings show the efficacy of emission reduction policies implemented at government level in strongly urbanized regions. The total atmospheric column aerosol load reduction (not observed in Sahara desert region) in Po Valley and Benelux can be associated with: (i) an increase of the energy flux at the surface via direct effects confirmed also by long term surface temperature observations, (ii) a general decrease of the atmospheric column, and likely (iii) an increase in surface temperatures during a ten-year period. Summarizing, the analysis, based on the decade 2007\u20132016, clearly show an increase of solar irradiation under cloud-free conditions at the surface of +3.6 % and +16.6% for the Po Valley and Benelux, respectively, and a reduction of \u22129.0% for the Sahara Desert.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/rs13152933","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,7,26]],"date-time":"2021-07-26T09:25:52Z","timestamp":1627291552000},"page":"2933","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":11,"title":["Aerosol Direct Radiative Effects under Cloud-Free Conditions over Highly-Polluted Areas in Europe and Mediterranean: A Ten-Years Analysis (2007\u20132016)"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5969-6677","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tony","family":"Landi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"CNR-ISAC, Via Gobetti 101, 40129 Bologna, Italy"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8812-5291","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Paolo","family":"Bonasoni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CNR-ISAC, Via Gobetti 101, 40129 Bologna, Italy"}]},{"given":"Michele","family":"Brunetti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CNR-ISAC, Via Gobetti 101, 40129 Bologna, Italy"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0251-4550","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"James","family":"Campbell","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Naval Research Laboratory, Monterey, CA 93940, USA"}]},{"given":"Jared","family":"Marquis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58202, USA"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7420-3164","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Paolo","family":"Di Girolamo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Scuola di Ingegneria, Universit\u00e0 degli Studi della Basilicata, 85100 Potenza, Italy"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6111-152X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Simone","family":"Lolli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CNR-IMAA, Contrada S. Loja, s.n.c, 85050 Tito, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Physics, Florence Campus, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44240, USA"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,7,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"89","DOI":"10.1007\/s11625-008-0050-4","article-title":"Climate change and coastal vulnerability assessment: Scenarios for integrated assessment","volume":"3","author":"Nicholls","year":"2008","journal-title":"Sustain. Sci."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"100233","DOI":"10.1016\/j.wace.2019.100233","article-title":"Regional hotspots of temperature extremes under 1.5 \u2218C and 2 \u2218C of global mean warming","volume":"26","author":"Lewis","year":"2019","journal-title":"Weather. Clim. 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