scholarly journals Aerosol classification from airborne HSRL and comparisons with the CALIPSO vertical feature mask

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 1397-1412 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. P. Burton ◽  
R. A. Ferrare ◽  
M. A. Vaughan ◽  
A. H. Omar ◽  
R. R. Rogers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Spectral Resolution ◽  
Orthogonal Polarization ◽  
Dependent Observations ◽  
Direct Measurements ◽  
Aerosol Classification ◽  
Lidar Ratio ◽  
Langley Research Center ◽  
High Spectral Resolution Lidar ◽  
Aerosol Types ◽  
Aerosol Type

Abstract. Aerosol classification products from the NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) airborne High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL-1) on the NASA B200 aircraft are compared with coincident V3.01 aerosol classification products from the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) instrument on the CALIPSO satellite. For CALIOP, aerosol classification is a key input to the aerosol retrieval, and must be inferred using aerosol loading-dependent observations and location information. In contrast, HSRL-1 makes direct measurements of aerosol intensive properties, including the lidar ratio, that provide information on aerosol type. In this study, comparisons are made for 109 underflights of the CALIOP orbit track. We find that 62% of the CALIOP marine layers and 54% of the polluted continental layers agree with HSRL-1 classification results. In addition, 80% of the CALIOP desert dust layers are classified as either dust or dusty mix byHSRL-1. However, agreement is less for CALIOP smoke (13%) and polluted dust (35%) layers. Specific case studies are examined, giving insight into the performance of the CALIOP aerosol type algorithm. In particular, we find that the CALIOP polluted dust type is overused due to an attenuation-related depolarization bias. Furthermore, the polluted dust type frequently includes mixtures of dust plus marine aerosol. Finally, we find that CALIOP's identification of internal boundaries between different aerosol types in contact with each other frequently do not reflect the actual transitions between aerosol types accurately. Based on these findings, we give recommendations which may help to improve the CALIOP aerosol type algorithms.

scholarly journals Aerosol classification from airborne HSRL and comparisons with the CALIPSO vertical feature mask

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1815-1858 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. P. Burton ◽  
R. A. Ferrare ◽  
M. A. Vaughan ◽  
A. H. Omar ◽  
R. R. Rogers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Spectral Resolution ◽  
Dependent Observations ◽  
Aerosol Retrieval ◽  
Direct Measurements ◽  
Aerosol Classification ◽  
Lidar Ratio ◽  
Langley Research Center ◽  
High Spectral Resolution Lidar ◽  
Aerosol Types ◽  
Aerosol Type

Abstract. Aerosol classification products from the NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) airborne High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL-1) on the NASA B200 aircraft are compared with coincident V3.01 aerosol classification products from the CALIOP instrument on the CALIPSO satellite. For CALIOP, aerosol classification is a key input to the aerosol retrieval, and must be inferred using aerosol loading-dependent observations and location information. In contrast, HSRL-1 makes direct measurements of aerosol intensive properties, including the lidar ratio, that provide information on aerosol type. In this study, comparisons are made for 109 underflights of the CALIOP orbit track. We find that 62% of the CALIOP marine layers and 54% of the polluted continental layers agree with HSRL-1 classification results. In addition, 80% of the CALIOP desert dust layers are classified as either dust or dusty mix by HSRL-1. However, agreement is less for CALIOP smoke (13%) and polluted dust (35%) layers. Specific case studies are examined, giving insight into the performance of the CALIOP aerosol type algorithm. In particular, we find that the CALIOP polluted dust type is overused due to an attenuation-related depolarization bias. Furthermore, the polluted dust type frequently includes mixtures of dust plus marine aerosol. Finally, we find that CALIOP's identification of internal boundaries between different aerosol types in contact with each other frequently do not reflect the actual transitions between aerosol types accurately. Based on these findings, we give recommendations which may help to improve the CALIOP aerosol type algorithms.

scholarly journals Aerosol classification using airborne High Spectral Resolution Lidar measurements – methodology and examples

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. P. Burton ◽  
R. A. Ferrare ◽  
C. A. Hostetler ◽  
J. W. Hair ◽  
R. R. Rogers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spectral Resolution ◽  
High Spectral Resolution ◽  
Color Ratio ◽  
Lidar Measurements ◽  
Aerosol Classification ◽  
Langley Research Center ◽  
High Spectral Resolution Lidar ◽  
Aerosol Types ◽  
532 Nm ◽  
Aerosol Type

