Ina Mattis

Transport of boreal forest fire emissions from Canada to Europe

In August 1998, severe forest fires occurred in many parts of Canada, especially in the Northwest Territories. In the week from August 5 to 11, more than 1000 different fires burned >1 × 106 ha of boreal forest, the highest 1-week sum ever reported throughout the 1990s. In this study we can unambigously show for the first time that these fires caused pronounced large-scale haze layers above Europe and that they influenced concentrations of carbon monoxide and other trace gases at the surface station Mace Head in Ireland over a period of weeks. Transport took place across several thousands of kilometers. An example of such an event, in which a pronounced aerosol layer was observed at an altitude of 3–6 km over Germany during August 1998, is investigated in detail. Backward trajectories ending at the measured aerosol layer are calculated and shown to have their origin in the forest fire region. Simulations with a particle dispersion model reveal how a substantial amount of forest fire emissions was transported across the Atlantic. The resulting aerosol lamina over Europe is captured well by the model. In addition, the model demonstrates that the forest fire emissions polluted large regions over Europe during the second half of August 1998. Surface measurements at Mace Head are compared to the model results for an anthropogenic and a forest fire carbon monoxide tracer, respectively. While wet deposition removed considerable amounts of aerosol during its transport, forest fire carbon monoxide reached Europe in copious amounts. It is estimated that during August 1998, 32%, 10%, and 58% of the carbon monoxide enhancement over the background level at Mace Head were caused by European and North American anthropogenic emissions and forest fire emissions, respectively.

Long‐range transport of Saharan dust to northern Europe: The 11–16 October 2001 outbreak observed with EARLINET

The spread of mineral particles over southwestern, western, and central Europe resulting from a strong Saharan dust outbreak in October 2001 was observed at 10 stations of the European Aerosol Research Lidar Network (EARLINET). For the first time, an optically dense desert dust plume over Europe was characterized coherently with high vertical resolution on a continental scale. The main layer was located above the boundary layer (above 1-km height above sea level (asl)) up to 3–5-km height, and traces of dust particles reached heights of 7–8 km. The particle optical depth typically ranged from 0.1 to 0.5 above 1-km height asl at the wavelength of 532 nm, and maximum values close to 0.8 were found over northern Germany. The lidar observations are in qualitative agreement with values of optical depth derived from Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) data. Ten-day backward trajectories clearly indicated the Sahara as the source region of the particles and revealed that the dust layer observed, e.g., over Belsk, Poland, crossed the EARLINET site Aberystwyth, UK, and southern Scandinavia 24–48 hours before. Lidar-derived particle depolarization ratios, backscatter- and extinction-related Angstrom exponents, and extinction-to-backscatter ratios mainly ranged from 15 to 25%, −0.5 to 0.5, and 40–80 sr, respectively, within the lofted dust plumes. A few atmospheric model calculations are presented showing the dust concentration over Europe. The simulations were found to be consistent with the network observations.

EARLINET correlative measurements for CALIPSO: First intercomparison results

A strategy for European Aerosol Research Lidar Network (EARLINET) correlative measurements for Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) has been developed. These EARLINET correlative measurements started in June 2006 and are still in progress. Up to now, more than 4500 correlative files are available in the EARLINET database. Independent extinction and backscatter measurements carried out at high-performance EARLINET stations have been used for a quantitative comparison with CALIPSO level 1 data. Results demonstrate the good performance of CALIPSO and the absence of evident biases in the CALIPSO raw signals. The agreement is also good for the distribution of the differences for the attenuated backscatter at 532 nm ((CALIPSO-EARLINET)/EARLINET (%)), calculated in the 1–10 km altitude range, with a mean relative difference of 4.6%, a standard deviation of 50%, and a median value of 0.6%. A major Saharan dust outbreak lasting from 26 to 31 May 2008 has been used as a case study for showing first results in terms of comparison with CALIPSO level 2 data. A statistical analysis of dust properties, in terms of intensive optical properties (lidar ratios, Angstrom exponents, and color ratios), has been performed for this observational period. We obtained typical lidar ratios of the dust event of 49 ± 10 sr and 56 ± 7 sr at 355 and 532 nm, respectively. The extinction-related and backscatter-related Angstrom exponents were on the order of 0.15–0.17, which corresponds to respective color ratios of 0.91–0.95. This dust event has been used to show the methodology used for the investigation of spatial and temporal representativeness of measurements with polar-orbiting satellites.

