Middle East North Africa Research Articles

Climate change impacts on pistachio cultivation areas in Iran: a simulation analysis based on CORDEX-MENA multi-model ensembles

Climate and especially air temperature have a direct and high impact on nut trees in arid regions. In this regard, the use of multi-model ensemble projections as more reliable models is important. In this study, based on multi-model ensembles (MME) from the coordinated regional climate downscaling experiment Middle East North Africa (CORDEX-MENA), the air temperature in RCP8.5 and RCP4.5 pathways in pistachio cultivation areas in Iran was projected. The period 1980 to 2017 was identified as the reference period. Due to the sensitivity of climate change and the existing uncertainties, the hourly temperatures based on the models of chilling hours (CH) and chilling portions (CP) were also used for the reference period. The results of CORDEX simulations for pistachio cultivation areas suggest that the minimum and maximum annual air temperature (MMAT) and growing season temperature (GST) at the end of the current century compared to 1980–2017 as the reference period will increase significantly to 4 °C. The downward trend of winter chill accumulation during the cold season based on observational data will confirm the increase in air temperature in pistachio cultivation areas in Iran. In the output simulation of CORDEX project, the date of flowering pistachio tree for late-maturing varieties by 2080 under representative concentration pathway (RCPs) RCP8.5 and RCP4.5 will occur 16 days and 6 days sooner, respectively. The amount of heat accumulation or growing degree days (GDD) in the future in pistachio cultivation areas will be increased, and deviation from the historical period, based on RCP8.5 and RCP4.5 on average, will occur 3200 and 2600 GDD, respectively.

Multifractal Analysis of the Foreign Exchange Markets Application to MENA Countries

The present study focus on the multifractal analysis of the exchange rate for Middle East North Africa (MENA) region from January 1999 to May 2017. The purpose of this paper is to examine the behavior of currency markets and to verify the efficiency hypothesis of FOREX market for these countries. We first estimate the scaling function to detect the multifractal character of each series and then the Hölder exponent, using the Generalized Quadratic Variation (GQV) method, as a function of time H(t). We conclude that there's a multifractal character for all these countries with a difference in the degree of persistence of each market.

National approaches to managing cancer care: responses of countries in the MENA region to the COVID-19 pandemic.

BackgroundThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic presents serious challenges to cancer care because of the associated risks from the infection itself and the disruption of care delivery. Therefore, many professional societies have published recommendations to help manage patients with cancer during the current pandemic. The objective of our study is to assess the national responses of Middle East North Africa (MENA) countries in terms of publishing relevant guidelines and analyse various components of these guidelines.MethodsA survey based on the preliminary review of the literature regarding cancer care adaptations has been developed and then completed by a group of oncologists from the following Arab countries affected by the pandemic: Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. The survey inquired about COVID-19 cases, national recommendations regarding general measures of COVID-19 prevention and patient care in oncology as well as their implementation about cancer care adaptations during the pandemic.ResultsAnalysis of the COVID-19 pandemic-related guidelines revealed at least 30 specific recommendations that we categorised into seven essential components. All included countries had national guidelines except one country. Estimated full compliances with all specific category recommendations ranged from 30% to 69% and partial compliance ranged from 23% to 61%.ConclusionThere is a very good response and preparedness in the Arab Middle East and North Africa region surveyed. However, there are inconsistencies in the various components of the guidelines across the region, which reflects the evolving status of the pandemic in each country as well as the lack of clear evidence-based guidelines for many of the issues in question. There is a need for a clear framework on essential components that should be included in these guidelines to assure providing the best guidance to the oncology community.

Revisiting the natural resource curse: A cross-country growth study

This paper revisits the original natural resource curse study conducted by Sachs and Warner to investigate the relationship between natural resource dependence and per capita growth in recent data consisting of 68 developing countries that includes 14 Middle East & North Africa (MENA) and 6 Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC) countries between 1994–2014. Using a cross-country data and modeling we find robust evidence of a negative association between per capita growth and natural resource dependence. This negative affect is especially prominent in oil-rich MENA countries. The presence of a natural resource curse presents challenges to policymakers especially in countries who have been taking measures to diversify their income-base.

