Articles | Volume 21, issue 9
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6781-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6781-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Measurement report
| 
05 May 2021
Measurement report |
| 05 May 2021
| 05 May 2021
Measurement report: Balloon-borne in situ profiling of Saharan dust over Cyprus with the UCASS optical particle counter
Climate and Atmosphere Research Center (CARE-C), The Cyprus Institute, Nicosia, Cyprus
Centre for Atmospheric and Climate Physics Research (CACP), University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, United Kingdom
Matthias Tesche
Centre for Atmospheric and Climate Physics Research (CACP), University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, United Kingdom
now at: Leipzig Institute for Meteorology (LIM), Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
Helen Smith
Centre for Atmospheric and Climate Physics Research (CACP), University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, United Kingdom
now at: TruLife Optics Ltd, London, United Kingdom
Alexandra Tsekeri
National Observatory of Athens, Athens, Greece
Holger Baars
Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research, Leipzig, Germany
Maximilian Dollner
Faculty of Physics, Aerosol Physics and Environmental Physics, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
Víctor Estellés
Earth Physics and Thermodynamics Department, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
ISAC-CNR, Rome, Italy
Johannes Bühl
Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research, Leipzig, Germany
Bernadett Weinzierl
Faculty of Physics, Aerosol Physics and Environmental Physics, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
Zbigniew Ulanowski
Centre for Atmospheric and Climate Physics Research (CACP), University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, United Kingdom
School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
British Antarctic Survey, NERC, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Detlef Müller
Centre for Atmospheric and Climate Physics Research (CACP), University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, United Kingdom
Vassilis Amiridis
National Observatory of Athens, Athens, Greece
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Emmanouil Proestakis, Kyriakoula Papachristopoulou, Thanasis Georgiou, Sofia Eirini Chatoutsidou, Mihalis Lazaridis, Antonis Gkikas, Ilias Fountoulakis, Ioanna Tsikοudi, Manolis P. Petrakis, and Vassilis Amiridis
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This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Measurement Techniques (AMT).
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The Aeolus satellite's lidar system had limitations in detecting certain atmospheric layers and distinguishing between aerosol and cloud types. To improve accuracy, a new dust detection product was developed. By combining data from various sources and validating it with ground-based measurements, this enhanced product performs better than the original. It helps improve dust transport models and weather predictions, making it a valuable tool for atmospheric monitoring and forecasting.
Benedikt Gast, Cristofer Jimenez, Albert Ansmann, Moritz Haarig, Ronny Engelmann, Felix Fritzsch, Athena A. Floutsi, Hannes Griesche, Kevin Ohneiser, Julian Hofer, Martin Radenz, Holger Baars, Patric Seifert, and Ulla Wandinger
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In this study, we discuss the enhanced detection capabilities of a fluorescence lidar in the case of optically thin aerosol layers in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) region. Our results suggest that such thin aerosol layers are not so rare in the UTLS and can potentially trigger and impact cirrus cloud formation through heterogeneous ice nucleation. By altering the microphysical cloud properties, this could affect clouds' evolution and lifetime and thus their climate effect.
Goutam Choudhury, Karoline Block, Mahnoosh Haghighatnasab, Johannes Quaas, Tom Goren, and Matthias Tesche
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 3841–3856, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3841-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3841-2025, 2025
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Aerosol particles in the atmosphere increase cloud reflectivity, thereby cooling the Earth. Accurate global measurements of these particles are crucial for estimating this cooling effect. This study compares and harmonizes two newly developed global aerosol datasets, offering insights for their future use and refinement. We identify pristine oceans as a significant source of uncertainty in the datasets and, therefore, in quantifying the role of aerosols in Earth's climate.
Gladiola Malollari, Albert Ansmann, Holger Baars, Cristofer Jimenez, Julian Hofer, Ronny Engelmann, Nathan Skupin, and Seit Shallari
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1386, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1386, 2025
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This study presents, for the first time, the uncertainty analysis of the Ångström exponent assumption on the full set of retrievable optical properties obtained with Raman lidar. A quantitative comparison between the pure rotational and vibrational-rotational Raman lidar approaches is presented. A minor impact of a wrong Ångström exponent on the determined aerosol optical properties is found.
Anna Moustaka, Stelios Kazadzis, Emmanouil Proestakis, Anton Lopatin, Oleg Dubovik, Kleareti Tourpali, Christos Zerefos, Vassilis Amiridis, and Antonis Gkikas
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-888, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-888, 2025
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North Africa and the Middle East are home to the world’s most active dust sources, but accurately monitoring airborne dust remains challenging. We refine satellite-based dust retrievals by improving the lidar ratio, a key parameter in aerosol observations, using data from multiple sensors. Our findings reveal regional variations in dust optical depth (DOD), leading to improved climatological assessments. These results enhance climate models and air quality studies.
