ALBERT

Description: Iron is a major component of atmospheric aerosols, influencing the light absorption ability of mineral dust, and an important micronutrient that affects oceanic biogeochemistry. The regional distribution of the iron concentration in dust is important for climate studies; however, this is difficult to obtain since it requires in-situ aerosol sampling or simulation of complex natural processes. Simultaneous studies of aerosol chemical composition and radiometric measurements of aerosol optical properties, which were performed in the Negev desert of Israel continuously for about eight years, suggest a potential for deriving a relationship between chemical composition and light absorption properties, in particular the spectral single-scattering albedo. The two main data sets of the present study were obtained by a sun/sky radiometer and a stacked filter unit sampler that collects particles in coarse and fine size fractions. Analysis of chemical and optical data showed the presence of mixed dust and pollution aerosol in the study area, although their sources appear to be different. Spectral SSA showed an evident response to increased concentrations of iron, black carbon equivalent matter, and their mixing state. An empirical relationship that relates the spectral SSA, the percentage of iron in total particulate mass, and the pollution components was derived. Results calculated using this relationship were compared with measurements from dust episodes in several locations around the globe. The comparison reveals that dust over the eastern Mediterranean and Saudi Arabia contains less iron than that over Asia and the Sahara desert.

Description: Knowledge of the global distribution of tropospheric aerosols is important for studying the effects of aerosols on global climate. Chemical transport models rely on archived meteorological fields, accounting for aerosol sources, transport and removal processes can simulate the global distribution of atmospheric aerosols. However, the accuracy of global aerosol modeling is limited. Uncertainty in location and strength of aerosol emission sources is a major factor in limiting modeling accuracy. This paper describes an effort to develop an algorithm for retrieving global sources of aerosol from satellite observations by inverting the GOCART aerosol transport model. To optimize inversion algorithm performance, the inversion was formulated as a generalized multi-term least-squares-type fitting. This concept uses the principles of statistical optimization and unites diverse retrieval techniques into a single flexible inversion procedure. It is particularly useful for choosing and refining a priori constraints in the retrieval algorithm. For example, it is demonstrated that a priori limitations on the partial derivatives of retrieved characteristics, which are widely used in atmospheric remote sensing, can also be useful in inverse modeling for constraining time and space variability of the retrieved global aerosol emissions. The similarities and differences with the standard "Kalman filter" inverse modeling approach and the "Phillips-Tikhonov-Twomey" constrained inversion widely used in remote sensing are discussed. In order to retain the originally high space and time resolution of the global model in the inversion of a long record of observations, the algorithm was expressed using adjoint operators in a form convenient for practical development of the inversion from codes implementing forward model simulations. The inversion algorithm was implemented using the GOCART aerosol transport model. The numerical tests we conducted showed successful retrievals of global aerosol emissions with a 2°×2.5° resolution by inverting the GOCART output. For achieving satisfactory retrieval from satellite sensors such as MODIS, the emissions were assumed constant within the 24 h diurnal cycle and aerosol differences in chemical composition were neglected. Such additional assumptions were needed to constrain the inversion due to limitations of satellite temporal coverage and sensitivity to aerosol parameters. As a result, the algorithm was defined for the retrieval of emission sources of fine and coarse mode aerosols from the MODIS fine and coarse mode aerosol optical thickness data respectively. Numerical tests showed that such assumptions are justifiable, taking into account the accuracy of the model and observations and that it provides valuable retrievals of the location and the strength of the aerosol emissions. The algorithm was applied to MODIS observations during two weeks in August 2000. The global placement of fine mode aerosol sources retrieved from inverting MODIS observations was coherent with available independent knowledge. This was particularly encouraging since the inverse method did not use any a priori information about the sources and it was initialized under a "zero aerosol emission" assumption. The retrieval reproduced the instantaneous global MODIS observations with a standard deviation in fitting of aerosol optical thickness of ~0.04. The optical thickness during high aerosol loading events was reproduced with a standard deviation of ~48%. Applications of the algorithm for the retrieval of coarse mode aerosol emissions were less successful, mainly due to the currently existing lack of MODIS data over high reflectance desert dust sources. Possibilities for enhancing the global satellite data inversion by using diverse a priori constraints on the retrieval are demonstrated. The potential and limitations of applying our approach for the retrieval of global aerosol sources from aerosol remote sensing are discussed.

Description: Recent results from diverse air, ground, and laboratory studies using both radiometric and in situ techniques show that the fractions of black carbon, organic matter, and mineral dust in atmospheric aerosols determine the wavelength dependence of absorption (expressed as Absorption Angstrom Exponent, or AAE). Taken together, these results hold promise of improving information on aerosol composition from remote measurements. The purpose of this paper is to show that AAE values for Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) retrievals from Sun-sky measurements describing the full aerosol vertical column are also strongly correlated with aerosol composition or type. In particular, we find AAE values near 1 (the theoretical value for black carbon) for AERONET-measured aerosol columns dominated by urban-industrial aerosol, larger AAE values for biomass burning aerosols, and the largest AAE values for Sahara dust aerosols. Ambiguities in aerosol composition or mixtures thereof, resulting from intermediate AAE values, can be reduced via cluster analyses that supplement AAE with other variables, for example Extinction Angstrom Exponent (EAE), which is an indicator of particle size. Together with previous results, these results strengthen prospects for determining aerosol composition from space, for example using the Glory Aerosol Polarimetry Sensor (APS), which promises retrievals of multiwavelength single-scattering albedo (SSA) and aerosol optical depth (and therefore aerosol absorption optical depth (AAOD) and AAE), as well as shape and other aerosol properties. Cluster analyses promise additional information content, for example by using the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) to add AAOD in the near ultraviolet and CALIPSO aerosol layer heights to reduce height-absorption ambiguity.