Abstract. The NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) airborne High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) on the NASA B200 aircraft has acquired extensive datasets of aerosol extinction (532 nm), aerosol optical depth (AOD) (532 nm), backscatter (532 and 1064 nm), and depolarization (532 and 1064 nm) profiles during 18 field missions that have been conducted over North America since 2006. The lidar measurements of aerosol intensive parameters (lidar ratio, depolarization, backscatter color ratio, and spectral depolarization ratio) are shown to vary with location and aerosol type. A methodology based on observations of known aerosol types is used to qualitatively classify the extensive set of HSRL aerosol measurements into eight separate types. Several examples are presented showing how the aerosol intensive parameters vary with aerosol type and how these aerosols are classified according to this new methodology. The HSRL-based classification reveals vertical variability of aerosol types during the NASA ARCTAS field experiment conducted over Alaska and northwest Canada during 2008. In two examples derived from flights conducted during ARCTAS, the HSRL classification of biomass burning smoke is shown to be consistent with aerosol types derived from coincident airborne in situ measurements of particle size and composition. The HSRL retrievals of AOD and inferences of aerosol types are used to apportion AOD to aerosol type; results of this analysis are shown for several experiments.

scholarly journals Aerosol classification using airborne High Spectral Resolution Lidar measurements – methodology and examples

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. 5631-5688 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. P. Burton ◽  
R. A. Ferrare ◽  
C. A. Hostetler ◽  
J. W. Hair ◽  
R. R. Rogers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spectral Resolution ◽  
High Spectral Resolution ◽  
Color Ratio ◽  
Lidar Measurements ◽  
Aerosol Classification ◽  
Langley Research Center ◽  
High Spectral Resolution Lidar ◽  
Aerosol Types ◽  
532 Nm ◽  
Aerosol Type

Abstract. The NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) airborne High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) on the NASA B200 aircraft has acquired extensive datasets of aerosol extinction (532 nm), aerosol optical thickness (AOT) (532 nm), backscatter (532 and 1064 nm), and depolarization (532 and 1064 nm) profiles during 18 field missions that have been conducted over North America since 2006. The lidar measurements of aerosol intensive parameters (lidar ratio, depolarization, backscatter color ratio, and spectral depolarization ratio) are shown to vary with location and aerosol type. A methodology based on observations of known aerosol types is used to qualitatively classify the extensive set of HSRL aerosol measurements into eight separate types. Several examples are presented showing how the aerosol intensive parameters vary with aerosol type and how these aerosols are classified according to this new methodology. The HSRL-based classification reveals vertical variability of aerosol types during the NASA ARCTAS field experiment conducted over Alaska and northwest Canada during 2008. In two examples derived from flights conducted during ARCTAS, the HSRL classification of biomass burning smoke is shown to be consistent with aerosol types derived from coincident airborne in situ measurements of particle size and composition. The HSRL retrievals of AOT and inferences of aerosol types are used to apportion AOT to aerosol type; results of this analysis are shown for several experiments.

scholarly journals Airborne high spectral resolution lidar observation of pollution aerosol during EUCAARI-LONGREX

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2435-2444 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Groß ◽  
M. Esselborn ◽  
F. Abicht ◽  
M. Wirth ◽  
A. Fix ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spectral Resolution ◽  
High Spectral Resolution ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Lidar Ratio ◽  
Linear Depolarization Ratio ◽  
High Spectral Resolution Lidar ◽  
Aerosol Types ◽  
Lidar Observations ◽  
Aerosol Type

Abstract. Airborne high spectral resolution lidar observations over Europe during the EUCAARI-LONGREX field experiment in May 2008 are analysed with respect to the optical properties of continental pollution aerosol. Continental pollution aerosol is characterized by its depolarisation and lidar ratio. Over all, the measurements of the lidar ratio and the particle linear depolarization ratio of pollution aerosols provide a narrow range of values. Therefore, this data set allows for a distinct characterization of the aerosol type "pollution aerosol" and thus is valuable both to distinguish continental pollution aerosol from other aerosol types and to determine mixtures with other types of aerosols.

scholarly journals Aerosol classification by airborne high spectral resolution lidar observations

