scholarly journals Four-year long-path monitoring of ambient aerosol extinction at a central European urban site: dependence on relative humidity

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (8) ◽  
pp. 12583-12616
Author(s):  
A. Skupin ◽  
A. Ansmann ◽  
R. Engelmann ◽  
P. Seifert ◽  
T. Müller
Keyword(s):  
Relative Humidity ◽  
Extinction Coefficient ◽  
Enhancement Factor ◽  
Urban Site ◽  
Aerosol Extinction ◽  
Ambient Aerosol ◽  
Local Pollution ◽  
Angstrom Exponent ◽  
Ångström Exponent ◽  
Ångstrom Exponent

Abstract. The ambient aerosol particle extinction coefficient is measured with the Spectral Aerosol Extinction Monitoring System (SÆMS) along a 2.84 km horizontal path at 30–50 m height above ground in the urban environment of Leipzig (51.3° N, 12.4° E), Germany, since 2009. The dependence of the particle extinction coefficient (wavelength range from 300–1000 nm) on relative humidity up to almost 100% was investigated. The main results are presented. For the wavelength of 550 nm, the mean extinction enhancement factor was found to be 1.75 ± 0.4 for an increase of relative humidity from 40 to 80%. The respective four-year mean extinction enhancement factor is 2.8 ± 0.6 for a relative-humidty increase from 40 to 95%. A parameterization of the dependency of the urban particle extinction coefficient on relative humidity is presented. A mean hygroscopic exponent of 0.463 for the 2009–2012 period was determined. Based on a backward trajectory cluster analysis, the dependence of several aerosol optical properties for eight air flow regimes was investigated. Large differences were not found indicating that local pollution sources widely control the aerosol conditions over the urban site. The comparison of the SÆMS extinction coefficient statistics with respective statistics from ambient AERONET sun photometer observations yield good agreement. Also, time series of the particle extinction coefficient computed from in-situ-measured dry particle size distributions and humidity-corrected SÆMS extinction values (for 40% relative humidity) were found in good overall consistency, which corroborates the applicability of the developed humidity parameterization scheme. The analysis of the spectral dependence of particle extinction (Ångström exponent) revealed an increase of the 390–881 nm Ångström exponent from, on average, 0.3 (at 30% relative humidity) to 1.3 (at 95% relative humidity) for the four-year period.

scholarly journals Four-year long-path monitoring of ambient aerosol extinction at a central European urban site: dependence on relative humidity

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 1863-1876 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Skupin ◽  
A. Ansmann ◽  
R. Engelmann ◽  
P. Seifert ◽  
T. Müller
Keyword(s):  
Relative Humidity ◽  
Extinction Coefficient ◽  
Enhancement Factor ◽  
Urban Site ◽  
Aerosol Extinction ◽  
Ambient Aerosol ◽  
Local Pollution ◽  
Angstrom Exponent ◽  
Ångström Exponent ◽  
Ångstrom Exponent

Abstract. The ambient aerosol particle extinction coefficient is measured with the Spectral Aerosol Extinction Monitoring System (SÆMS) along a 2.84 km horizontal path at 30–50 m height above ground in the urban environment of Leipzig (51.3° N, 12.4° E), Germany, since 2009. The dependence of the particle extinction coefficient (wavelength range from 300 to 1000 nm) on relative humidity up to almost 100 % was investigated. The main results are presented. For the wavelength of 550 nm, the mean extinction enhancement factor was found to be 1.75 ± 0.4 for an increase of relative humidity from 40 to 80 %. The respective 4-year mean extinction enhancement factor is 2.8 ± 0.6 for a relative-humidity increase from 40 to 95 %. A parameterization of the dependency of the urban particle extinction coefficient on relative humidity is presented. A mean hygroscopic exponent of 0.46 for the 2009–2012 period was determined. Based on a backward trajectory cluster analysis, the dependence of several aerosol optical properties for eight air flow regimes was investigated. Large differences were not found, indicating that local pollution sources widely control the aerosol conditions over the urban site. The comparison of the SÆMS extinction coefficient statistics with respective statistics from ambient AERONET sun photometer observations yields good agreement. Also, time series of the particle extinction coefficient computed from in situ-measured dry particle size distributions and humidity-corrected SÆMS extinction values (for 40 % relative humidity) were found in good overall consistency, which verifies the applicability of the developed humidity parameterization scheme. The analysis of the spectral dependence of particle extinction (Ångström exponent) revealed an increase of the 390–881 nm Ångström exponent from, on average, 0.3 (at 30 % relative humidity) to 1.3 (at 95 % relative humidity) for the 4-year period.

