J.A. Martínez-Lozano

Columnar aerosol properties in Valencia (Spain) by ground-based Sun photometry

(1) In this paper, we present a climatological study of atmospheric aerosols in coastal eastern Spain, by means of experimental measurements using a Cimel CE318-2 Sun photometer. The aerosol optical depth, Angstrom wavelength exponent, size distribution, complex refractive index, asymmetry parameter, and single scattering albedo have been retrieved from these measurements. The columnar water content, as an important parameter for understanding aerosol growth, has also been retrieved. Statistical results of the annual and seasonal variability analysis, mainly related to the usual summer maximum turbidity found in the Mediterranean and European regions, are also shown. The results are linked to the character of the site, located in an urban environment, near the Mediterranean Sea, and frequently affected by dusty air masses of Saharan origin.

Column‐integrated aerosol optical properties from ground‐based spectroradiometer measurements at Barrax (Spain) during the Digital Airborne Imaging Spectrometer Experiment (DAISEX) campaigns

[1] The Digital Airborne Imaging Spectrometer Experiment (DAISEX) was carried out for the European Space Agency (ESA) in order to develop the potential of spaceborne imaging spectroscopy for a range of different scientific applications. DAISEX involved simultaneous data acquisitions using different airborne imaging spectrometers over test sites in southeast Spain (Barrax) and the Upper Rhine valley (Colmar, France, and Hartheim, Germany). This paper presents the results corresponding to the columnintegrated aerosol optical properties from ground-based spectroradiometer measurements over the Barrax area during the DAISEX campaign days in the years 1998, 1999, and 2000. The instruments used for spectral irradiance measurements were two Licor 1800 and one Optronic OL-754 spectroradiometers. The analysis of the spectral aerosol optical depth in the visible range shows in all cases the predominance of the coarse-particle mode over the fine-particle mode. The analysis of the back trajectories of the air masses indicates a predominance of marine-type aerosols in the lower atmospheric layers in all cases. Overall, the results obtained show that during the DAISEX there was a combination of maritime aerosols with smaller continental aerosols. INDEX TERMS: 0305 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Aerosols and particles (0345, 4801); 0345 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Pollution—urban and regional (0305); 0394 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Instruments and techniques; 3360 Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics: Remote sensing; 4801 Oceanography: Biological and Chemical: Aerosols (0305); KEYWORDS: atmospheric composition and structure, instruments and techniques, remote sensing

Values of broad band turbidity coefficients in a mediterranean coastal site

Abstract The Angstrom turbidity coefficient, the Linke turbidity factor, and the Unsworth–Monteith coefficient have been determined and analysed based on measurements of normal direct irradiance and global horizontal irradiance taken in Valencia, Spain, between January 1990 and December 1996. The data, which were acquired automatically and continuously, have been filtered to select only those values corresponding to clear sky conditions. To determine the Angstrom turbidity coefficient the method proposed by Louche et al. has been used whilst the expression for δCDA proposed by Kasten was used to obtain the Linke turbidity coefficient. The Angstrom turbidity coefficient showed a minimum in winter with values between 0.06 and 0.12. It tended to increase in the spring and reach a maximum between 0.22 and 0.29 in summer before falling again in the autumn. The daily and annual evolution of all three coefficients were very similar with correlation coefficients between pairs of them close to 1.

Application of the SKYRAD Improved Langley plot method for the in situ calibration of CIMEL Sun-sky photometers

The in situ procedure for determining the solar calibration constants, originally developed for the PREDE Sun-sky radiometers and based on a modified version of the Langley plot, was applied to a CIMEL instrument located in Valencia, Spain, not integrated into AERONET. Taking into account the different mechanical and electronic characteristics of the two radiometers, the method was adapted to the characteristics of the CIMEL instrument. The iterative procedure for the determination of the solar calibration constants was applied to a 3-year data set. The results were compared with the two sets of experimental calibration constants determined during this period using the standard Langley plot method. The agreement was found to be consistent with the experimental errors, and the method can definitely also be used to determine the solar calibration constant for the CIMEL instrument, improving its calibration. The method can be used provided the radiometer is previously calibrated for diffuse radiance using a standard lamp.

