Airborne in-situ Measurements of Radiation, Aerosol Optical Properties and Trace Gases for Evaluation of Remote Sensing Techniques

Author(s):  
Wolfgang Junkermann
2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (15) ◽  
pp. 7231-7249 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Zieger ◽  
E. Kienast-Sjögren ◽  
M. Starace ◽  
J. von Bismarck ◽  
N. Bukowiecki ◽  
...  

Abstract. This paper presents results of the extensive field campaign CLACE 2010 (Cloud and Aerosol Characterization Experiment) performed in summer 2010 at the Jungfraujoch (JFJ) and the Kleine Scheidegg (KLS) in the Swiss Alps. The main goal of this campaign was to investigate the vertical variability of aerosol optical properties around the JFJ and to show the consistency of the different employed measurement techniques considering explicitly the effects of relative humidity (RH) on the aerosol light scattering. Various aerosol optical and microphysical parameters were recorded using in-situ and remote sensing techniques. In-situ measurements of aerosol size distribution, light scattering, light absorption and scattering enhancement due to water uptake were performed at the JFJ at 3580 m a.s.l.. A unique set-up allowed remote sensing measurements of aerosol columnar and vertical properties from the KLS located about 1500 m below and within the line of sight to the JFJ (horizontal distance of approx. 4.5 km). In addition, two satellite retrievals from the Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) as well as back trajectory analyses were added to the comparison to account for a wider geographical context. All in-situ and remote sensing measurements were in clear correspondence. The ambient extinction coefficient measured in situ at the JFJ agreed well with the KLS-based LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) retrieval at the altitude-level of the JFJ under plausible assumptions on the LIDAR ratio. However, we can show that the quality of this comparison is affected by orographic effects due to the exposed location of the JFJ on a saddle between two mountains and next to a large glacier. The local RH around the JFJ was often higher than in the optical path of the LIDAR measurement, especially when the wind originated from the south via the glacier, leading to orographic clouds which remained lower than the LIDAR beam. Furthermore, the dominance of long-range transported Saharan dust was observed in all measurements for several days, however only for a shorter time period in the in-situ measurements due to the vertical structure of the dust plume. The optical properties of the aerosol column retrieved from SEVIRI and MODIS showed the same magnitude and a similar temporal evolution as the measurements at the KLS and the JFJ. Remaining differences are attributed to the complex terrain and simplifications in the aerosol retrieval scheme in general.


2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 11105-11150
Author(s):  
P. Zieger ◽  
E. Kienast-Sjögren ◽  
M. Starace ◽  
J. von Bismarck ◽  
N. Bukowiecki ◽  
...  

Abstract. This paper presents results of the extensive field campaign CLACE 2010 (Cloud and Aerosol Characterization Experiment) performed in summer 2010 at the Jungfraujoch (JFJ) and the Kleine Scheidegg (KLS) in the Swiss Alps. The main goal of this campaign was to investigate the vertical variability of aerosol optical properties around the JFJ and to show the consistency of the different employed measurement techniques considering explicitly the effects of relative humidity (RH) on the aerosol light scattering. Various aerosol optical and microphysical parameters were recorded using in-situ and remote sensing techniques. In-situ measurements of aerosol size distribution, light scattering, light absorption and scattering enhancement due to water uptake were performed at the JFJ at 3580 m (a.s.l.). A unique set-up allowed remote sensing measurements of aerosol columnar and vertical properties from the KLS located about 1500 m below and within the line of sight to the JFJ (horizontal distance of approx. 4.5 km). In addition, two satellite retrievals from the Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) as well as back trajectory analyses were added to the comparison to account for a wider geographical context. All in-situ and remote sensing measurements were in clear correspondence. The ambient extinction coefficient measured in-situ at the JFJ agreed well with the KLS-based LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) retrieval at the altitude-level of the JFJ under plausible assumptions on the LIDAR ratio. However, we can show that the quality of this comparison is affected by orographic effects due to the exposed location of the JFJ on a saddle between two mountains and next to a large glacier. The local RH around the JFJ was often higher than in the optical path of the LIDAR measurement, especially when the wind originated from the south via the glacier, leading to orographic clouds which remained lower than the LIDAR beam. Furthermore, the dominance of long-range transported Saharan dust was observed in all measurements for several days, however only for a shorter time period in the in-situ measurements due to the vertical structure of the dust plume. The optical properties of the aerosol column retrieved from SEVIRI and MODIS showed the same magnitude and a similar temporal evolution as the measurements at the KLS and the JFJ. Remaining differences are attributed to the complex terrain and simplifications in the aerosol retrieval scheme in general.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (22) ◽  
pp. 16745-16773
Author(s):  
Sebastian Düsing ◽  
Albert Ansmann ◽  
Holger Baars ◽  
Joel C. Corbin ◽  
Cyrielle Denjean ◽  
...  

