ALBERT

Description: For the first time, continuous, vertically resolved long-term aerosol measurements were conducted with a state-of-the-art multiwavelength lidar over a Central Asian site. Such observations are urgently required in efforts to predict future climate and environmental conditions and to support spaceborne remote sensing (ground truth activities). The lidar observations were performed in the framework of the Central Asian Dust Experiment (CADEX) at Dushanbe, Tajikistan, from March 2015 to August 2016. An AERONET (AErosol RObotic NETwork) sun photometer was operated at the lidar field site. During the 18-month campaign, mixtures of continental aerosol pollution and mineral dust were frequently detected from ground to cirrus height level. Regional sources of dust and pollution as well as long-range transport of mineral dust mainly from Middle Eastern and the Saharan deserts determine the aerosol conditions over Tajikistan. In this study, we summarize our findings and present seasonally resolved statistics regarding aerosol layering (main aerosol layer depth, lofted layer occurrence); optical properties (aerosol and dust optical thicknesses at 500–532 nm, vertically resolved light-extinction coefficient at 532 nm); profiles of dust and non-dust mass concentrations and dust fraction; and profiles of particle parameters relevant for liquid water, mixed-phase cloud, and cirrus formation such as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and ice-nucleating particle (INP) concentrations. The main aerosol layer over Dushanbe typically reaches 4–5 km height in spring to autumn. Frequently lofted dust-containing aerosol layers were observed at heights from 5 to 10 km, indicating a sensitive potential of dust to influence cloud ice formation. Typical dust mass fractions were of the order of 60 %–80 %. A considerable fraction is thus anthropogenic pollution and biomass burning smoke. The highest aerosol pollution levels (in the relatively shallow winter boundary layer) occur during the winter months. The seasonal mean 500 nm AOT (aerosol optical thickness) ranges from 0.15 in winter to 0.36 in summer during the CADEX period (March 2015 to August 2016); DOTs (dust optical thicknesses) were usually below 0.2; seasonally mean particle extinction coefficients were of the order of 100–500 Mm−1 in the main aerosol layer during the summer half year and about 100–150 Mm−1 in winter but were mainly caused by anthropogenic haze. Accordingly, the highest dust mass concentrations occurred in the summer season (200–600 µg m−3) and the lowest during the winter months (20–50 µg m−3) in the main aerosol layer. In winter, the aerosol pollution mass concentrations were 20–50 µg m−3, while during the summer half year (spring to autumn), the mass concentration caused by urban haze and biomass burning smoke decreases to 10–20 µg m−3 in the lower troposphere. The CCN concentration levels are always controlled by aerosol pollution. The INP concentrations were found to be high enough in the middle and upper troposphere to significantly influence ice formation in mixed-phase and ice clouds during spring and summer seasons.

Description: For the first time, a dense data set of particle extinction-to-backscatter ratios (lidar ratios), linear depolarization ratios, and backscatter- and extinction-related Ångström exponents for a Central Asian site are presented. The observations were performed with a continuously running multiwavelength polarization Raman lidar at Dushanbe, Tajikistan, during an 18-month campaign (March 2015 to August 2016). The presented seasonally resolved observations fill an important gap in the database of aerosol optical properties used in aerosol typing efforts with spaceborne lidars and ground-based lidar networks. Lidar ratios and depolarization ratios are also basic input parameters in spaceborne lidar data analyses and in efforts to harmonize long-term observations with different space lidar systems operated at either 355 or 532 nm. As a general result, the found optical properties reflect the large range of occurring aerosol mixtures consisting of long-range-transported dust (from the Middle East and the Sahara), regional desert, soil, and salt dust, and anthropogenic pollution. The full range from highly polluted to pure dust situations could be observed. Typical dust depolarization ratios of 0.23–0.29 (355 nm) and 0.30–0.35 (532 nm) were observed. In contrast, comparably low lidar ratios were found. Dust lidar ratios at 532 nm accumulated around 35–40 sr and were even lower for regional background dust conditions (20–30 sr). Detailed correlation studies (e.g., lidar ratio vs. depolarization ratios, Ångström exponent vs. lidar ratio and vs. depolarization ratio) are presented to illuminate the complex relationships between the observed optical properties and to identify the contributions of anthropogenic haze, dust, and background aerosol to the overall aerosol mixtures found within the 18-month campaign. The observation of 532 nm lidar ratios (

