Juan Antonio Bravo-Aranda

Retrieving aerosol microphysical properties by Lidar‐Radiometer Inversion Code (LIRIC) for different aerosol types

LIRIC (Lidar-Radiometer Inversion Code) is applied to combined lidar and Sun photometer data from Granada station corresponding to different case studies. The main aim of this analysis is to evaluate the stability of LIRIC output volume concentration profiles for different aerosol types, loadings, and vertical distributions of the atmospheric aerosols. For this purpose, in a first part, three case studies corresponding to different atmospheric situations are analyzed to study the influence of the user-defined input parameters in LIRIC when varied in a reasonable range. Results evidence the capabilities of LIRIC to retrieve vertical profiles of microphysical properties during daytime by the combination of the lidar and the Sun photometer systems in an automatic and self-consistent way. However, spurious values may be obtained in the lidar incomplete overlap region depending on the structure of the aerosol layers. In a second part, the use of a second Sun photometer located in Cerro Poyos, in the same atmospheric column as Granada but at higher altitude, allowed us to obtain LIRIC retrievals from two different altitudes with independent Sun photometer measurements in order to check the self-consistency and robustness of the method. Retrievals at both levels are compared, providing a very good agreement (differences below 5 µm3/cm3) in those cases with the same aerosol type in the whole atmospheric column. However, some assumptions such as the height independency of parameters (sphericity, size distribution, or refractive index, among others) need to be carefully reviewed for those cases with the presence of aerosol layers corresponding to different types of atmospheric aerosols.

Statistical analysis of aerosol optical properties retrieved by Raman lidar over Southeastern Spain

In this work, a statistical study of aerosol optical properties retrieved from Raman lidar profiles has been addressed at the EARLINET station of Granada, Spain, during the period 2008–2010. Lidar measurements were performed during day- and night-time. Mean values and variances of the aerosol extinction and backscatter coefficient profiles in the troposphere have been computed. These profiles evidenced that during autumn–winter, most of the particles are confined to the first kilometres above the surface (below 3500 m above sea level), while a major presence of aerosol at higher altitudes is observed during spring–summer. Moreover, a study of the planetary boundary layer (PBL) height and aerosol stratification has been performed for the whole studied period. Monthly mean β-related Angström exponent values have been obtained for aerosols in the PBL and in the free troposphere. Furthermore, monthly mean lidar ratio values at 532 nm have been retrieved from Raman profiles during night-time. A detailed study of these intensive properties has allowed characterizing the aerosol present over our station. The results evidenced a predominance of large and scattering particles during spring and summer and an increase of small and absorbing particles during autumn and winter.

Analysis of lidar depolarization calibration procedure and application to the atmospheric aerosol characterization

A Raman lidar system is used to monitor the aerosol depolarization features of the urban atmosphere at the Andalusian Centre for Environmental Research (CEAMA), in Granada, southeastern Spain. The lidar system was upgraded in 2010 to enable the application of the ±45° calibration method, which does not require any external optical device. We analyse the method and classify the atmospheric aerosol following the criteria based on depolarization. Backscatter coefficient, backscatter-related Angström exponent (å β), volume linear depolarization ratio (δv), and particle linear depolarization ratio (δp) profiles are studied in Saharan dust and biomass burning smoke events during the summer of 2010. The strength of these events was visualized in the aerosol optical depth (AOD) series obtained by Sun and star photometers operated at CEAMA. During the analysed events, the AOD at 440 nm ranged between 0.2 and 0.3, although the Angström exponent (å AOD) retrieved by the Sun photometer was considerably lower during the Saharan dust event (å AOD = 0.4 ± 0.1) than during the biomass burning event (å AOD = 1.4 ± 0.1). Regarding å β profiles, å β values were similar along the vertical profiles and comparable to å AOD values for each event. In contrast, the particle linear depolarization ratio (δp) at 532 nm showed an opposite behaviour to å β, changing along the vertical profiles. In fact, the aerosol layers located in the free troposphere showed mean values of δp of 0.13 ± 0.08 and 0.03 ± 0.01 in the Saharan dust and biomass burning events, respectively. These results show that the use of depolarization techniques enables an accurate aerosol typing and the understanding of the layers composition in the atmosphere.

Study of mineral dust entrainment in the planetary boundary layer by lidar depolarization technique

Measurements on 27 June 2011 were performed over the Southern Iberian Peninsula at Granada EARLINET station, using active and passive remote sensing and airborne and surface in-situ data in order to study the entrainment processes between aerosols in the free troposphere and those in the planetary boundary layer (PBL). To this aim the temporal evolution of the lidar depolarisation, backscatter-related Angström exponent and potential temperature profiles were used in combination with the PBL contribution to the aerosol optical depth (AOD). Our results show that the mineral dust entrainment in the PBL was caused by the convective processes which ‘trapped’ the lofted mineral dust layer, distributing the mineral dust particles within the PBL. The temporal evolution of ground-based in-situ data evidenced the impact of this process at surface level. Finally, the amount of mineral dust in the atmospheric column available to be dispersed into the PBL was estimated by means of POLIPHON (Polarizing Lidar Photometer Networking). The dust mass concentration derived from POLIPHON was compared with the coarse-mode mass concentration retrieved with airborne in-situ measurements. Comparison shows differences below 50 µg/m3 (30% relative difference) indicating a relative good agreement between both techniques.

Optical porperties of free tropospheric aerosol from multi-wavelength raman lidars over the southern Iberian Peninsula

Lidars are ideally placed to investigate the effects of aerosol and cloud on the climate system due to their unprecedented vertical and temporal resolution. Dozens of techniques have been developed in recent decades to retrieve the extinction and backscatter of atmospheric particulates in a variety of conditions. These methods, though often very successful, are fairly ad hoc in their construction, utilising a wide variety of approximations and assumptions that makes comparing the resulting data products with independent measurements difficult and their implementation in climate modelling virtually impossible. As with its application to satellite retrievals, the methods of non-linear regression can improve this situation by providing a mathematical framework in which the various approximations, estimates of experimental error, and any additional knowledge of the atmosphere can be clearly defined and included in a mathematically ‘optimal’ retrieval method, providing rigorously derived error estimates. In addition to making it easier for scientists outside of the lidar field to understand and utilise lidar data, it also simplifies the process of moving beyond extinction and backscatter coefficients and retrieving microphysical properties of aerosols and cloud particles. Such methods have been applied to a prototype Raman lidar system. A technique to estimate the lidar’s overlap function using an analytic model of the optical system and a simple extinction profile has been developed. This is used to calibrate the system such that a retrieval of the profile extinction and backscatter coefficients can be performed using the elastic and nitrogen Raman backscatter signals.