scholarly journals Spatio-Temporal Variability of Aerosol Optical Depth, Total Ozone and NO2 Over East Asia: Strategy for the Validation to the GEMS Scientific Products

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (14) ◽  
pp. 2256
Author(s):  
Sang Seo Park ◽  
Sang-Woo Kim ◽  
Chang-Keun Song ◽  
Jong-Uk Park ◽  
Kang-Ho Bae

In this study, the spatio-temporal variability of aerosol optical depth (AOD), total column ozone (TCO), and total column NO2 (TCN) was identified over East Asia using long-term datasets from ground-based and satellite observations. Based on the statistical results, optimized spatio-temporal ranges for the validation study were determined with respect to the target materials. To determine both spatial and temporal ranges for the validation study, we confirmed that the observed datasets can be statistically considered as the same quantity within the ranges. Based on the thresholds of R2>0.95 (temporal) and R>0.95 (spatial), the basic ranges for spatial and temporal scales for AOD validation was within 30 km and 30 min, respectively. Furthermore, the spatial scales for AOD validation showed seasonal variation, which expanded the range to 40 km in summer and autumn. Because of the seasonal change of latitudinal gradient of the TCO, the seasonal variation of the north-south range is a considerable point. For the TCO validation, the north-south range is varied from 0.87° in spring to 1.05° in summer. The spatio-temporal range for TCN validation was 20 min (temporal) and 20–50 km (spatial). However, the nearest value of satellite data was used in the validation because the spatio-temporal variation of TCN is large in summer and autumn. Estimation of the spatio-temporal variability for respective pollutants may contribute to improving the validation of satellite products.

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel E. LeBlanc ◽  
Michal Segal-Rozenhaimer ◽  
Jens Redemann ◽  
Connor J. Flynn ◽  
Roy R. Johnson ◽  
...  

Abstract. Aerosol particles can be emitted, transported, removed, or transformed, leading to aerosol variability at scales impacting the climate (days to years and over hundreds of kilometers) or the air quality (hours to days and from meters to hundreds of kilometers). We present the temporal and spatial scales of changes in AOD (Aerosol Optical Depth), and aerosol size (using Angstrom Exponent; AE, and Fine-Mode-Fraction; FMF) over Korea during the 2016 KORUS-AQ (KORea-US Air Quality) atmospheric experiment. We use measurements and retrievals of aerosol optical properties from airborne instruments for remote sensing (4STAR; Spectrometers for Sky-Scanning Sun Tracking Atmospheric Research) and in situ (LARGE; NASA Langley Aerosol Research Group Experiment) on board the NASA DC-8, geostationary satellite (GOCI; Geostationary Ocean Color Imager; Yonsei aerosol retrieval (YAER) version 2) and reanalysis (MERRA-2; Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, version 2). Measurements from 4STAR when flying below 500 m, show an average AOD at 501 nm of 0.43 and an average AE of 1.15 with large standard deviation (0.32 and 0.26 for AOD and AE respectively) likely due to mixing of different aerosol types (fine and coarse mode). The majority of AODs due to fine mode aerosol is observed at altitudes lower than 2 km. Even though there are large variations, for 18 out of the 20 flight days, the column AOD measurements by 4STAR along the NASA DC-8 flight trajectories matches the south-Korean regional average derived from GOCI. We also observed that, contrary to prevalent understanding, AE and FMF are more spatially variable than AOD during KORUS-AQ, even when accounting for potential sampling biases by using Monte Carlo resampling. Averaging between measurements and model for the entire KORUS-AQ period, a reduction in correlation by 15 % is 65.0 km for AOD and shorter at 22.7 km for AE. While there are observational and model differences, the predominant factor influencing spatial-temporal homogeneity is the meteorological period. High spatio-temporal variability occur during the dynamic period (25–31 May), and low spatio-temporal variability occur during blocking Rex pattern (01–07 June). The changes in spatial variability scales between AOD and FMF/AE, while inter-related, indicate that microphysical processes that impact mostly the dominant aerosol size, like aerosol particle formation, growth, and coagulation, vary at shorter scales than the aerosol concentration processes that mostly impact AOD, like aerosol emission, transport, and removal.


Author(s):  
Forrest M. Mims

AbstractA 30-year time series (4 Feb 1990 to 4 Feb 2020) of aerosol optical depth of the atmosphere (AOD), total precipitable water (TPW) and total column ozone has been conducted in Central Texas using simple, highly stable instruments. All three parameters in this ongoing measurement series exhibited robust annual cycles. They also responded to many atmospheric events, including the historic volcanic eruption of Mount Pinatubo (1991), a record El Niño (1998), an unprecedented biomass smoke event (1998) and the La Niña that caused the driest drought in recorded Texas history (2011). Reduced air pollution caused mean AOD to decline from 0.175 to 0.14. The AOD trend measured for 30 years by an LED sun photometer, the first of its kind, parallels the trend from 20 years of measurements by a modified Microtops II. While TPW responded to El Niño-Southern Oscillation conditions, TPW exhibited no trend over the 30 years. The TPW data compare favorably with 4.5 years of simultaneous measurements by a nearby NOAA GPS (r2 = 0.78). The 30 years of ozone measurements compare favorably with those from a series of NASA ozone satellites (r2 = 0.78). In 2016, 194 comparisons of Microtops II and world standard ozone instrument Dobson 83 at the Mauna Loa Observatory agreed within 1.9% (r2 = 0.81). The paper concludes by observing that students and citizen scientists can collect scientifically useful atmospheric data with simple sun photometers that use one or more LEDs as spectrally selective photodiodes.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 701 ◽  
Author(s):  
Di Liu ◽  
Tianliang Zhao ◽  
Richard Boiyo ◽  
Siyu Chen ◽  
Zhengqi Lu ◽  
...  