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2487-2505 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Groß ◽  
M. Esselborn ◽  
B. Weinzierl ◽  
M. Wirth ◽  
A. Fix ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Spectral Resolution ◽  
Classification Scheme ◽  
In Situ Measurements ◽  
High Spectral Resolution ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Aerosol Classification ◽  
High Spectral Resolution Lidar ◽  
Aerosol Types

Abstract. During four aircraft field experiments with the DLR research aircraft Falcon in 1998 (LACE), 2006 (SAMUM-1) and 2008 (SAMUM-2 and EUCAARI), airborne High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) and in situ measurements of aerosol microphysical and optical properties were performed. Altogether, the properties of six different aerosol types and aerosol mixtures – Saharan mineral dust, Saharan dust mixtures, Canadian biomass burning aerosol, African biomass burning mixture, anthropogenic pollution aerosol, and marine aerosol have been studied. On the basis of this extensive HSRL data set, we present an aerosol classification scheme which is also capable to identify mixtures of different aerosol types. We calculated mixing lines that allowed us to determine the contributing aerosol types. The aerosol classification scheme was supported by backward trajectory analysis and validated with in-situ measurements. Our results demonstrate that the developed aerosol mask is capable to identify complex stratifications with different aerosol types throughout the atmosphere.

scholarly journals Assessment of the CALIPSO Lidar 532 nm attenuated backscatter calibration using the NASA LaRC airborne High Spectral Resolution Lidar

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 1295-1311 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. R. Rogers ◽  
C. A. Hostetler ◽  
J. W. Hair ◽  
R. A. Ferrare ◽  
Z. Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spectral Resolution ◽  
Extensive Study ◽  
Airborne Lidar ◽  
High Spectral Resolution ◽  
Orthogonal Polarization ◽  
Calibration Scheme ◽  
Data Products ◽  
Langley Research Center ◽  
High Spectral Resolution Lidar ◽  
532 Nm

Abstract. The Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) instrument on the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) spacecraft has provided global, high-resolution vertical profiles of aerosols and clouds since it became operational on 13 June 2006. On 14 June 2006, the NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) was deployed aboard the NASA Langley B-200 aircraft for the first of a series of 86 underflights of the CALIPSO satellite to provide validation measurements for the CALIOP data products. To better assess the range of conditions under which CALIOP data products are produced, these validation flights were conducted under both daytime and nighttime lighting conditions, in multiple seasons, and over a large range of latitudes and aerosol and cloud conditions. This paper presents a quantitative assessment of the CALIOP 532 nm calibration (through the 532 nm total attenuated backscatter) using internally calibrated airborne HSRL underflight data and is the most extensive study of CALIOP 532 nm calibration. Results show that HSRL and CALIOP 532 nm total attenuated backscatter agree on average within 2.7% ± 2.1% (CALIOP lower) at night and within 2.9% ± 3.9% (CALIOP lower) during the day, demonstrating the accuracy of the CALIOP 532 nm calibration algorithms. Additionally, comparisons with HSRL show consistency of the CALIOP calibration before and after the laser switch in 2009 as well as improvements in the daytime version 3.01 calibration scheme compared with the version 2 calibration scheme. Potential biases and uncertainties in the methodology relevant to validating satellite lidar measurements with an airborne lidar system are discussed and found to be less than 4.5% ± 3.2% for this validation effort with HSRL. Results from this study are also compared with prior assessments of the CALIOP 532 nm attenuated backscatter calibration.

scholarly journals Looking through the haze: evaluating the CALIPSO level 2 aerosol optical depth using airborne high spectral resolution lidar data

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 6141-6204 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. R. Rogers ◽  
M. A. Vaughan ◽  
C. A. Hostetler ◽  
S. P. Burton ◽  
R. A. Ferrare ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Optical Depth ◽  
Spectral Resolution ◽  
Detection Threshold ◽  
High Spectral Resolution ◽  
Orthogonal Polarization ◽  
Aerosol Layer ◽  
Uncertainty Estimates ◽  
Lidar Ratio ◽  
High Spectral Resolution Lidar ◽  
Level 2

