Effect of Sea Salt AOT on Precipitation Processes Associated with Red Sea Moisture Flux on Iraq, a Case Study

Abstract

Sea salt acquires importance in the process of precipitation formation through its hygroscopic nature. and its role in accelerating the droplet formation process within a moisture saturation less than if it was not present. In this work, the maps of precipitation distribution with sea salt aerosol optical thickness (AOT) as well as moisture flux and wind at an altitude of 50 meters were compared. The data of Three rainy cases, characterized by heavy rains and moisture feeding from the Red Sea were selected. They are respectively 13 to 15 November 2018, 1 December 2018, and 27 to 29 January 2019. Cloud top temperature (CTT) data were obtained from Meteosat satellites (Meteosat 9, and 10). Total Precipitable water (TPW) and sea salt (AOT) were obtained from Model projects: a modern-era retrospective analysis for research and applications 2 (MERRA-2). the correlation coefficient (R) was used to test the relation between the variables like Total Precipitable water (TPW), Cloud top temperature (CTT), precipitation, and Sea Salt AOT. The results showed that there is a good correlation between the sea salt AOT and the amount of precipitation. The work also showed the roles that other variables play in the precipitation process. Where the relationships showed values of correlation coefficients about 0,6 to 0,7 between the variables, leading to the enhancement of precipitation.