Description: Six months of stratospheric aerosol observations with the European Aerosol Research Lidar Network (EARLINET) from August 2017 to January 2018 are presented. The decay phase of an unprecedented, record-breaking stratospheric perturbation caused by wildfire smoke is reported and discussed in terms of geometrical, optical, and microphysical aerosol properties. Enormous amounts of smoke were injected into the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere over fire areas in western Canada on 12 August 2017 during strong thunderstorm–pyrocumulonimbus activity. The stratospheric fire plumes spread over the entire Northern Hemisphere in the following weeks and months. Twenty-eight European lidar stations from northern Norway to southern Portugal and the eastern Mediterranean monitored the strong stratospheric perturbation on a continental scale. The main smoke layer (over central, western, southern, and eastern Europe) was found at heights between 15 and 20 km since September 2017 (about 2 weeks after entering the stratosphere). Thin layers of smoke were detected at heights of up to 22–23 km. The stratospheric aerosol optical thickness at 532 nm decreased from values 〉 0.25 on 21–23 August 2017 to 0.005–0.03 until 5–10 September and was mainly 0.003–0.004 from October to December 2017 and thus was still significantly above the stratospheric background (0.001–0.002). Stratospheric particle extinction coefficients (532 nm) were as high as 50–200 Mm−1 until the beginning of September and on the order of 1 Mm−1 (0.5–5 Mm−1) from October 2017 until the end of January 2018. The corresponding layer mean particle mass concentration was on the order of 0.05–0.5 µg m−3 over these months. Soot particles (light-absorbing carbonaceous particles) are efficient ice-nucleating particles (INPs) at upper tropospheric (cirrus) temperatures and available to influence cirrus formation when entering the tropopause from above. We estimated INP concentrations of 50–500 L−1 until the first days in September and afterwards 5–50 L−1 until the end of the year 2017 in the lower stratosphere for typical cirrus formation temperatures of −55 ∘C and an ice supersaturation level of 1.15. The measured profiles of the particle linear depolarization ratio indicated a predominance of nonspherical smoke particles. The 532 nm depolarization ratio decreased slowly with time in the main smoke layer from values of 0.15–0.25 (August–September) to values of 0.05–0.10 (October–November) and

Description: We present spectrally resolved optical and microphysical properties of western Canadian wildfire smoke observed in a tropospheric layer from 5–6.5 km height and in a stratospheric layer from 15–16 km height during a record-breaking smoke event on 22 August 2017. Three polarization/Raman lidars were run at the European Aerosol Research Lidar Network (EARLINET) station of Leipzig, Germany, after sunset on 22 August. For the first time, the linear depolarization ratio and extinction-to-backscatter ratio (lidar ratio) of aged smoke particles were measured at all three important lidar wavelengths of 355, 532, and 1064 nm. Very different particle depolarization ratios were found in the troposphere and in the stratosphere. The obviously compact and spherical tropospheric smoke particles caused almost no depolarization of backscattered laser radiation at all three wavelengths (500 nm). The stratospheric smoke particles formed a pronounced accumulation mode (in terms of particle volume or mass) centered at a particle radius of 350–400 nm. The effective particle radius was 0.32 µm. The tropospheric smoke particles were much smaller (effective radius of 0.17 µm). Mass concentrations were of the order of 5.5 µg m−3 (tropospheric layer) and 40 µg m−3 (stratospheric layer) in the night of 22 August 2017. The single scattering albedo of the stratospheric particles was estimated to be 0.74, 0.8, and 0.83 at 355, 532, and 1064 nm, respectively.

