VERSUS Research Project - Science Plan

Project science plan: work packages
WP1 Compilation of the temporal series, for the period 2003 - 2018, of satellite data of sea surface temperature (SST), Total Column of Precipitable Water Vapor (TPW) and Precipitation. For the same period, data collection from the Air Quality Network of the Valencian Community and Meteorological Measurements. WP2 Statistical characterization of spatiotemporal distributions in the Mediterranean basin of potentially triggering magnitudes of extreme meteorological events and secondary pollution episodes: SST, TPW, and Tropospheric Ozone. WP3 Identification and characterization of atmospheric scenarios associated with orographic-convective summer storms and tropospheric ozone pollution episodes. WP4 Estimation of the contribution of vegetal cover evapotranspiration to the precipitable water vapor recharge within the diurnal breeze circulations along the Turia river valley. WP5 High-resolution numerical modelling of a base year over the Comunitat Valenciana (year 2015). WP6 Meteorological characterization of the impact of local and non-local disturbances of land use in rainfall, high temperatures and pollution episodes. WP7 Characterization of the difference of vegetal cover contribution to the precipitable water vapor recharge under different IPCC scenarios of land use. WP8 Communication and transference of the results.
Project expected outcomes
Out1 Quasi-automatic monitoring network of the Mediterranean forest evapotranspiration and the tropospheric wind patterns along the Turia river valley (Valencia, Spain). Identification of key observables for the monitoring and forecast of potentially risky atmospheric events over the Comunitat Valenciana (Spain). Out2 Sensitivity analysis of the variation of critical thresholds for topographically aided summer storm generation under land-use changes. Out3 Annual Research International Communications (EGU, EMS, MetMed, etc.) and Peer-Review Scientific Articles. Out4 Workshop on monitoring and forecast of atmospheric environmental risks in the Western Mediterranean. Out5 Two PhD Thesis Out 5.1 The influence of changes in the land cover on the content of water vapor in the troposphere and the generation of topographically-aided summer storms. Pau Benetó Out 5.2 The contribution of vegetal cover evapotranspiration to the precipitable water vapor recharge within the diurnal breeze circulations along the Turia river valley. Elisabeth K. Larsen
Scientific background - Relevant papers
Baldasano J.M, P. Jiménez-Guerrero, O. Jorba, C. Pérez, E. López, P. Güereca, F. Martin, M. García-Vivanco, I. Palomino, X. Querol, M. Pandolfi, M.J. Sanz and Diéguez J.J. (2008). CALIOPE: An operational air quality forecasting system for the Iberian Peninsula, Balearic Islands and Canary Islands- First annual evaluation and ongoing developments. Advances in Science and Research, 2: 89-98, ISSN: 1992-0628. Bellot, J., Chirino, E. (2013) Hydrobal: An eco-hydrological modelling approach for assessing water balances in different vegetation types in semi-arid areas, Ecol. Model. 266, 30-41. Chirino, E., (2003) Influencia de las precipitaciones y de la vegetación en el balance hídrico superficial y la recarga de acuíferos en clima semiárido. PhD dissertation, Universidad de Alicante, Spain. Publicado en: http://rua.ua.es/dspace/handle/10045/3386). Kallos, G., Mitsakou, C., Alastuey, A., van Aardenne, J., Astitha, M., Cusak, M., Doering, U., Gerasopoulos, E., Hatzianastassiou, N., Kanakidou, M., Kushta, J., Lelieveld, J., Levin, Z., Mihalopoulos, N., Millan, M., Palau, J.L., Pérez, N., Pey, J., Querol, X., Solomos, S., Spyrou, C., Theodosi, C., Zerefos, C. (2013) Mechanisms of Climate Variability, Air Quality and Impacts of Atmospheric Constituents in the Mediterranean Region. In: Assessment Climate Change in the Mediterranean. Edited by: A. Navarra, L.Tubiana (eds.). ISBN: 978-94-007-5780-6. DOI: 10.1007/978-94-007-5781-3_4. Pp. 119 – 156. Ed. Springer Niclos, R., Valiente, J.A., Barbera, M.J., Caselles, V. (2014) Land surface air temperature retrieval from EOS-MODIS images. IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, 11(8), 1380-1384 (doi: 10.1109/LGRS.2013.2293540). Palau J.L., Rovira F. (2012) A Methodology for the Characterization of Periodicities in Non-Steady Time Series: Application to Tropospheric Ozone Recharging Cycles in the Western Mediterranean Basin. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol. DOI: 10.1175/JTECH-D-12-00009.1 Palau J.L., Rovira F. (2015) Meso-Alpha Scale Tropospheric Interactions within the Western Mediterranean Basin: Statistical Results Using 15-Year NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis Dataset Advances in Meteorology, vol. 2015, Article ID 302746, 11 pages, 2015. doi:10.1155/2015/302746. Pastor, F. (2012) Ciclogénesis intensas en la cuenca occidental del Mediterráneo y temperatura superficial del mar: Modelización y evaluación de las áreas de recarga. Tesis. Pastor, F., Gómez, I. Estrela, M. J. (2010) Numerical study of the October 2007 flash flood in the Valencia region (Eastern Spain): the role of orography. Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. 10, 1331–1345. Pastor, F., Valiente, J. A., and Estrela, M. J.: Sea surface temperature and torrential rains in the Valencia region: modelling the role of recharge areas, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 15, 1677-1693, doi:10.5194/nhess-15-1677-2015, 2015.