Vertical profiling of Saharan dust with Raman lidars and airborne HSRL in southern Morocco during SAMUM

Three ground-based Raman lidars and an airborne high-spectral-resolution lidar (HSRL) were operated duringSAMUM 2006 in southern Morocco to measure height profiles of the volume extinction coefficient, the extinction-to-backscatter ratio and the depolarization ratio of dust particles in the Saharan dust layer at several wavelengths. Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) Sun photometer observations and radiosoundings of meteorological parameters complemented the ground-based activities at the SAMUM station of Ouarzazate. Four case studies are presented. Two case studies deal with the comparison of observations of the three ground-based lidars during a heavy dust outbreak and of the ground-based lidars with the airborne lidar. Two further cases show profile observations during satellite overpasses on 19 May and 4 June 2006. The height resolved statistical analysis reveals that the dust layer top typically reaches 4–6 km height above sea level (a.s.l.), sometimes even 7 km a.s.l.. Usually, a vertically inhomogeneous dust plume with internal dust layers was observed in the morning before the evolution of the boundary layer started. The Saharan dust layer was well mixed in the early evening. The 500 nm dust optical depth ranged from 0.2–0.8 at the field site south of the High Atlas mountains, Ångström exponents derived from photometer and lidar data were between 0–0.4. The volume extinction coefficients (355, 532 nm) varied from 30–300Mm−1 with a mean value of 100Mm−1 in the lowest 4 km a.s.l.. On average, extinction-to-backscatter ratios of 53–55 sr (±7–13 sr) were obtained at 355, 532 and 1064 nm.

Saharan dust over a central European EARLINET‐AERONET site: Combined observations with Raman lidar and Sun photometer

and Sun photometer observations showed excellent agreement. Particle depolarization ratios of up to 25% were derived from lidar observations at 532 nm. Scattering phase functions retrieved from Sun photometer observations indicated particles of nonspherical shape. This shape caused unusually large particle extinction-to-backscatter (lidar) ratios at 532 nm in the range from 50 to 80 sr. There were substantial deviations of the lidar ratio at 532 nm derived from both measurement methods. They are explained by the effect of particle shape. INDEX TERMS: 0305 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Aerosols and particles (0345, 4801); 0360 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Transmission and scattering of radiation; 1630 Global Change: Impact phenomena; 1640 Global Change: Remote sensing; KEYWORDS: microphysical properties, optical properties, Raman lidar, Saharan dust, Sun photometer Citation: Muller, D., I. Mattis, U. Wandinger, A. Ansmann, D. Althausen, O. Dubovik, S. Eckhardt, and A. Stohl, Saharan dust over a central European EARLINET-AERONET site: Combined observations with Raman lidar and Sun photometer, J. Geophys. Res., 108(D12), 4345, doi:10.1029/2002JD002918, 2003.

Saharan dust and heterogeneous ice formation: Eleven years of cloud observations at a central European EARLINET site

[1] More than 2300 observed cloud layers were analyzed to investigate the impact of aged Saharan dust on heterogeneous ice formation. The observations were performed with a polarization/Raman lidar at the European Aerosol Research Lidar Network site of Leipzig, Germany (51.3°N, 12.4°E) from February 1997 to June 2008. The statistical analysis is based on lidar‐derived information on cloud phase (liquid water, mixed phase, ice cloud) and cloud top height, cloud top temperature, and vertical profiles of dust mass concentration calculated with the Dust Regional Atmospheric Modeling system. Compared to dust‐free air masses, a significantly higher amount of ice‐containing clouds (25%–30% more) was observed for cloud top temperatures from �10°C to �20°C in air masses that contained mineral dust. The midlatitude lidar study is compared with our SAMUM lidar study of tropical stratiform clouds at Cape Verde in the winter of 2008. The comparison reveals that heterogeneous ice formation is much stronger over central Europe and starts at higher temperatures than over the tropical station. Possible reasons for the large difference are discussed.