scholarly journals Stratospheric aerosol characteristics from space-borne observations: extinction coefficient and Ångström exponent

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizaveta Malinina ◽  
Alexei Rozanov ◽  
Landon Rieger ◽  
Adam Bourassa ◽  
Heinrich Bovensmann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Extinction Coefficient ◽  
Simple Relation ◽  
Stratospheric Aerosol ◽  
Accurate Information ◽  
Aerosol Extinction ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Extinction Coefficients ◽  
Angstrom Exponent ◽  
Ångström Exponent ◽  
Ångstrom Exponent

Abstract. Stratospheric aerosols are of a great importance to the scientific community, predominantly because of their role in climate, but also because accurate knowledge of aerosol characteristics is relevant for trace gases retrievals from remote sensing instruments. There are several data sets published which provide aerosol extinction coefficients in the stratosphere. However, for the instruments measuring in the limb viewing geometry, the use of this parameter is associated with uncertainties resulting from the need to assume an aerosol particle size distribution (PSD) within the retrieval process. These uncertainties can be mitigated if PSD information is retrieved. While occultation instruments provide more accurate information on the aerosol extinction coefficient, in this study, it was shown that limb instruments have better potential for the PSD retrieval, especially during the background aerosol loading periods. A data set containing PSD information was recently retrieved from SCIAMACHY limb measurements and provides two parameters of the log-normal PSD for the SCIAMACHY operational period (2002–2012). In this study, the data set is expanded by aerosol extinction coefficients and Ångström exponents calculated from the retrieved PSD parameters. Errors in the Ångström exponents and aerosol extinction coefficients are assessed using synthetic retrievals. For the extinction coefficient the resulting accuracy is within ±25 %, and for the Ångström exponent, it is better than 10 %. The recalculated SCIAMACHY aerosol extinction coefficients are compared to those from SAGE II. The differences between the instruments vary from 0 to 25 % depending on the wavelength. Ångström exponent comparison with SAGE II shows differences between 10 % at 31 km and 40 % at 18 km. Comparisons with SAGE II, however, suffer from the low amount of collocated profiles. Furthermore, the Ångström exponents obtained from the limb viewing instrument OSIRIS are used for the comparison. This comparison shows an average difference within 7 %. The time series of these differences do not show signatures of any remarkable events. Besides, the temporal behavior of the Ångström exponent in the tropics is analyzed using the SCIAMACHY data set. It is shown, that there is no simple relation between the Ångström exponent and the PSD because the same value of Ångström exponent can be obtained from an infinite number of combinations of the PSD parameters.

scholarly journals Stratospheric aerosol characteristics from space-borne observations: extinction coefficient and Ångström exponent

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 3485-3502 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizaveta Malinina ◽  
Alexei Rozanov ◽  
Landon Rieger ◽  
Adam Bourassa ◽  
Heinrich Bovensmann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Extinction Coefficient ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Accurate Information ◽  
Aerosol Extinction ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Temporal Behaviour ◽  
Extinction Coefficients ◽  
Angstrom Exponent ◽  
Ångström Exponent ◽  
Ångstrom Exponent