WP1 Compilation of the temporal series, for the period 2003 - 2018, of satellite data of sea surface temperature (SST), Total Column of Precipitable Water Vapor (TPW) and Precipitation. For the same period, data collection from the Air Quality Network of the Valencian Community and Meteorological Measurements.
WP2 Statistical characterization of spatiotemporal distributions in the Mediterranean basin of potentially triggering magnitudes of extreme meteorological events and secondary pollution episodes: SST, TPW, and Tropospheric Ozone.
WP3 Identification and characterization of atmospheric scenarios associated with orographic-convective summer storms and tropospheric ozone pollution episodes.
WP4 Estimation of the contribution of vegetal cover evapotranspiration to the precipitable water vapor recharge within the diurnal breeze circulations along the Turia river valley.
WP5 High-resolution numerical modelling of a base year over the Comunitat Valenciana (year 2015).
WP6 Meteorological characterization of the impact of local and non-local disturbances of land use in rainfall, high temperatures and pollution episodes.
WP7 Characterization of the difference of vegetal cover contribution to the precipitable water vapor recharge under different IPCC scenarios of land use.
WP8 Communication and transference of the results.

Out1 Quasi-automatic monitoring network of the Mediterranean forest evapotranspiration and the tropospheric wind patterns along the Turia river valley (Valencia, Spain). Identification of key observables for the monitoring and forecast of potentially risky atmospheric events over the Comunitat Valenciana (Spain).
Out2 Sensitivity analysis of the variation of critical thresholds for topographically aided summer storm generation under land-use changes.
Out3 Annual Research International Communications (EGU, EMS, MetMed, etc.) and Peer-Review Scientific Articles.
Out4 Workshop on monitoring and forecast of atmospheric environmental risks in the Western Mediterranean.

Out5 Two PhD Thesis
Out 5.1 The influence of changes in the land cover on the content of water vapor in the troposphere and the generation of topographically-aided summer storms. Pau Benetó
Out 5.2 The contribution of vegetal cover evapotranspiration to the precipitable water vapor recharge within the diurnal breeze circulations along the Turia river valley. Elisabeth K. Larsen

Baldasano J.M, P. Jiménez-Guerrero, O. Jorba, C. Pérez, E. López, P. Güereca, F. Martin, M. García-Vivanco, I. Palomino, X. Querol, M. Pandolfi, M.J. Sanz and Diéguez J.J. (2008). CALIOPE: An operational air quality forecasting system for the Iberian Peninsula, Balearic Islands and Canary Islands- First annual evaluation and ongoing developments. Advances in Science and Research, 2: 89-98, ISSN: 1992-0628.
Bellot, J., Chirino, E. (2013) Hydrobal: An eco-hydrological modelling approach for assessing water balances in different vegetation types in semi-arid areas, Ecol. Model. 266, 30-41.
Chirino, E., (2003) Influencia de las precipitaciones y de la vegetación en el balance hídrico superficial y la recarga de acuíferos en clima semiárido. PhD dissertation, Universidad de Alicante, Spain. Publicado en: http://rua.ua.es/dspace/handle/10045/3386).
Kallos, G., Mitsakou, C., Alastuey, A., van Aardenne, J., Astitha, M., Cusak, M., Doering, U., Gerasopoulos, E., Hatzianastassiou, N., Kanakidou, M., Kushta, J., Lelieveld, J., Levin, Z., Mihalopoulos, N., Millan, M., Palau, J.L., Pérez, N., Pey, J., Querol, X., Solomos, S., Spyrou, C., Theodosi, C., Zerefos, C. (2013) Mechanisms of Climate Variability, Air Quality and Impacts of Atmospheric Constituents in the Mediterranean Region. In: Assessment Climate Change in the Mediterranean. Edited by: A. Navarra, L.Tubiana (eds.). ISBN: 978-94-007-5780-6. DOI: 10.1007/978-94-007-5781-3_4. Pp. 119 – 156. Ed. Springer
Niclos, R., Valiente, J.A., Barbera, M.J., Caselles, V. (2014) Land surface air temperature retrieval from EOS-MODIS images. IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, 11(8), 1380-1384 (doi: 10.1109/LGRS.2013.2293540).
Palau J.L., Rovira F. (2012) A Methodology for the Characterization of Periodicities in Non-Steady Time Series: Application to Tropospheric Ozone Recharging Cycles in the Western Mediterranean Basin. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol. DOI: 10.1175/JTECH-D-12-00009.1
Palau J.L., Rovira F. (2015) Meso-Alpha Scale Tropospheric Interactions within the Western Mediterranean Basin: Statistical Results Using 15-Year NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis Dataset Advances in Meteorology, vol. 2015, Article ID 302746, 11 pages, 2015. doi:10.1155/2015/302746.
Pastor, F. (2012) Ciclogénesis intensas en la cuenca occidental del Mediterráneo y temperatura superficial del mar: Modelización y evaluación de las áreas de recarga. Tesis.
Pastor, F., Gómez, I. Estrela, M. J. (2010) Numerical study of the October 2007 flash flood in the Valencia region (Eastern Spain): the role of orography. Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. 10, 1331–1345.
Pastor, F., Valiente, J. A., and Estrela, M. J.: Sea surface temperature and torrential rains in the Valencia region: modelling the role of recharge areas, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 15, 1677-1693, doi:10.5194/nhess-15-1677-2015, 2015.