Description: A dataset of particle optical properties of the highly polluted atmosphere over the Pearl River Delta (PRD), Guangzhou, China, is presented in this paper. The data were derived from the measurements of a multi-wavelength Raman and depolarization lidar PollyXT and a co-located AERONET sun photometer. The measurement campaign was conducted from November 2011 to mid-June 2012. These are the first Raman lidar measurements in the PRD that lasted for several months. A mean value of aerosol optical depth (AOD) of 0.54 ± 0.33 was observed by the sun photometer at 500 nm in the polluted atmosphere over this megacity for the whole measurement period. The lidar profiles frequently show lofted aerosol layers, which reach altitudes of up to 2 to 3 km and, especially during the spring season, up to 5 km. These layers contain between 12 and 56 % of the total AOD, with the highest values in spring. The aerosol types in these lofted layers are classified by their optical properties. The observed lidar ratio values range from 30 to 80 sr with a mean value of 48.0 ± 10.7 sr at 532 nm. The linear particle depolarization ratio at 532 nm lies mostly below 5 %, with a mean value of 3.6 ± 3.7 %. The majority of the Ångström exponents lie between 0.5 and 1.5, indicating a mixture of fine- and coarse-mode aerosols. These results reveal that mostly urban pollution particles mixed with particles produced from biomass and industrial burning are present in the atmosphere above the Pearl River Delta. Trajectory analyses show that these pollution mixtures arise mainly from local and regional sources.

Description: We present a practical method to continuously calibrate Raman lidar observations of water vapor mixing ratio profiles. The water vapor profile measured with the multiwavelength polarization Raman lidar PollyXT is calibrated by means of co-located AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET) sun photometer observations and Global Data Assimilation System (GDAS) temperature and pressure profiles. This method is applied to lidar observations conducted during the Cyprus Cloud Aerosol and Rain Experiment (CyCARE) in Limassol, Cyprus. We use the GDAS temperature and pressure profiles to retrieve the water vapor density. In the next step, the precipitable water vapor from the lidar observations is used for the calibration of the lidar measurements with the sun photometer measurements. The retrieved calibrated water vapor mixing ratio from the lidar measurements has a relative uncertainty of 11 % in which the error is mainly caused by the error of the sun photometer measurements. During CyCARE, nine measurement cases with cloud-free and stable meteorological conditions are selected to calculate the precipitable water vapor from the lidar and the sun photometer observations. The ratio of these two precipitable water vapor values yields the water vapor calibration constant. The calibration constant for the PollyXT Raman lidar is 6.56 g kg−1 ± 0.72 g kg−1 (with a statistical uncertainty of 0.08 g kg−1 and an instrumental uncertainty of 0.72 g kg−1). To check the quality of the water vapor calibration, the water vapor mixing ratio profiles from the simultaneous nighttime observations with Raman lidar and Vaisala radiosonde sounding are compared. The correlation of the water vapor mixing ratios from these two instruments is determined by using all of the 19 simultaneous nighttime measurements during CyCARE. Excellent agreement with the slope of 1.01 and the R2 of 0.99 is found. One example is presented to demonstrate the full potential of a well-calibrated Raman lidar. The relative humidity profiles from lidar, GDAS (simulation) and radiosonde are compared, too. It is found that the combination of water vapor mixing ratio and GDAS temperature profiles allow us to derive relative humidity profiles with the relative uncertainty of 10–20 %.

Description: Triple-wavelength polarization lidar measurements in Saharan dust layers were performed at Barbados (13.1° N, 59.6° W), 5000–8000 km west of the Saharan dust sources, in the framework of the Saharan Aerosol Long-range Transport and Aerosol-Cloud-Interaction Experiment (SALTRACE-1, June–July 2013, SALTRACE-3, June–July 2014). Three case studies are discussed. High quality was achieved by comparing the dust linear depolarization ratio profiles measured at 355, 532, and 1064 nm with respective dual-wavelength (355, 532 nm) depolarization ratio profiles measured with a reference lidar. A unique case of long-range transported dust over more than 12 000 km is presented. Saharan dust plumes crossing Barbados were measured with an airborne triple-wavelength polarization lidar over Missouri in the midwestern United States 7 days later. Similar dust optical properties and depolarization features were observed over both sites indicating almost unchanged dust properties within this 1 week of travel from the Caribbean to the United States. The main results of the triple-wavelength polarization lidar observations in the Caribbean in the summer seasons of 2013 and 2014 are summarized. On average, the particle linear depolarization ratios for aged Saharan dust were found to be 0.252 ± 0.030 at 355 nm, 0.280 ± 0.020 at 532 nm, and 0.225 ± 0.022 at 1064 nm after approximately 1 week of transport over the tropical Atlantic. Based on published simulation studies we present an attempt to explain the spectral features of the depolarization ratio of irregularly shaped mineral dust particles, and conclude that most of the irregularly shaped coarse-mode dust particles (particles with diameters 〉 1 µm) have sizes around 1.5–2 µm. The SALTRACE results are also set into the context of the SAMUM-1 (Morocco, 2006) and SAMUM-2 (Cabo Verde, 2008) depolarization ratio studies. Again, only minor changes in the dust depolarization characteristics were observed on the way from the Saharan dust sources towards the Caribbean.