PNS34 Towards a Healthcare Cost Catalogue for Middle EAST and North Africa: A Systematic Review of Costs Reported in Health Economic Publications from the GULF Region 1995-2019

To review costs of illness and unit costs that health economic papers published from the Gulf region, as part of aproject systematically reviewing health economic research in 17 countries from the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region. PRISMA guidelines were followed. A Pubmed search was conducted up to 15th December 2019. English language full-text articles of original research on humans were included if the local population from Bahrain, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was involved and unit- or composite costs items for 1995-2019 were reported. Eligible studies from previous systematic reviews from MENA were also included. All data were extracted in a multi-stage peer-review process involving two researchers. From 1646 citations of full-text English articles and 3 systematic reviews, we identified 185 eligible papers reporting costs from MENA. Out of those, 96 (51.9%) papers involved the Gulf region, primarily KSA (n=53, 55.2%), Oman (n=16, 16.7 %) and UAE (n=9, 9.4%). Altogether 1275 cost items were reported, and 6.3 % of the papers were multi-country studies. The costing year was 2015-2019 for 39.4 % of the cost items. Most costs were reported in endocrine and metabolic- (n=271, 21.3 %), followed by digestive- (n=116, 9.1 %) and respiratory diseases (n=109, 8.5 %). From all cost items 86.0%, 4.8%, 3.2% and 6.0% were direct healthcare-, direct non-healthcare-, indirect- and total costs, respectively. The source was primary research for 70.4% of the costs, secondary local data for 6.9%, secondary foreign data for 4.9%, modelling for 5.5%, and assumption, estimation or other methods for 12.2%. Gulf region is leading in healthcare-cost publications in MENA. The focus is mainly on direct healthcare costs and there is shortage of data in important medical fields. A cost-catalogue could facilitate health economic research in the MENA region.

PNS38 Towards a Healthcare Cost Catalogue for Middle EAST and North Africa: A Systematic Review of Costs Reported in Health Economic Publications from Jordan, Lebanon Palestine and Syria 1995-2019

To review the costs of illness and unit costs published in health economic papers from Jordan, Lebanon Palestine and Syria, as part of a project systematically reviewing health economic research in 17 countries from the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region. PRISMA guidelines were followed. A Pubmed search was conducted up to 15th December 2019. English language full-text articles of original research on humans were included if the local population from Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine or Syria was involved and unit- or composite costs items for 1995-2019 were reported. Eligible studies from previous systematic reviews from MENA were also included. All data were extracted in a multi-stage peer-review process involving two researchers. From 1646 citations of full-text English articles and 3 systematic reviews, we identified 185 eligible papers reporting costs from MENA. Out of those, 20 (10.8%) reported costs primarily from Jordan (n=12, 60%), followed by Palestine (n=4, 20%) and Syria (n=2, 10%). Two papers (10%) were multi-country studies, including also Lebanon. Altogether 45% of the papers reported health outcomes, and 670 cost items were reported from the four countries. The costing year was 2015-2019 for 37.5% of the cost items. Most costs were reported for coronary heart disease (n=64, 9.6%), followed by colorectal cancer (n=38, 5.7%) and Hepatitis-A infection (n=26, 3.9%). From all cost items 66.0%, 7.6%, 1.0%, and 25.4% were direct healthcare-, direct non-healthcare-, indirect-, and total-costs, respectively. The source was primary research for 89.7% of the costs, secondary local data for 1.6%, secondary foreign data for 0.8%, modelling for 5.2%, and assumption for 2.7%. There is a scarcity of healthcare costs data in the four countries and mainly direct healthcare costs were reported. Multi-country studies allowing inter-country comparisons and transferability analyses in the region are encouraged to speed up the availability of input data for health economic research.