Description: The present work analyzes the effect of dust aerosols on the surface and top of atmosphere radiative budget, surface temperature, sensible heat fluxes, atmospheric heating rate and convective activity over West Africa. The study is focused on the regional impact of a major dust event over the period of 9–13 March. Numerical simulations have been performed with the MesoNH model in which full interactions between radiation and dynamics are introduced, through various components representing size-resolved aerosol and cloud microphysics, radiative properties of particles and clouds, dynamics, and a surface model. Due to its importance on radiative budgets, a specific attention has been paid to the representation of dust SSA in MesoNH by using AERONET inversions. The radiative impacts are estimated using two parallel simulations, one including radiative effects of dust and the other without them. The simulations of dust aerosol impacts on the radiative budget indicate remarkable instantaneous decrease of shortwave (SW) radiations, with regional (09°–17° N, 10° W–20° E) mean of −160 W/m2 during the 9 to 13 March period. The surface dimming resulting from the presence of dust is shown to cause important reduction of both surface temperature (up to 4°C over regions where high AODs occur) and sensible heat fluxes (up to 100 W/m2), which is consistent with experimental observations performed over the same region. At the top of the atmosphere, the SW cooling (regional mean of −13.5 W/m2) induced by mineral dust, although moderated by the longwave (LW) warming (regional mean of +5 W/m2), dominates the total net (shortwave + longwave) effect. The maximum SW heating occurs within the dusty layer with values comprised between 4 and 7°K by day and LW effect results in strong cooling (−6 to −16°K by day) below the dust layer. Finally, the simulations suggest the decrease of the convective available potential energy (CAPE) over the region in the presence of mineral dust.

Description: Aerosol particles are important and highly variable components of the terrestrial atmosphere, and they affect both air quality and climate. In order to evaluate their multiple impacts, the most important requirement is to precisely measure their characteristics. Remote sensing technologies such as LIDAR (LIght Detection And Ranging) and sun/sky-photometers are powerful tools for determining aerosol optical and microphysical properties. In our work, we applied several methods to joint or separate LIDAR and sun/sky-photometer data to retrieve aerosol properties. The Raman technique and inversion with regularization use only LIDAR data. The LIRIC (LIdar-Radiometer Inversion Code) and recently developed GARRLiC (Generalized Aerosol Retrieval from Radiometer and LIDAR Combined data) inversion methods use joint LIDAR and sun/sky-photometer data. This paper presents a comparison and discussion of aerosol optical properties (extinction coefficient profiles and LIDAR ratios) and microphysical properties (volume concentrations, complex refractive index values, and effective radius values) retrieved using the above-mentioned methods. The comparison showed inconsistencies in the retrieved LIDAR ratios. However, other aerosol properties were found to be generally in close agreement with the AERONET (AErosol RObotic NETwork) products. It future studies, more cases should be analysed in order to clearly define the peculiarities in our results.

Description: Because of its wide coverage over much of the globe, biomass burning has been widely studied in the context of direct radiative forcing. Such study is warranted as smoke particles scatter and at times absorb solar radiation efficiently. Further, as much of what is known about smoke transport and impacts is based on remote sensing measurements, the optical properties of smoke particles have far reaching effects into numerous aspects of biomass burning studies. Global estimates of direct forcing have been widely varying, ranging from near zero to −1 W m-2. A significant part of this difference can be traced to varying assumptions on the optical properties of smoke. This manuscript is the third part of four examining biomass-burning emissions. Here we review and discuss the literature concerning measurement and modeling of optical properties of biomass-burning particles. These include available data from published sensitivity studies, field campaigns, and inversions from the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) of Sun photometer sites. As a whole, optical properties reported in the literature are varied, reflecting both the dynamic nature of fires, variations in smoke aging processes and differences in measurement technique. We find that forward modeling or ''internal closure'' studies ultimately are of little help in resolving outstanding measurement issues due to the high degree of degeneracy in solutions when using ''reasonable'' input parameters. This is particularly notable with respect to index of refraction and the treatment of black carbon. Consequently, previous claims of column closure may in fact be more ambiguous. Differences between in situ and retrieved ωo values have implications for estimates of mass scattering and mass absorption efficiencies. In this manuscript we review and discuss this community dataset. Strengths and lapses are pointed out, future research topics are prioritized, and best estimates and uncertainties of key smoke particle parameters are provided.