Abstract. Stratospheric aerosols are of a great importance to the scientific community, predominantly because of their role in climate, but also because accurate knowledge of aerosol characteristics is relevant for trace gas retrievals from remote-sensing instruments. There are several data sets published which provide aerosol extinction coefficients in the stratosphere. However, for the instruments measuring in the limb-viewing geometry, the use of this parameter is associated with uncertainties resulting from the need to assume an aerosol particle size distribution (PSD) within the retrieval process. These uncertainties can be mitigated if PSD information is retrieved. While occultation instruments provide more accurate information on the aerosol extinction coefficient, in this study, it was shown that limb instruments are more sensitive to the smaller particles in the visible–near-infrared spectral range. However, the sensitivity of occultation instruments improves if the UV part of the wavelength spectrum is considered. A data set containing PSD information was recently retrieved from SCIAMACHY limb measurements and provides two parameters of the unimodal lognormal PSD for the SCIAMACHY operational period (2002–2012). In this study, the data set is expanded by aerosol extinction coefficients and Ångström exponents calculated from the retrieved PSD parameters. Parameter errors for the recalculated Ångström exponents and aerosol extinction coefficients are assessed using synthetic retrievals. For the extinction coefficient the resulting parameter error is within ±25 %, and for the Ångström exponent, it is better than 10 %. The SCIAMACHY aerosol extinction coefficients recalculated from PSD parameters are compared to those from SAGE II. The differences between the instruments vary from 0 % to 25 % depending on the wavelength. Ångström exponent comparison with SAGE II shows differences between 10 % at 31 km and 40 % at 18 km. Comparisons with SAGE II, however, suffer from the low number of collocated profiles. Furthermore, the Ångström exponents obtained from the limb-viewing instrument OSIRIS are used for the comparison. This comparison shows an average difference within 7 %. The time series of these differences do not show signatures of any remarkable events (e.g., volcanic eruptions or biomass burning events). In addition, the temporal behaviour of the Ångström exponent in the tropics is analyzed using the SCIAMACHY data set. It is shown that there is no trivial relation between the Ångström exponent value at a single wavelength pair and the PSD because the same value of Ångström exponent can be obtained from an infinite number of combinations of the PSD parameters.

scholarly journals Feasibility Studies of the Three-Wavelength Mie-Scattering Polarization Scheimpflug Lidar Technique

2020 ◽  
Vol 237 ◽  
pp. 02013
Author(s):  
Zheng Kong ◽  
Teng Ma ◽  
Zhenfeng Gong ◽  
Kun Liu ◽  
Liang Mei
Keyword(s):  
Extinction Coefficient ◽  
Mie Scattering ◽  
Light Sources ◽  
Aerosol Extinction ◽  
Lidar System ◽  
Multimode Laser ◽  
Angstrom Exponent ◽  
Ångström Exponent ◽  
Aerosol Extinction Coefficient ◽  
Ångstrom Exponent

A three-wavelength Mie-scattering polarization Scheimpflug lidar system, utilizing 808-nm, 520-nm and 405-nm multimode laser diodes as light sources and two CMOS sensors as detectors, is developed for the studies of the aerosol extinction coefficient, depolarization ratio and the Ångström exponent. Atmospheric monitoring has been carried out on a near horizontal path from 23:00 January 14th to 06:00 January 15th, 2019 at Dalian, which is a coast city in Northern China. By studying the depolarization, aerosol extinction coefficient and Ångström exponent, it has been found out that a strong north wind blew away local spherical haze particles and brought external non-spherical large-size particles. The measurement results indicated a promising future of employing the present three-wavelength polarization Scheimpflug lidar system in the applications of atmospheric remote sensing.

scholarly journals A Global Space-based Stratospheric Aerosol Climatology (Version 2.0): 1979–2018

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahesh Kovilakam ◽  
Larry Thomason ◽  
Nicholas Ernest ◽  
Landon Rieger ◽  
Adam Bourassa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lower Stratosphere ◽  
Stratospheric Aerosol ◽  
Aerosol Extinction ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Angstrom Exponent ◽  
Global Space ◽  
Ångström Exponent ◽  
Version 2.0 ◽  
532 Nm ◽  
Ångstrom Exponent