Abstract. A unique data set derived from remote sensing, airborne, and ground-based in situ measurements is presented. This measurement report highlights the known complexity of comparing multiple aerosol optical parameters examined with different approaches considering different states of humidification and atmospheric aerosol concentrations. Mie-theory-based modeled aerosol optical properties are compared with the respective results of airborne and ground-based in situ measurements and remote sensing (lidar and photometer) performed at the rural central European observatory at Melpitz, Germany. Calculated extinction-to-backscatter ratios (lidar ratios) were in the range of previously reported values. However, the lidar ratio is a function of the aerosol type and the relative humidity. The particle lidar ratio (LR) dependence on relative humidity was quantified and followed the trend found in previous studies. We present a fit function for the lidar wavelengths of 355, 532, and 1064 nm with an underlying equation of fLR(RH, γ(λ))=fLR(RH=0,λ)×(1-RH)-γ(λ), with the derived estimates of γ(355 nm) = 0.29 (±0.01), γ(532 nm) = 0.48 (±0.01), and γ(1064 nm) = 0.31 (±0.01) for central European aerosol. This parameterization might be used in the data analysis of elastic-backscatter lidar observations or lidar-ratio-based aerosol typing efforts. Our study shows that the used aerosol model could reproduce the in situ measurements of the aerosol particle light extinction coefficients (measured at dry conditions) within 13 %. Although the model reproduced the in situ measured aerosol particle light absorption coefficients within a reasonable range, we identified many sources for significant uncertainties in the simulations, such as the unknown aerosol mixing state, brown carbon (organic material) fraction, and the unknown aerosol mixing state wavelength-dependent refractive index. The modeled ambient-state aerosol particle light extinction and backscatter coefficients were smaller than the measured ones. However, depending on the prevailing aerosol conditions, an overlap of the uncertainty ranges of both approaches was achieved.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillaume Jouvet ◽  
Eef van Dongen ◽  
Martin P. Lüthi ◽  
Andreas Vieli

Abstract. Measuring the ice flow motion accurately is essential to better understand the time evolution of glaciers and ice sheets, and therefore to better anticipate the future consequence of climate change in terms of sea-level rise. Although there exist a variety of remote sensing methods to fill this task, in-situ measurements are always needed for validation or to capture high temporal resolution movements. Yet glaciers are in general hostile environments where the installation of instruments might be tedious and risky when not impossible. Here we report the first-ever in-situ measurements of ice flow motion using a remotely controlled Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). We used a multicopter UAV to land on a highly crevassed area of Eqip Sermia Glacier, West Greenland, to measure the displacement of the glacial surface with the aid of an on-board differential GNSS receiver. Despite the unfortunate loss of the UAV, we measured approximately 70 cm of displacement over 4.36 hours without setting foot onto the glacier – a result validated by applying UAV photogrammetry and template matching techniques. Our study demonstrates that UAVs are promising instruments for in-situ monitoring, and have a great potential for capturing short-term ice flow variations in inaccessible glaciers – a task that remote sensing techniques can hardly achieve.


2017 ◽  
Vol 58 ◽  
pp. 10.1-10.21 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Bühl ◽  
S. Alexander ◽  
S. Crewell ◽  
A. Heymsfield ◽  
H. Kalesse ◽  
...  

Abstract State-of-the-art remote sensing techniques applicable to the investigation of ice formation and evolution are described. Ground-based and spaceborne measurements with lidar, radar, and radiometric techniques are discussed together with a global view on past and ongoing remote sensing measurement campaigns concerned with the study of ice formation and evolution. This chapter has the intention of a literature study and should illustrate the major efforts that are currently taken in the field of remote sensing of atmospheric ice. Since other chapters of this monograph mainly focus on aircraft in situ measurements, special emphasis is put on active remote sensing instruments and synergies between aircraft in situ measurements and passive remote sensing methods. The chapter concentrates on homogeneous and heterogeneous ice formation in the troposphere because this is a major topic of this monograph. Furthermore, methods that deliver direct, process-level information about ice formation are elaborated with a special emphasis on active remote sensing methods. Passive remote sensing methods are also dealt with but only in the context of synergy with aircraft in situ measurements.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meloë S. F. Kacenelenbogen ◽  
Qian Tan ◽  
Sharon P. Burton ◽  
Otto P. Hasekamp ◽  
Karl D. Froyd ◽  
...  