Description: We present regional model simulations of the dust emission events during the Bodélé Dust Experiment (BoDEx) that was carried out in February and March 2005 in Chad. A box model version of the dust emission model is used to test different input parameters for the emission model, and to compare the dust emissions computed with observed wind speeds to those calculated with wind speeds from the regional model simulation. While field observations indicate that dust production occurs via self-abrasion of saltating diatomite flakes in the Bodélé, the emission model based on the assumption of dust production by saltation and using observed surface wind speeds as input parameters reproduces observed dust optical thicknesses well. Although the peak wind speeds in the regional model underestimate the highest wind speeds occurring on 10–12 March 2005, the spatio-temporal evolution of the dust cloud can be reasonably well reproduced by this model. Dust aerosol interacts with solar and thermal radiation in the regional model; it is responsible for a decrease in maximum daytime temperatures by about 5 K at the beginning the dust storm on 10 March 2005. This direct radiative effect of dust aerosol accounts for about half of the measured temperature decrease compared to conditions on 8 March. Results from a global dust model suggest that the dust from the Bodélé is an important contributor to dust crossing the African Savannah region towards the Gulf of Guinea and the equatorial Atlantic, where it can contribute up to 40% to the dust optical thickness.

Description: Iron is a major component of atmospheric aerosols, influencing the light absorption ability of mineral dust, and an important micronutrient that affects oceanic biogeochemistry. The regional distribution of the iron concentration in dust is important for climate studies; however, this is difficult to obtain since it requires in-situ aerosol sampling or simulation of complex natural processes. Simultaneous studies of aerosol chemical composition and radiometric measurements of aerosol optical properties, which were performed in the Negev desert of Israel continuously for about eight years, suggest a potential for deriving a relationship between chemical composition and light absorption properties, in particular the spectral single-scattering albedo. The two main data sets of the present study were obtained by a sun/sky radiometer and a stacked filter unit sampler that collects particles in coarse and fine size fractions. Analysis of chemical and optical data showed the presence of mixed dust and pollution aerosol in the study area, although their sources appear to be different. Spectral SSA showed an evident response to increased concentrations of iron, black carbon equivalent matter, and their mixing state. A relationship that relates the spectral SSA, the percentage of iron in total particulate mass, and the pollution components was derived. Results calculated, using this relationship, were compared with measurements from dust episodes in several locations around the globe. The comparison showed reasonable agreement between the calculated and the observed iron concentrations, and supported the validity of the suggested approach for the estimation of iron concentrations in mineral dust.

Description: The paper presents some results of the study on aerosol variability in the period from 2003 to 2011 over the Eastern Europe region, with latitude ranging from 40° N to 60° N and longitude from 20° E to 50° E. The analysis was based on the POLDER/PARASOL and POLDER-2/ADEOS satellites and AERONET (AErosol RObotic NETwork) ground-based sun photometer observations. The aerosol optical thickness (AOT) of the studied area is characterized by values (referenced to 870 nm wavelength) ranging from 0.05 to 0.2, except for in the period of July–August 2010 with strong forest and peat wildfires when the AOT typical values range from 0.3 to 0.5 according to both retrievals. The analysis of seasonal dynamics of aerosol loading has revealed two AOT high value peaks. The spring peak observed in April–May is the result of solitary transportation of Saharan dust in the atmosphere over Eastern Europe, infrequent agricultural fires, transportation of sea salt aerosols by southern winds to Ukraine and Moldova from the Black and Azov seas. The autumn peak in August–September is associated with forest and peat wildfires, considerable transportation of Saharan dust and the presence of soil dust aerosols due to harvesting activity. The maximum values of AOT are observed in May 2006 (0.1–0.15), April 2009 (0.07–0.15) and August 2010 (0.2–0.5). Furthermore, the study has identified a distinct pattern of anthropogenic aerosols over the industrial areas, especially in central Ukraine and eastern Belarus as well as Moscow region in Russia. The comparison of the AOT derived by standard algorithm POLDER/PARASOL with those recomputed from AERONET inversions for fine mode particles with radius 〈 0.3 μm was performed over several AERONET sites. The correlation coefficients for the POLDER/AERONET AOT retrieval comparisons are equal: 0.78 for Moscow site, 0.76 – Minsk, 0.86 – Belsk, 0.81 – Moldova (period 2005–2009), 0.93 – Kyiv and 0.63 for Sevastopol sites (2008–2009). The deviations are explained by the spatial inhomogeneity of the surface polarization that has a stronger effect on aerosol retrieval for clear atmospheric conditions with low aerosol loading when surface impact on satellite observations is more pronounced. In addition, the preliminary analysis of the detailed aerosol properties derived by a new generation PARASOL algorithm was evaluated. The comparison of AOT and single scattering albedo retrieved from the POLDER/PARASOL observations over Kyiv with the closest AERONET retrievals within 30 min of satellite overpass time and with a cloudless day shows acceptable agreement of the aerosol dynamics. The correspondence of those data is observed even for extreme AOT440 value 1.14, which was caused by the forest and peat fires in August 2010.