Abstract. A robust stratospheric aerosol climate data record enables the depiction of the radiative forcing of this highly variable component of climate. Since stratospheric aerosol also plays a key role in the chemical processes leading to ozone depletion, stratosphere is one of the crucial parameters in understanding climate change in the past and potential changes in the future. As a part of Stratospheric-tropospheric Processes and their Role in Climate (SPARC) Stratospheric Sulfur and its Role in Climate (SSiRC) activity, the Global Space-based Stratospheric Aerosol Climatology (GloSSAC) was created (Thomason et al., 2018) to support the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP)’s Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) (Zanchettin et al., 2016). This data set is a follow-on to one created as a part of Stratosphere-Troposphere Process and their Role in Climate Project (SPARC)’s Assessment of Stratospheric Aerosol Properties (ASAP) activity(SPARC, 2006) and a data created for Chemistry-Climate Model Initiative (CCMI) in 2012 (Eyring and Lamarque, 2012). Herein, we discuss changes to the original release version including those as a part of v1.1 that was released in September 2018 that primarily corrects an error in the conversion of Cryogenic Limb Array Etalon Spectrometer (CLAES) data to Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) II wavelengths, and the new release, v2.0. Version 2.0 is focused on improving the post-SAGE II era (after 2005) with the goal to mitigate elevated aerosol extinction in the lower stratosphere at mid and high latitudes noted in v1.0 as noted in Thomason et al. (2018). Changes include the use of version 7.0 of Optical Spectrograph and InfraRed Imaging System(OSIRIS), the recently released Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) Lidar Level 3 Stratospheric Aerosol profile monthly product, and the new addition of SAGE III/ISS. Although, the version 7.0 OSIRIS data is substantially improved at its native wavelength of 750 nm, conversion to 525 nm using a constant Angstrom exponent often results in disagreements with SAGEII/ SAGE III/ISS overlap measurements. We, therefore use an observed relationship between OSIRIS extinction at 750 nm and SAGEII/SAGE III/ISS extinction at 525 nm to derive Altitude-Latitude based monthly climatology of Angstrom exponent to compute extinction at 525 nm, resulting in a better agreement between OSIRIS and SAGE measurements. We employ a similar approach to convert OSIRIS 750 nm extinction to 1020 nm extinction for the post-SAGEII period. Additionally, we incorporate the recently released standard CALIPSO stratospheric aerosol profile monthly product into GloSSAC with an improved conversion technique of 532 nm backscatter coefficient to extinction using an observed relationship between OSIRIS 525 nm extinction and CALIPSO 532 nm backscatter. We also investigate for any cloud contamination in OSIRIS/standard CALIPSO stratospheric aerosol product, which may have caused apparent enhancement in the aerosol extinction particularly in the lower stratosphere. SAGE III/ISS data is also incorporated in GloSSAC to extend the climatology to the present and to test the approach used to correct OSIRIS/CALIPSO data. The GloSSAC v2.0 netcdf file is accessible at https://doi.org/10.5067/glossac-l3-v2.0 (Thomason, 2020).

scholarly journals Characteristics of aerosol vertical profiles in Tsukuba, Japan, and their impacts on the evolution of the atmospheric boundary layer

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 3031-3046 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rei Kudo ◽  
Toshinori Aoyagi ◽  
Tomoaki Nishizawa
Keyword(s):  
Optical Properties ◽  
Optical Thickness ◽  
Extinction Coefficient ◽  
Vertical Profiles ◽  
Direct Heating ◽  
Angstrom Exponent ◽  
Sensitivity Experiments ◽  
Ångström Exponent ◽  
Capping Inversion ◽  
Ångstrom Exponent

Abstract. Vertical profiles of the aerosol physical and optical properties, with a focus on seasonal means and on transport events, were investigated in Tsukuba, Japan, by a synergistic remote sensing method that uses lidar and sky radiometer data. The retrieved aerosol vertical profiles of the springtime mean and five transport events were input to our developed one-dimensional atmospheric model, and the impacts of the aerosol vertical profiles on the evolution of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) were studied by numerical sensitivity experiments. The characteristics of the aerosol vertical profiles in Tsukuba are as follows: (1) the retrieval results in the spring showed that aerosol optical thickness at 532 nm in the free atmosphere (FA) was 0.13, greater than 0.08 in the ABL owing to the frequent occurrence of transported aerosols in the FA. In other seasons, optical thickness in the FA was almost the same as that in the ABL. (2) The aerosol optical and physical properties in the ABL showed a dependency on the extinction coefficient. With an increase in the extinction coefficient from 0.00 to 0.24 km−1, the Ångström exponent increased from 0.0 to 2.0, the single-scattering albedo increased from 0.87 to 0.99, and the asymmetry factor decreased from 0.75 to 0.50. (3) The large variability in the physical and optical properties of aerosols in the FA were attributed to transport events, during which the transported aerosols consisted of varying amounts of dust and smoke particles depending on where they originated (China, Mongolia, or Russia). The results of the numerical sensitivity experiments using the aerosol vertical profiles of the springtime mean and five transport events in the FA are as follows: (1) numerical sensitivity experiments based on simulations conducted with and without aerosols showed that aerosols caused the net downward radiation and the sensible and latent heat fluxes at the surface to decrease. The decrease in temperature in the ABL (−0.2 to −0.6 K) and the direct heating of aerosols in the FA (0.0 to 0.4 K) strengthened the capping inversion around the top of the ABL. Consequently, the ABL height was decreased by 133 to 208 m in simulations with aerosols compared to simulations without aerosols. (2) We also conducted simulations in which all aerosols were compressed into the ABL but in which the columnar properties were the same and compared with the simulation results for uncompressed aerosol profiles. The results showed that the reductions in net downward radiation and in sensible and latent heat fluxes were the same in both types of simulations. However, the capping inversion in the simulations with compression was weakened owing to aerosol direct heating in the ABL and the lack of direct heating in the FA. This resulted in an increase in the ABL height, compared with that in the simulations without compression. (3) The dependencies of the 2 m temperature and ABL height on the optical thickness and Ångström exponent in the FA were investigated using the results of the numerical sensitivity tests. The 2 m temperature and ABL height was decreased with an increase in the optical thickness, and their reduction rates increase with a decrease in the Ångström exponent because the optical thickness in the near-infrared wavelength region was large when the Ångström exponent was small. However, there was a case in which the Ångström exponent was large but the decrease in the ABL height was the largest of all the simulation results. In this case, the strong capping inversion due to the large extinction coefficient around the top of the ABL was an import factor. These results suggest that the vertical profiles of the aerosol physical and optical properties, and the resulting direct heating has important effects on the ABL evolution.