Abstract. Improvements in air quality and Earth’s climate predictions require improvements of the aerosol speciation in chemical transport models, using observational constraints. Aerosol speciation (e.g., organic aerosols, black carbon, sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, dust or sea salt) is typically determined using in situ instrumentation. Continuous, routine surface network aerosol composition measurements are not uniformly widespread over the globe. Satellites, on the other hand, can provide a maximum coverage of the horizontal and vertical atmosphere but observe aerosol optical properties (and not aerosol speciation) based on remote sensing instrumentation. Combinations of satellite-derived aerosol optical properties can inform on air mass aerosol types (AMTs e.g., clean marine, dust, polluted continental). However, these AMTs are subjectively defined, might often be misclassified and are hard to relate to the critical parameters that need to be refined in models. In this paper, we derive AMTs that are more directly related to sources and hence to speciation. They are defined, characterized, and derived using simultaneous in situ gas-phase, chemical and optical instruments on the same aircraft during the Study of Emissions and Atmospheric Composition, Clouds, and Climate Coupling by Regional Surveys (SEAC4RS, US, summer of 2013). First, we prescribe well-informed AMTs that display distinct aerosol chemical and optical signatures to act as a training AMT dataset. These in situ observations reduce the errors and ambiguities in the selection of the AMT training dataset. We also investigate the relative skill of various combinations of aerosol optical properties to define AMTs and how much these optical properties can capture dominant aerosol speciation. We find distinct optical signatures for biomass burning (from agricultural or wildfires), biogenic and dust-influence AMTs. Useful aerosol optical properties to characterize these signatures are the extinction angstrom exponent (EAE), the single scattering albedo, the difference of single scattering albedo in two wavelengths, the absorption coefficient, the absorption angstrom exponent (AAE), and the real part of the refractive index (RRI). We find that all four AMTs studied when prescribed using mostly airborne in situ gas measurements, can be successfully extracted from at least three combinations of airborne in situ aerosol optical properties (e.g., EAE, AAE and RRI) over the US during SEAC4RS. However, we find that the optically based classifications for BB from agricultural fires and polluted dust include a large percentage of misclassifications that limit the usefulness of results relating to those classes. The technique and results presented in this study are suitable to develop a representative, robust and diverse source-based AMT database. This database could then be used for widespread retrievals of AMTs using existing and future remote sensing suborbital instruments/networks. Ultimately, it has the potential to provide a much broader observational aerosol data set to evaluate chemical transport and air quality models than is currently available by direct in situ measurements. This study illustrates how essential it is to explore existing airborne datasets to bridge chemical and optical signatures of different AMTs, before the implementation of future spaceborne missions (e.g., the next generation of Earth Observing System (EOS) satellites addressing Aerosol, Cloud, Convection and Precipitation (ACCP) designated observables).


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 1655 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nariane Bernardo ◽  
Enner Alcântara ◽  
Fernanda Watanabe ◽  
Thanan Rodrigues ◽  
Alisson Carmo ◽  
...  

The quality control of remote sensing reflectance (Rrs) is a challenging task in remote sensing applications, mainly in the retrieval of accurate in situ measurements carried out in optically complex aquatic systems. One of the main challenges is related to glint effect into the in situ measurements. Our study evaluates four different methods to reduce the glint effect from the Rrs spectra collected in cascade reservoirs with widely differing optical properties. The first (i) method adopts a constant coefficient for skylight correction (ρ) for any geometry viewing of in situ measurements and wind speed lower than 5 m·s−1; (ii) the second uses a look-up-table with variable ρ values accordingly to viewing geometry acquisition and wind speed; (iii) the third method is based on hyperspectral optimization to produce a spectral glint correction, and (iv) computes ρ as a function of wind speed. The glint effect corrected Rrs spectra were assessed using HydroLight simulations. The results showed that using the glint correction with spectral ρ achieved the lowest errors, however, in a Colored Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM) dominated environment with no remarkable chlorophyll-a concentrations, the best method was the second. Besides, the results with spectral glint correction reduced almost 30% of errors.


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