Performance of Land Surface Schemes in the WRF Model for Climate Simulations over the MENA-CORDEX Domain

Land–atmosphere interactions need to be optimally represented in climate models for the realistic representation of past and future climate. In this work, six different versions of land surface schemes (LSS) are used to simulate the climate over the Middle East–North Africa (MENA) region for the period 2000–2010 with a horizontal resolution of 0.44°, using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. The monthly time series output is evaluated against observations for several surface climate variables using statistical metrics (climatology, 5th and 95th percentiles, standard deviation, linear trend) and Taylor diagrams. The resulting biases are presented for the whole MENA domain as well as 7 sub-domains. A ranking procedure objectively retrieves a performance spectrum among the schemes. The LSS that is closest to observations and is, therefore, considered as the best performing is Noah, followed by its augmented version (NoahMP). For these simulations at the relatively coarse horizontal resolution of 50 km, the more elaborate LSSs are not performing very well. These results are useful for the choice of LSS in climate change modelling of the MENA-CORDEX as a whole, as well as its sub-regions.

Father Involvement and Education in the GCC

This policy brief builds on a larger father involvement study that encompasses 10 countries in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region to identify some of the key challenges of father involvement in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Using mixed methods with a modified Fatherhood Scale survey and life history interviews, the study found notable differences in father involvement in education across geographic, gender, and generational factors. Overall, fathers in GCC countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates) tend to be perceived as more encouraging of their children’s education, especially for their daughters, but are less engaged in the types of quality involvement that are key to educational achievement. Based on the findings of this study, this policy brief highlights some of the key challenges of GCC fathers’ involvement. We conclude by offering recommendations to create and support an education environment in the GCC that values quality father involvement.

Father Involvement and Education in the GCC

This policy brief builds on a larger father involvement study that encompasses 10 countries in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region to identify some of the key challenges of father involvement in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Using mixed methods with a modified Fatherhood Scale survey and life history interviews, the study found notable differences in father involvement in education across geographic, gender, and generational factors. Overall, fathers in GCC countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates) tend to be perceived as more encouraging of their children’s education, especially for their daughters, but are less engaged in the types of quality involvement that are key to educational achievement. Based on the findings of this study, this policy brief highlights some of the key challenges of GCC fathers’ involvement. We conclude by offering recommendations to create and support an education environment in the GCC that values quality father involvement.

The impact of different aerosol properties and types on direct aerosol radiative forcing and efficiency using AERONET version 3

In this study, the results from a classification method are used to determine how aerosol type influence the radiative balance of the Earth's climate. Quality-assured data from the AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET) Level 2.0 (L2) Version 3 (V3) inversion product are used during the 2008–2017 period. The study includes the Arabian Peninsula (AP), Atlantic (AT), Middle East North Africa (MENA), South Europe (SE) and Central and East Europe (CEE). The impacts of Solar Zenith Angle (SZA), Surface Albedo (SA), Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) and Single Scattering Albedo (SSA) on Direct Aerosol Radiative Forcing (DARF) and Efficiency (DARFeff) at the bottom and top of atmosphere (BOA, TOA) are investigated. Fine slightly absorbing particles show the highest positive gradient of DARFeffBOA with SA and the highest negative gradient of DARFefTOA with SZA. The mixed absorbing particles provide the highest alteration for DARF at the BOA with the increase of AOD. The analysis of aerosols absorptivity is performed by dividing SSA into six-subgroups. Coarse absorbing particles provide the highest (in magnitude) DARFeff values at the TOA under absorbing aerosol conditions (SSA < 0.89), whereas similar behavior is revealed by the fine absorbing particles for DARFeff values at the BOA. Furthermore, we analyze the long-term averages of RF metrics for all aerosol types among the regions of our study. At the TOA, fine non-absorbing particles show the highest absolute values for DARFeff (from −75 W m−2 to −79 W m−2) and DARF (from −38 W m−2 to −48 W m−2). At the BOA, coarse and mixed absorbing clusters indicate the highest absolute values for DARF (from −66 W m−2 to −79 W m−2) and DARFeff (from −135 W m−2 to −149 W m−2), respectively. The presented results could be used for the validation and improvement of the performance of remote sensing algorithms and models that assess the aerosol effect in radiative balance.

