The Role of the Black Sea on the Long-Range Transport from Southeastern Europe Towards Middle East During Summer

The Black Sea is closed from all sides by land and communicates with the Aegean Sea and Mediterranean through the Vosporous strait (Fig. 1). It is surrounded by land with elevation varying from a few meters to a few kilometers. The most important orographic features are located at the eastern and south-eastern sides. More specifically, there is the Caucasus Peninsula in the East and the Pontine Mountains across the northern Turkish coast. Towards west, there is the opening of the Danube Valley with the Carpathian mountains to the North of it and the Balkan Peninsula to the South in a considerable distance from the coast. The northern part is adjacent to almost flat land with relatively complicated coastline. At a larger distance, the Balkan and Asia Minor Peninsulas together with the Aegean Sea between them and the Mediterranean Region in general are forming a unique pattern for the development of atmospheric circulations of a wide spectrum ranging from the synoptic to meso-gamma scale with significant implications to the air quality of the region.