Abstract. Airborne particles or aerosols have long been recognized for their major contribution to uncertainty in climate change. In addition, aerosol amounts must be known for accurate atmospheric correction of remotely sensed images, and are required to accurately gauge the available solar resource. However, despite great advances in surface networks and satellite retrievals over recent years, long-term continental-scale aerosol data sets are lacking. Here we present an aerosol assessment over Australia based on combined sun photometer measurements from the Bureau of Meteorology Radiation Network and CSIRO/AeroSpan. The measurements are continental in coverage, comprising 22 stations, and generally decadal in time-scale, totalling 207 station-years. Spectral decomposition shows that the time series can be represented as a weighted sum of sinusoids with periods of 12, 6 and 4 months, corresponding to the annual cycle and its second and third harmonics. Their relative amplitudes and phase relationships leads to sawtooth-like waveforms sharply rising to an austral spring peak, with a slower decline often including a secondary peak during the summer. The amplitude and phase of these periodic components show significant regional change across the continent. Fits based on this harmonic analysis are used to separate the periodic and episodic components of the aerosol time series. Classification of the aerosol types is undertaken based on (a) the spectral variation of the optical depth expressed in the Ångström exponent, (b) the Fourier decomposition, and (c) the ratio of episodic to periodic variation in aerosol optical depth. It is shown that Australian aerosol can be broadly grouped into three classes: Temperate, Arid, and Tropical. The Temperate class is characterised by a small amplitude periodic component, with an increasing episodic component toward the fire-prone Eucalypt forests of the south-east. Arid zone aerosol has a larger periodic component, with pronounced twin spring-summer peaks, and an increasing episodic component towards active dust source regions. Tropical aerosol is characterised by a very large periodic component due to seasonal biomass burning in the savanna belt, with significant interannual variability due to variation in the strength of the monsoon and its effect on the fuel source. Statistically significant decadal trends are found at 4 of the 22 stations. Despite the apparently small associated declining trends in mid-visible aerosol optical depth of between 0.001 to 0.002 per year, these trends are much larger than those projected to occur due to declining emissions of anthropogenic aerosols from the northern hemisphere. There is remarkable long-range coherence in the aerosol cycle across the continent, suggesting broadly similar source characteristics, including a possible role for inter-continental transport of biomass burning aerosol.
Reviewer comment on „An Aerosol Optical Depth time series 1982-2014 for atmospheric correction based on OMI and TOMS Aerosol Index“ by Emmihenna Jääskeläinen, Terhikki Manninen, Johanna Tamminen, and Marko Laine, submitted to AMT