Future Holiday Climate Index (HCI) Performance of Urban and Beach Destinations in the Mediterranean

Tourism is a major socioeconomic contributor to established and emerging destinations in the Mediterranean region. Recent studies introducing the Holiday Climate Index (HCI) highlight the significance of climate as a factor in sustaining the competitiveness of coastal and urban destinations. The aim of this study is to assess the future HCI performance of urban and beach destinations in the greater Mediterranean region. For this purpose, HCI scores for the reference (1971–2000) and future (2021–2050, 2070–2099) periods were computed with the use of two latest greenhouse gas concentration trajectories, RCP 4.5 and 8.5, based on the Middle East North Africa (MENA) Coordinated Regional Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX) domain and data. The outputs were adjusted to a 500 m resolution via the use of lapse rate corrections that extrapolate the climate model topography against a resampled digital elevation model. All periodic results were seasonally aggregated and visualized on a (web) geographical information system (GIS). The web version of the GIS also allowed for a basic climate service where any user can search her/his place of interest overlaid with index ratings. Exposure levels are revealed at the macro scale while sensitivity is discussed through a validation of the climatic outputs against visitation data for one of Mediterranean’s leading destinations, Antalya.

MENA-SINO Consensus Statement on Implementing Care Pathways for Acute Neurovascular Emergencies During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

In the unprecedented current era of the COVID-19 pandemic, challenges have arisen in the management and interventional care of patients with acute stroke and large vessel occlusion, aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage, and ruptured vascular malformations. There are several challenges facing endovascular therapy for stroke, including shortages of medical staff who may be deployed for COVID-19 coverage or who may have contracted the infection and are thus quarantined, patients avoiding early medical care, a lack of personal protective equipment, delays in door-to-puncture time, anesthesia challenges, and a lack of high-intensity intensive care unit and stroke ward beds. As a leading regional neurovascular organization, the Middle East North Africa Stroke and Interventional Neurotherapies Organization (MENA-SINO) has established a task force composed of medical staff and physicians from different disciplines to establish guiding recommendations for the implementation of acute care pathways for various neurovascular emergencies during the current COVID-19 pandemic. This consensus recommendation was achieved through a series of meetings to finalize the recommendation.

Career calling: women STEM graduates in the United Arab Emirates

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate career choices by female graduates from science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) to determine factors that influenced their entry, abandonment or persistence of STEM careers.Design/methodology/approachLife history narratives were collected from a sample group of employed citizens and expatriate women (all STEM graduates) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Content of interview transcripts was analyzed for emergent themes of influence on these participants career decisions.FindingsFour significant themes of calling were found: gift of intellect, belief in a faith, shared community and meaning of work. A typology of calling was constructed to reflect these themes influences on the entry, abandonment or persistence of women in a STEM career.Research limitations/implicationsThe results of this study were from a small sample of women in a particular country. The implication is to extend this study to a larger number of participants and to other countries to generalize the results.Practical implicationsInsight into career decisions of female STEM graduates impacts on employee recruitment and retention policies within those professions.Originality/valueResearch originality is evident, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, as this is the first study to explore the influence of calling for careers of STEM women working in the Middle East North Africa region.

Updated Assessment of Temperature Extremes over the Middle East–North Africa (MENA) Region from Observational and CMIP5 Data

The objective of this analysis is to provide an up-to-date observation-based assessment of the evolution of temperature extremes in the Middle East–North Africa (MENA) region and evaluate the performance of global climate model simulations of the past four decades. A list of indices of temperature extremes, based on absolute level, threshold, percentile and duration is used, as defined by the Expert Team on Climate Change Detection and Indices (ETCCDI). We use daily near-surface air temperature (Tmax and Tmin) to derive the indices of extremes for the period 1980–2018 from: (i) re-analyses (ERA-Interim, MERRA-2) and gridded observational data (Berkeley Earth) and (ii) 18 CMIP5 model results combining historical (1950–2005) and scenario runs (2006–2018 under RCP 2.6, RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5). The CMIP5 results show domain-wide strong, statistically significant warming, while the observation based ones are more spatially variable. The CMIP5 models capture the climatology of the hottest areas in the western parts of northern Africa and the Gulf region with the thewarmest day (TXx) &gt; 46 °C and warmest night (TNx) &gt; 33 °C. For these indices, the observed trends are about 0.3–0.4 °C/decade while they are 0.1–0.2 °C/decade stronger in the CMIP5 results. Overall, the modeled climate warming up to 2018, as reflected in the indices of temperature extremes is confirmed by re-analysis and observational data.