Ratio of UV to global broad band irradiation in Valencia, Spain

This paper presents the results of an analysis of 6 years of measurements of UV and broad band irradiation values in Valencia, Spain. Hourly and daily integrated UV irradiance, ITUV, measured by a TUVR Eppley radiometer, and global irradiance IT from a Kipp-Zonen CM-11 pyranometer, were highly correlated, with ITUV/IT percentages varying from 2.9% to 3.5% for hourly values and from 2.9% to 3.4% for daily values. If a general linear relation ITUV=mIT is considered, the correlation coefficient r is always greater than 0.96 for hourly values and 0.91 for daily values. However, the relation between ITUV/IT and the clearness index kT is poorly correlated, although improved results, with less dependence on a specific location, can be observed using the kTUV and kT clearness indices. For a general linear relation, kTUV=mkT, the correlation coefficient r is always greater than 0.89 for hourly values and 0.86 for daily values. Copyright

The optimisation of the angle of inclination of a solar collector to maximise the incident solar radiation

Irradiation data, recorded on vertical surfaces facing north, south, east and west and on a horizontal surface every ten minutes during daylight hours from January–December 1992 in Valencia, Spain, have been compared with estimated solar irradiation from inclined-surface models. Results show that Hays model most accurately reproduces the variation in irradiation on all vertical surfaces.

UV Index Experimental Values During the Years 2000 and 2001 from the Spanish Broadband UV-B Radiometric Network¶

Abstract An analysis is made of experimental ultraviolet erythemal solar radiation data measured during the years 2000 and 2001 by the Spanish UV-B radiation evaluation and prediction network. This network consists of 16 Robertson–Berger type pyranometers for evaluating solar erythemal radiation and five Brewer spectroradiometers for evaluating the stratospheric ozone. On the basis of these data the Ultraviolet Index (UVI) was evaluated for the measuring stations that are located either in coastal regions or in the more densely populated regions inland on the Iberian Peninsula. It has been checked that in most cases the maximum irradiance values corresponded to solar noon, although there were exceptions that could be explained by cloudiness. The maximum experimental values of the UVI were around 9 during the summer, though frequently passing this value at the inland measurement stations. The annual accumulated dose of irradiation on a horizontal plane has also been studied, as well as the evolution through the year in units of energy, standard erythemal doses and minimum erythemal doses, according to different phototypes.

Comparison of aerosol optical thickness retrieval from spectroradiometer measurements and from two radiative transfer models

Abstract The spectral values of the aerosol optical thickness τ a λ in the 400–670 nm band have been determined from 500 solar direct irradiance spectra at normal incidence registered at Valencia (Spain) in the period from July 1993 to March 1997. The τ a λ values obtained from experimental measurements have been compared with the boundary layer aerosol models implemented in the radiative transfer codes ZD-LOA and LOWTRAN 7. For the ZD-LOA code, the continental and maritime models have been considered and for the LOWTRAN 7 code the rural, maritime, urban and tropospheric models have been used. The obtained results show that the aerosol model that best represents the average turbidity of the boundary layer for the urban area of Valencia (Spain) is the continental model when the ZD-LOA code is used and the urban model when the LOWTRAN 7 code is used.

Aerosol optical characteristics from a summer campaign in an urban coastal Mediterranean area

The authors present a preliminary study of some optical properties of atmospheric aerosols over the area of Valencia, Spain, a coastal Mediterranean city. Measurements of spectral direct irradiance in the 300-1100 nm range were taken simultaneously at three sites: rural-continental, rural-coastal, and urban-coastal, all located within a 50 km radius of the city of Valencia. The irradiance measurements were obtained using three Li-cor 1800 spectroradiometers provided with radiance limiting tubes with field of views (FOVs) of 4.7/spl deg/. The measurements were made under clear sky conditions during a field campaign carried out in the summer of 1998. In order to avoid the uncertainties associated with the determination of the water vapor content and the other atmospheric constituents, the analysis of the spectral aerosol optical thickness (AOT) values was limited to the 400-670 mm spectral band. From the values of the spectral AOT, both the Angstrom coefficients and the aerosol size distributions were obtained. The results show the great dependence of the optical aerosol characteristic on the direction of the prevailing winds (maritime or continental) in this area.

MEASUREMENT AND ANALYSIS OF ULTRAVIOLET SOLAR IRRADIATION IN VALENCIA, SPAIN

Experimental data concerning the integrated total ultraviolet radiation (290–385 nm band) on a horizontal surface measured at Valencia (Spain) during the period March 1991 to December 1994 have been analysed. A study of the most representative statistical indexes: arithmetic mean (M), median (Md), standard deviation (SD), maximum (Mx), minimum (Mn), first (Q1) and third (Q3) quartiles, percentiles 5 (P5) and 95 (P95), interquartile range (Q3 –Q1) and coefficient of quartile variation (V), of the UV radiation for this period has been carried out. The study has focused on both the hourly and the daily values of irradiance. The UV irradiance measured shows quite stable values within the period analysed, especially during July and August.