Ten years of multiwavelength Raman lidar observations of free‐tropospheric aerosol layers over central Europe: Geometrical properties and annual cycle

[1] We present geometrical properties and seasonal variations of appearance of aerosol particle pollution in the free troposphere over the central European lidar site at Leipzig, Germany. The data set has been acquired with Raman lidar in the past 10 years in the framework of the German Lidar Network (1997–2000) and since 2000 in the framework of the European Aerosol Research Lidar Network (EARLINET). In summary we analyzed 1028 measurements. Geometrical depth of the pollution layers was � 1k m in 33% of all cases. Geometrical depths >5 km were found in 10% of all cases. Traces of particle pollution were detected up to the height of the tropopause. Forest-fire burning in North America causes intrusion of particles into the stratosphere. Seven hundred seventeen of all observations were carried out on the basis of a regular measurement schedule which allows us to establish a statistic on the frequency of particle transport in the free troposphere. In 43% of the regular measurements we observed pollution above the continental boundary layer. The lofted particle layers largely result from intercontinental long-range transport. We use backward trajectory analysis to identify the main source regions of the lofted pollution layers. In 19% of all regular measurements, free-tropospheric pollution was advected from North America. Forest-fire smoke from Canada and anthropogenic pollution from urban areas of the United States of America and Canada were the sources of the particle layers. We find a strong seasonal dependence of occurrence of these layers with a peak in June–August of each year. In a few cases we observed forest-fire smoke advected from Siberia and east Asia with winds from westerly directions. Pollution advected from areas north of 70N presents another transport channel. That pollution consists of Arctic haze or mixtures of haze with anthropogenic pollution. The main occurrence of such particle layers is around springtime of each year. Import of mineral dust from the Sahara represents another transport path. Most of such cases are observed during late springtime and summertime. Free-tropospheric pollution advected from east and southeast Europe and Russia presents one transport channel from within the Euro-Asian continent.

Unexpectedly high aerosol load in the free troposphere over central Europe in spring/summer 2003

[1] We observed particle extinction coefficients of 5– 30 Mm 1 and particle optical depths of 0.03–0.11 at UV and visible wavelengths in the free troposphere from May to July, 2003. In May and early June distinct aerosol layers could be observed above the boundary layer (typically between 3–7-km height). In contrast, the aerosol distribution became vertically more homogeneous and stretched to the tropopause by the end of June and in July. Most probably, severe forest fires in Siberia in the spring of 2003 caused this enhanced free tropospheric background. The observations were made with a Raman lidar operating at 355 and 532-nm wavelength at Leipzig, Germany. This lidar allows a clear identification of aged smoke in terms of spectrally resolved backscatter and extinction coefficients, particle optical

Evolution of the Pinatubo Aerosol: Raman Lidar Observations of Particle Optical Depth, Effective Radius, Mass, and Surface Area over Central Europe at 53.4°N

Abstract The Raman lidar technique has been applied to document the evolution and dissipation of the Pinatubo aerosol between 1991 and 1995. For the first time, profiles of the particle extinction coefficient have been determined with lidar in the stratosphere after a major volcanic eruption. From the concurrent observation of particle backscatter and extinction, time series of surface-area and mass concentrations and surface-area-weighted mean (or effective) radius can be determined without having to assume critical aerosol input parameters. Based on these optical and physical parameters, the development of the perturbation of the stratospheric aerosol layer over central Europe is discussed. In terms of particle backscatter and mass the perturbation declined with an e-folding decay time of 14–15 months between April 1992 and April 1994. The monthly mean particle optical depth reached 0.23 in the spring of 1992. Surface-area concentrations of the order of 10–40 mm2 m−3 were observed below 20-km height for...

RETRIEVAL OF PHYSICAL PARTICLE PROPERTIES FROM LIDAR OBSERVATIONS OF EXTINCTION AND BACKSCATTER AT MULTIPLE WAVELENGTHS

Tropospheric height profiles of five particle backscatter coefficients between 355 and 800 nm and particle extinction coefficients at 355 and 532 nm measured with a multiple-wavelength backscatter lidar and a dual-wavelength Raman lidar are presented. From these data microphysical particle parameters are determined by a specifically designed inversion algorithm.