Emerging Technologies to Enable Sustainable Controlled Environment Agriculture in the Extreme Environments of Middle East-North Africa Coastal Regions.

Despite global shifts in attitudes toward sustainability and increasing awareness of human impact on the environment, projected population growth and climate change require technological adaptations to ensure food and resource security at a global scale. Although desert areas have long been proposed as ideal sites for solar electricity generation, only recently have efforts shifted toward development of specialized and regionally focused agriculture in these extreme environments. In coastal regions of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), the most abundant resources are consistent intense sunlight and saline sea water. MENA coastal regions hold incredible untapped potential for agriculture driven by the combination of key emerging technologies in future greenhouse concepts: transparent infrared collecting solar panels and low energy salt water cooling. These technologies can be combined to create greenhouses that drive regionally relevant agriculture in this extreme environment, especially when the target crops are salt-tolerant plants and algal biomass. Future controlled environment agriculture concepts will not compete for municipal fresh water and can be readily integrated into local human/livestock/fisheries food chains. With strategic technological implementation, marginal lands in these environments could participate in production of biomass, sustainable energy generation, and the circular carbon economy. The goal of this perspective is to reframe the idea of these environments as extreme, to having incredible untapped development potential.

Estimation of global horizontal irradiance using satellite-derived data across Middle East-North Africa: The role of aerosol optical properties and site-adaptation methodologies

Middle East – North Africa (MENA) region is characterized by increasing energy demand combined with high energy costs and short reserves of fossil fuels. Hence, the knowledge of the spatial and temporal variability of Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI) is necessary for assessing the efficiency of alternative energy sources. In this study, satellite retrievals from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS, versions 6 and 6.1) and radiative transfer model simulations are used to evaluate the effect of aerosol optical properties on GHI under cloud-free conditions in the MENA region. The modeled GHI is validated against ground-based measurements at six MENA sites. Due to induced uncertainties in modeled GHIs, two site-adaptation methodologies (Empirical Quantile Mapping-EQM and Linear Least Squares-LIN) are further evaluated to diminish the systematic and dispersion errors. EQM is revealed to be more efficient, causing a significant correction to the statistical distribution of the modeled GHI. For almost all sites, modeled GHI values present the best statistical results when MODIS version 6.1 is used.

What Role Will LNG Play in Balancing Gas Demand in the MENA Region?

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Judy Feder, contains highlights of paper SPE 198054, “The Global LNG Price Trend and the Role of LNG in Balancing the Gas Demand in MENA Region,” by Mohamed El Shahati, Haidar Khadadeh, and Fajer Al-Aradah, Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company, prepared for the 2019 SPE Kuwait Oil and Gas Conference and Show, Mishref, Kuwait, 13–16 October. This paper has not been peer reviewed. The complete paper analyzes the role of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in balancing the natural gas demand in the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) region. Natural gas increasingly is becoming a main energy source in the region. Contrary to widely held belief, several countries in MENA could fall into deficit regarding their self-supply of gas, leading to the need to import. The options of supply are through pipeline networks, or LNG. The global LNG pricing mechanism is changing toward flexible market-related methods that might encourage some countries to switch to LNG supplies. The study presented in this paper estimates the future demand of natural gas by country using multivariate regression and then compares it with the availability of gas as estimated by the Gas Exporting Countries Forum. The deficit is derived for each country, and the study indicates how the deficit could be filled through pipeline or LNG. Introduction The MENA area has lagged behind the global energy market during the last three decades in switching from oil and coal to natural gas consumption, despite the huge reserves it owns. During the 1980s, many industrial and financial centers in western Europe attracted gas importation from gas-producing regions such as Russia because of the wide difference between domestic and international values. The oil/gas price spread during the period 1980–2005 did not provide a strong economic incentive to MENA oil producers to substantially switch from oil- to gas-based power generation. Since 2005, oil prices have decoupled from gas prices and registered a wide positive spread, which has exaggerated the loss to oil producers from continued dependence on oil for power generation. LNG Potential in the MENA Region Non-oil MENA oil producers or small oil producers have attempted to minimize oil consumption, particularly in power generation, by switching to gas or even coal. However, this process has been hindered by economic difficulties and financing problems. Limited attempts to import LNG to balance energy needs have been carried out in the region. One possible reason for this is the inability to finance investment requirements for LNG receiving and gas-distributing facilities. While it is tempting to assume that MENA could be a semi-self-contained pipeline-supplied region, many obstacles hinder that realization. The gravity of the European and Asian markets for gas producers is a main reason for gas producers overlapping small consumers in the region by focusing on LNG trading schemes. Also, the political conflicts between neighboring nations complicate establishing an international gas pipeline network to cover the region. The planned economic growth for the region, even considering energy conservation, will require additional energy sources. The economical path forward will require switching to natural gas and possibly renewable energy sources. On average, the MENA region needs an annual economic growth of 5% considering population growth trends.