Abstract. The Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) instrument onboard the Cloud Aerosol Lidar and Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) spacecraft has provided over 8 years of nearly continuous vertical profiling of Earth's atmosphere. In this paper we investigate the CALIOP 532 nm aerosol layer optical depth (AOD) product, the AOD of individual layers, and the column AOD product, the sum AOD of the complete column, using an extensive database of coincident measurements. The CALIOP AOD measurements and AOD uncertainty estimates are compared with collocated AOD measurements collected with the NASA High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) in the North American and Caribbean regions. In addition, the CALIOP aerosol lidar ratios are investigated using the HSRL measurements. In general, compared with the HSRL values, the CALIOP layer AOD are biased high by less than 50% for AOD < 0.3 with higher errors for higher AOD. Less than 60% of the HSRL AOD measurements are encompassed within the CALIOP layer one-standard-deviation uncertainty range (around the CALIOP layer AOD), so an error estimate is created to encompass 68% of the HSRL data. Using this new metric, the CALIOP layer AOD error is estimated using the HSRL layer AOD as ± 0.035 ± 0.05 · (HSRL layer AOD) at night and ±0.05 ± 0.05 · (HSRL layer AOD) during the daytime. Furthermore, the CALIOP layer AOD error is found to correlate with aerosol loading as well as aerosol subtype, with the AODs in marine and dust layers agreeing most closely with the HSRL values. The lidar ratios used by CALIOP for polluted dust, polluted continental, and biomass burning layers are larger than the values measured by the HSRL in the CALIOP layers, and, therefore, the AODs for these types retrieved by CALIOP were generally too large. We estimated the CALIOP column AOD error can be expressed as ± 0.05 ± 0.07 · (HSRL column AOD) at night and ± 0.08 ± 0.1 · (HSRL column AOD) during the daytime. Multiple sources of error contribute to both positive and negative errors in the CALIOP column AOD, including multiple layers in the column of different aerosol types, lidar ratio errors, cloud misclassification, and undetected aerosol layers. The undetected layers were further investigated and we found that the layer detection algorithm works well at night, although undetected aerosols in the free troposphere introduce a mean underestimate of 0.02 in the column AOD in the dataset examined. The decreased SNR during the daytime led to poorer performance of the layer detection. This caused the daytime CALIOP column AOD to be less accurate than during the nighttime because CALIOP frequently does not detect optically thin aerosol layers with AOD < 0.1. Given that the median vertical extent of aerosol detected within any column was 1.6 km during the nighttime and 1.5 km during the daytime we can estimate the minimum extinction detection threshold to be 0.012 km−1 at night and 0.067 km−1 during the daytime in a layer median sense. This extensive validation of level 2 CALIOP aerosol layer optical depth products extends previous validation studies to nighttime lighting conditions and provides independent measurements of the lidar ratio, thus allowing the assessment of the effect on the CALIOP AOD of using inappropriate lidar ratio values in the extinction retrieval.

scholarly journals Assessment of the CALIPSO Lidar 532 nm attenuated backscatter calibration using the NASA LaRC Airborne High Spectral Resolution Lidar

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 28355-28398 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. R. Rogers ◽  
C. A. Hostetler ◽  
J. W. Hair ◽  
R. A. Ferrare ◽  
Z. Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spectral Resolution ◽  
Extensive Study ◽  
Airborne Lidar ◽  
High Spectral Resolution ◽  
Orthogonal Polarization ◽  
Calibration Scheme ◽  
Data Products ◽  
Langley Research Center ◽  
High Spectral Resolution Lidar ◽  
532 Nm

Abstract. The Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) instrument on the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) spacecraft has provided global, high-resolution vertical profiles of aerosols and clouds since it became operational on 13 June 2006. On 14 June 2006, the NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) was deployed aboard the NASA Langley B-200 aircraft for the first of a series of 86 underflights of the CALIPSO satellite to provide validation measurements for the CALIOP data products. To better assess the range of conditions under which CALIOP data products are produced, these validation flights were conducted under both daytime and nighttime lighting conditions, in multiple seasons, and over a large range of latitudes and aerosol and cloud conditions. This paper presents a quantitative assessment of the CALIOP 532 nm calibration (through the 532 nm total attenuated backscatter) using an internally calibrated airborne HSRL underflight data and is the most extensive study of CALIOP 532 nm calibration. Results show that average HSRL and CALIOP 532 nm total attenuated backscatter agree on average within 2.7±2.1% (CALIOP lower) at night and within 2.9±3.9% (CALIOP lower) during the day, demonstrating the accuracy of the CALIOP 532 nm calibration algorithms. Additionally, comparisons with HSRL show consistency of the CALIOP calibration before and after the laser switch in 2009 as well as improvements in the daytime version 3.01 calibration scheme compared with the version 2 calibration scheme. Potential systematic uncertainties in the methodology relevant to validating satellite lidar measurements with an airborne lidar system are discussed and found to be less than 3.7% for this validation effort with HSRL. Results from this study are also compared to prior assessments of the CALIOP 532 nm attenuated backscatter calibration.