scholarly journals Cloud processing, cloud evaporation and Angström exponent

2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 12721-12736
Author(s):  
G.-J. Roelofs ◽  
V. Kamphuis
Keyword(s):  
Relative Humidity ◽  
Relative Dispersion ◽  
Cloud Processing ◽  
Angstrom Exponent ◽  
Aerosol Distribution ◽  
Ångström Exponent ◽  
Direct Interpretation ◽  
Fine Mode ◽  
Aerosol Cloud Interactions ◽  
Ångstrom Exponent

Abstract. With a cloud parcel model we investigated how cloud processing and cloud evaporation modify the size distribution and the Angström exponent of an aerosol population. Cloud processing causes a decrease in particle concentrations, relatively most efficiently in the coarse mode, and reduces the relative dispersion of the aerosol distribution. As a result the Angström exponent of the aerosol increases. The Angström exponent is subject to other influences. It is very sensitive for relative humidity, especially between 95% and 100%. In addition, kinetic limitations delay droplet evaporation during cloud dissipation, which hampers a direct relation between the Angström exponent and the relative humidity. Consequently, a direct interpretation of the Angström exponent in terms of aerosol properties that play a role in aerosol-cloud interactions, such as the fine mode fraction, is rather complex.

Case Study of the Relationship between Aerosol Angstrom Exponent and Relative Humidity

2015 ◽  
Vol 42 (7) ◽  
pp. 0713002 ◽  
Author(s):  
伯广宇 Bo Guangyu ◽  
谢晨波 Xie Chenbo ◽  
王邦新 Wang Bangxin ◽  
吴德成 Wu Decheng ◽  
钟志庆 Zhong Zhiqing
Keyword(s):  
Relative Humidity ◽  
Angstrom Exponent ◽  
Ångström Exponent ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Ångstrom Exponent

scholarly journals Cloud processing, cloud evaporation and Angström exponent

2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
G.-J. Roelofs ◽  
V. Kamphuis
Keyword(s):  
Relative Humidity ◽  
Optical Thickness ◽  
Aerosol Optical Thickness ◽  
Relative Dispersion ◽  
Cloud Processing ◽  
Angstrom Exponent ◽  
Ambient Relative Humidity ◽  
Coarse Mode ◽  
Ångström Exponent ◽  
Ångstrom Exponent

Abstract. With a cloud parcel model we investigate how cloud processing and cloud evaporation modify the size distribution and the Angström exponent of an aerosol population. Our study provides a new explanation for the observed variability of the aerosol optical thickness and Angström exponent in the vicinity of clouds. Cloud processing causes a decrease of aerosol particle concentrations, relatively most efficiently in the coarse mode, and reduces the relative dispersion of the aerosol distribution. As a result the Angström exponent of the aerosol increases. The Angström exponent is very sensitive for changes in relative humidity during cloud evaporation, especially between 90% and 100%. In addition, kinetic limitations delay evaporation of relatively large cloud drops, especially in clean and mildly polluted environments where the coarse mode fraction is relatively large. This hampers a direct relation between the aerosol optical thickness, the Angström exponent and the ambient relative humidity, which may severely complicate interpretation of these parameters in terms of aerosol properties, such as the fine mode fraction.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document