Governing renewable energy transition in conflict contexts: investigating the institutional context in Palestine

In response to pressures imposed on the energy sector, several countries in the Middle East-North Africa (MENA) region have committed to increasing the percentage of renewable energy to reach 15–50% of the energy supply by 2030. New governance models are required to conceptualise and guide the energy transition into a more sustainable direction. Therefore, this paper employed the transition management governance framework to answer the questions of who is governing the renewable energy transition in Palestine, and in what ways it is achieved. The analysis is based on three levels: strategic (problem structuring and envisioning), tactical (coalition building, developing transition agenda), and operational (mobilising actors and implementing experiments). Accordingly, key energy-related institutions are examined in terms of their visions, capacities and scope of influence using semi-structured interviews, roundtable discussions, and a survey. The conducted policy analysis suggests that the Palestinian energy sector started experiencing profound changes that affected all actors who had to adapt or transform to remain active, in addition to the rise of various multi-level actors. The analysis also shows that actors are more connected compared to the conventional energy system. Findings suggest that the spread of renewable technologies was not the outcome of only top–down schemes; instead, it is achieved throughout the collaboration of multi-level institutions and increasing reliance on horizontal-based governance networks. The paper uses examples to imply that it is possible to overcome the agglomeration of restrictions imposed on the Palestinian energy sector due to conflict if established regimes support governance networks and local-level initiatives.

Introducing and Expanding Newborn Screening in the MENA Region.

This special edition of the International Journal of Neonatal Screening includes the presentations of the fourth Meeting of the Middle East North Africa (MENA) Region of the International Society for Neonatal Screening (ISNS) held in Limassol, Cyprus, March 8–11, 2020 [...]

Aerosol classification in Europe, Middle East, North Africa and Arabian Peninsula based on AERONET Version 3

Abstract The aerosol optical properties from Version 3 (V3) of AERONET are used to classify the aerosol types in Europe, Middle East/North Africa (MENA) and Arabian Peninsula, during 2008–2017. Quality-assured data of Single Scattering Albedo (SSA), Fine Mode Fraction (FMF) and Angstrom Exponent (AE) from 39 stations are used to classify the aerosol types, based on threshold limits of these optical properties. The aerosol type depends on the location and the sources of each region of study; for example, in Atlantic, Arabian Peninsula and MENA, the dominant aerosol type is coarse absorbing due to dust from Sahara and Arabian deserts. However, in Arabian Peninsula, fine particles are also observed in autumn and winter. In addition, the lower percentages of coarse absorbing particles across MENA are observed in the East because of increased fine particle emissions from human activities. In the stations of the Group A of South Europe, a bimodal size distribution is revealed and the dominant aerosol types are the fine-slightly absorbing and non-absorbing, followed by coarse absorbing due to Sahara dust outbreaks. In the stations of the Group B of South Europe, fine slightly absorbing and non-absorbing particles are primarily observed since the stations are located in urban/industrial regions. In Central and East Europe, the prevailing aerosol type is fine-non absorbing which is followed by the fine slightly absorbing aerosols from urban/industrial sites. The results of the aerosol type characterization are presumed to give a better assessment of regional climate and local air pollution. The proposed method could be used to compare aerosol classification results from satellite and chemical transport models, as well as for the validation of satellite data and the improved performance of models and remote sensing algorithms in the future.