scholarly journals Aerosol classification by airborne high spectral resolution lidar observations

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 25983-26028 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Groß ◽  
M. Esselborn ◽  
B. Weinzierl ◽  
M. Wirth ◽  
A. Fix ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Spectral Resolution ◽  
Classification Scheme ◽  
In Situ Measurements ◽  
High Spectral Resolution ◽  
Aerosol Classification ◽  
Biomass Burning Aerosol ◽  
High Spectral Resolution Lidar ◽  
Aerosol Types

Abstract. During four aircraft field experiments with the DLR research aircraft Falcon in 1998 (LACE), 2006 (SAMUM-1) and 2008 (SAMUM-2 and EUCAARI), airborne High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) and in situ measurements of aerosol microphysical and optical properties were performed. Altogether, the properties of six different aerosol types and aerosol mixtures – Saharan mineral dust, Saharan dust mixtures, Canadian biomass burning aerosol, African biomass burning aerosol, anthropogenic pollution aerosol, and marine aerosol have been studied. On the basis of this extensive HSRL data set, we present an aerosol classification scheme which is also capable to identify mixtures of different aerosol types. We calculated mixing lines that allowed us to determine the contributing aerosol types. The aerosol classification scheme was validated with in-situ measurements and backward trajectory analyses. Our results demonstrate that the developed aerosol mask is capable to identify complex stratifications with different aerosol types throughout the atmosphere.

scholarly journals The CALIPSO Automated Aerosol Classification and Lidar Ratio Selection Algorithm

2009 ◽  
Vol 26 (10) ◽  
pp. 1994-2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali H. Omar ◽  
David M. Winker ◽  
Mark A. Vaughan ◽  
Yongxiang Hu ◽  
Charles R. Trepte ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Identification Algorithm ◽  
Surface Type ◽  
Aerosol Classification ◽  
Lidar Ratio ◽  
One Year ◽  
Aerosol Types ◽  
532 Nm ◽  
Level 2 ◽  
Aerosol Type

Abstract Descriptions are provided of the aerosol classification algorithms and the extinction-to-backscatter ratio (lidar ratio) selection schemes for the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) aerosol products. One year of CALIPSO level 2 version 2 data are analyzed to assess the veracity of the CALIPSO aerosol-type identification algorithm and generate vertically resolved distributions of aerosol types and their respective optical characteristics. To assess the robustness of the algorithm, the interannual variability is analyzed by using a fixed season (June–August) and aerosol type (polluted dust) over two consecutive years (2006 and 2007). The CALIPSO models define six aerosol types: clean continental, clean marine, dust, polluted continental, polluted dust, and smoke, with 532-nm (1064 nm) extinction-to-backscatter ratios Sa of 35 (30), 20 (45), 40 (55), 70 (30), 65 (30), and 70 (40) sr, respectively. This paper presents the global distributions of the CALIPSO aerosol types, the complementary distributions of integrated attenuated backscatter, and the volume depolarization ratio for each type. The aerosol-type distributions are further partitioned according to surface type (land/ocean) and detection resolution (5, 20, and 80 km) for optical and spatial context, because the optically thick layers are found most often at the smallest spatial resolution. Except for clean marine and polluted continental, all the aerosol types are found preferentially at the 80-km resolution. Nearly 80% of the smoke cases and 60% of the polluted dust cases are found over water, whereas dust and polluted continental cases are found over both land and water at comparable frequencies. Because the CALIPSO observables do not sufficiently constrain the determination of the aerosol, the surface type is used to augment the selection criteria. Distributions of the total attenuated color ratios show that the use of surface type in the typing algorithm does not result in abrupt and artificial changes in aerosol type or extinction.

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