Atmospheric dust and air quality over large-cities and megacities of the world

Proestakis, Emmanouil; Papachristopoulou, Kyriakoula; Georgiou, Thanasis; Chatoutsidou, Sofia Eirini; Lazaridis, Mihalis; Gkikas, Antonis; Fountoulakis, Ilias; Tsikoudi, Ioanna; Petrakis, Manolis P.; Amiridis, Vassilis

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-14777-2025

Articles | Volume 25, issue 21

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-14777-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Special issue:

Sun-photometric measurements of aerosols: harmonization, comparisons,...

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-14777-2025

© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 25, issue 21

Research article

|

05 Nov 2025

Research article |

| 05 Nov 2025

Atmospheric dust and air quality over large-cities and megacities of the world

Emmanouil Proestakis, Kyriakoula Papachristopoulou, Thanasis Georgiou, Sofia Eirini Chatoutsidou, Mihalis Lazaridis, Antonis Gkikas, Ilias Fountoulakis, Ioanna Tsikoudi, Manolis P. Petrakis, and Vassilis Amiridis

Data sets

A four-dimensional, multiyear, and near-global climate data record of the fine-mode (sub-micrometer in terms of diameter) and coarse-mode (super-micrometer in terms of diameter) components of atmospheric pure-dust E. Proestakis https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10389741

Short summary

Based on Earth observations of dust the study addresses the questions: To what extent have the fine and coarse modes of atmospheric dust within the planetary boundary layer (PBL) changed over major cities worldwide? Which areas experience fine-mode and coarse-mode dust mass concentrations within the PBL that exceed World Health Organization air quality guidelines, and which areas are projected to exceed these guidelines in the near future? Can we quantify associated impacts on human health?