Description: Triple-wavelength lidar observations of the depolarization ratio and the backscatter coefficient of marine aerosol as a function of relative humidity (RH) are presented with a 5 min time resolution. The measurements were performed at Barbados (13° N, 59° W) during the Saharan Aerosol Long-range Transport and Aerosol-Cloud interaction Experiment (SALTRACE) winter campaign in February 2014. The phase transition from spherical sea salt particles to cubic-like sea salt crystals was observed with a polarization lidar. The radiosonde and water-vapor Raman lidar observations show a drop in RH below 50 % in the marine aerosol layer simultaneously with a strong increase in particle linear depolarization ratio, which reaches values up to 0.12 ± 0.08 (at 355 nm), 0.15 ± 0.03 (at 532 nm), and 0.10 ± 0.01 (at 1064 nm). The lidar ratio (extinction-to-backscatter ratio) increased from 19 and 23 sr for spherical sea salt particles to 27 and 25 sr (at 355 and 532 nm, respectively) for cubic-like particle ensembles. Furthermore the scattering enhancement due to hygroscopic growth of the marine aerosol particles under atmospheric conditions was measured. Extinction enhancement factors from 40 to 80 % RH of 1.94 ± 0.94 at 355 nm, 3.70 ± 1.14 at 532 nm, and 5.37 ± 1.66 at 1064 nm were found. The enhanced depolarization ratios and lidar ratios were compared to modeling studies of cubic sea salt particles.

Description: For the first time, continuous vertically resolved aerosol measurements were performed by lidar in Tajikistan, Central Asia. Observations with the multiwavelength polarization Raman lidar PollyXT were conducted during CADEX (Central Asian Dust EXperiment) in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, from March 2015 to August 2016. Co-located with the lidar, a sun photometer was also operated. The goal of CADEX is to provide an unprecedented data set on vertically resolved aerosol optical properties in Central Asia, an area highly affected by climate change but largely missing vertically resolved aerosol measurements. During the 18-month measurement campaign, mineral dust was detected frequently from ground to the cirrus level height. In this study, an overview of the measurement period is given and four typical but different example measurement cases are discussed in detail. Three of them are dust cases and one is a contrasting pollution aerosol case. Vertical profiles of the measured optical properties and the calculated dust and non-dust mass concentrations are presented. Dust source regions were identified by means of backward trajectory analyses. A lofted layer of Middle Eastern dust with an aerosol optical thickness (AOT) of 0.4 and an extinction-related Ångström exponent of 0.41 was measured. In comparison, two near-ground dust cases have Central Asian sources. One is an extreme dust event with an AOT of 1.5 and Ångström exponent of 0.12 and the other one is a most extreme dust event with an AOT of above 4 (measured by sun photometer) and an Ångström exponent of −0.08. The observed lidar ratios (and particle linear depolarization ratios) in the presented dust cases range from 40.3 to 46.9 sr (and 0.18–0.29) at 355 nm and from 35.7 to 42.9 sr (0.31–0.35) at 532 nm wavelength. The particle linear depolarization ratios indicate almost unpolluted dust in the case of a lofted dust layer and pure dust in the near-ground dust cases. The lidar ratio values are lower than typical lidar ratio values for Saharan dust (50–60 sr) and comparable to Middle Eastern or west-Asian dust lidar ratios (35–45 sr). In contrast, the presented case of pollution aerosol of local origin has an Ångström exponent of 2.07 and a lidar ratio (particle linear depolarization ratio) of 55.8 sr (0.03) at 355 nm and 32.8 sr (0.08) at 532 nm wavelength.

Description: For the first time, vertical profiles of the 1064 nm particle extinction coefficient obtained from Raman lidar observations at 1058 nm (nitrogen rotational Raman backscatter) are presented. We applied the new technique in the framework of test measurements and performed several cirrus observations of particle backscatter and extinction coefficients, and corresponding extinction-to-backscatter ratios at the wavelengths of 355, 532m and 1064 nm.