The spatiotemporal and especially the vertical distributions of dust aerosols play crucial roles in the climatic effect of dust aerosol. In the present study, the spatial-temporal distribution of dust aerosols over East Asia was investigated using Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) retrievals (01/2007–12/2011) from the perspective of the frequency of dust occurrence (FDO), dust top layer height (TH) and profile of aerosol subtypes. The results showed that a typical dust belt was generated from the dust source regions (the Taklimakan and Gobi Deserts), in the latitude range of 25°N~45°N and reaching eastern China, Japan and Korea and, eventually, the Pacific Ocean. High dust frequencies were found over the dust source regions, with a seasonal sequence from high to low as follows: spring, summer, autumn and winter. Vertically, FDOs peaked at about 2 km over the dust source regions. In contrast, FDOs decreased with altitude over the downwind regions. On the dust belt from dust source regions to downwind regions, the dust top height (TH) was getting higher and higher. The dust TH varied in the range of 1.9–3.1 km above surface elevation (a.s.e.), with high values over the dust source regions and low values in the downwind areas, and a seasonally descending sequence of summer, spring, autumn and winter in accord with the seasonal variation of the boundary layer height. The annual AOD (Aerosol Optical Depth) was generally characterized by two high and two low AOD centers over East Asia. The percent contribution of the Dust Aerosol Optical Depth to the total AOD showed a seasonal variation from high to low as follows: spring, winter, autumn and summer. The vertical profile of the extinction coefficient revealed the predominance of pure dust particles in the dust source regions and a mixture of dust particles and pollutants in the downwind regions. The dust extinction coefficients over the Taklimakan Desert had a seasonal pattern from high to low as follows: spring, winter, summer and autumn. The results of the present study offered an understanding of the horizontal and vertical structures of dust aerosols over East Asia and can be used to evaluate the performance aerosol transport models.


2014 ◽  
Vol 997 ◽  
pp. 843-846 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hao Liu ◽  
Xin Ming Tang ◽  
Wei Cao ◽  
Zhi Ying Xie ◽  
Jing Han Lei ◽  
...  

Based on the monthly data of MODIS Level 3, the spatio-temporal variabilities of Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) over areas around Beijing have been analyzed from March 2000 to December 2013. The results presented that: (1) In the past 14 years , the annual mean AODs vary between 0.428 and 0.550; The recent 14 years can be divided into two stages, the first stage is 2000-2007, which shows an increasing trend with an increase rate of 1.349%, while the second stage is 2008-2013, which shows an decreasing trend with a decrease rate of 1.483%; Summer has the maximum AOD, but shows a decreasing trend, while winter has the minimum AOD, but shows an increasing trend. (2) AODs over the south are higher than the north, high AODs are mainly distributed along the southwest of Hebei and southwest of Shandong with an AOD of 0.72, while low AODs are mainly distributed along the north of Hebei and the north of Shanxi with an AOD of 0.23; The spatial distribution of AOD varies with the seasons, AODs are high in spring, and are maximized in summer, then show a significant decrease from summer to autumn, while are minimized in winter.


2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 55-62
Author(s):  
Said Fhazli

A Multifilter Rotating Shadowband Radiometer has been used to monitor the directly transmitted solar irradiance at six wavelength regions (413.9 nm, 494.6 nm, 612.7 nm, 670.8 nm, 868.0 nm and 939.1 nm) for three clear stable days at Bangi. Extensive observations of the columnar aerosol optical depth (AOD), total column ozone (TCO) and precipitable water content (PWC) have been carried out using this instrument. The result shows that the maximum optical depth of aerosol at the shorter wavelength, especially on 24th February 2002 with mean value of 0.254 (24th February 2002), 0.095 (25th February 2002), and 0.072 (26th February 2002) while the ozone optical depth shows the mean value 0.0153 on 24th February 2002, 0.0174 on 25thFebruary 2002 and 0.0175 on 26th February 2002 with the avarage absorption coefficient (a), 0.2 (24th and 26th February 2002) and 0.1 (25th February 2002). The mean value of water vapor content shows that  = 0.356 cm and k = 0.301 cm for wavelength 939.1 nm. From the aerosol optical depth, it shows the existence of smoke type of aerosol on February, 24th to 25th 2002 with Ångström coefficient, , is 1.534 and 1.5513, respectively, and sea water vapor is 0.9889 on 26thFebruary 2002. From the Ångström coefficient, it shows that atmosphere layer of Bangi at that moment is similar to U.S. Standard Atmosphere, with maximum spectral irradiance on black body temperature is 5860 oK.


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