Cristofer Jimenez, Albert Ansmann, Kevin Ohneiser, Hannes Griesche, Ronny Engelmann, Martin Radenz, Julian Hofer, Dietrich Althausen, Daniel Alexander Knopf, Sandro Dahlke, Johannes Bühl, Holger Baars, Patric Seifert, and Ulla Wandinger
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-967, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-967, 2025
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Using advanced remote sensing on the icebreaker Polarstern, we studied mixed-phase clouds (MPCs) in the central Arctic during the 2019–2020 MOSAiC (Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate) campaign. For the first time, lidar and radar techniques tracked the year-round evolution of liquid and ice phases in MPCs. The study provides cloud statistics and explores key processes driving cloud longevity, offering new insights into Arctic cloud formation and persistence.
Silke Groß, Volker Freudenthaler, Moritz Haarig, Albert Ansmann, Carlos Toledano, David Mateos, Petra Seibert, Rodanthi-Elisavet Mamouri, Argyro Nisantzi, Josef Gasteiger, Maximilian Dollner, Anne Tipka, Manuel Schöberl, Marilena Teri, and Bernadett Weinzierl
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 3191–3211, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3191-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3191-2025, 2025
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Aerosols contribute to the largest uncertainties in climate change predictions. The eastern Mediterranean is a hotspot for aerosols with natural and anthropogenic contributions. We present lidar measurements performed during A-LIFE (Absorbing aerosol layers in a changing climate: aging, lifetime and dynamics) to characterize aerosols and aerosol mixtures. We extend current lidar classification and separation schemes and compare them to classification schemes using different methods.
Ioanna Tsikoudi, Eleni Marinou, Maria Tombrou, Eleni Giannakaki, Emmanouil Proestakis, Konstantinos Rizos, Ville Vakkari, and Vassilis Amiridis
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1105, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1105, 2025
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The lowest part of the atmosphere plays a critical role in weather and climate. Using groundbased and space lidar, radiosondes and model data, we analyzed how dust and local wind conditions influence its height over the tropical Atlantic. We found that different conditions, as well as different methods yield varying results, highlighting challenges in defining the boundary layer top. Understanding these differences improves climate models and our knowledge of atmospheric dynamics in this region.
Emmanouil Proestakis, Vassilis Amiridis, Carlos Pérez García-Pando, Svetlana Tsyro, Jan Griesfeller, Antonis Gkikas, Thanasis Georgiou, María Gonçalves Ageitos, Jeronimo Escribano, Stelios Myriokefalitakis, Elisa Bergas Masso, Enza Di Tomaso, Sara Basart, Jan-Berend W. Stuut, and Angela Benedetti
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-43, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-43, 2025
Revised manuscript accepted for ESSD
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Quantification of dust deposition into the broader Atlantic Ocean is provided, with the estimates established on the basis of Earth Observations. The dataset is considered unique with respect to a range of applications, including compensating for spatiotemporal gaps of sediment-trap measurements, assessments of model simulations, shedding light into physical processes related to the dust cycle, and to better understand dust biogeochemical impacts on oceanic ecosystems, on weather, and climate.
Sohee Joo, Juseon Shin, Matthias Tesche, Naghmeh Dehkhoda, Taegyeong Kim, and Youngmin Noh
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1023–1036, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1023-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1023-2025, 2025
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In our study, we investigated why, in northeast Asia, visibility has not improved even though air pollution levels have decreased. By examining trends in Seoul and Ulsan, we found that the particles in the air are getting smaller, which scatters light more effectively and reduces how far we can see. Our findings suggest that changes in particle properties adversely affected public perception of air quality improvement even though the PM2.5 mass concentration is continuously decreasing.
Nicholas D. Beres, Julia Burkart, Elias Graf, Yanick Zeder, Lea Ann Dailey, and Bernadett Weinzierl
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6945–6964, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6945-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6945-2024, 2024
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We tested a method to identify airborne microplastics (MPs), merging imaging, fluorescence, and machine learning of single particles. We examined whether combining imaging and fluorescence data enhances classification accuracy compared to using each method separately and tested these methods with other particle types. The tested MPs have distinct fluorescence, and a combined imaging and fluorescence method improves their detection, making meaningful progress in monitoring MPs in the atmosphere.
Sofía Gómez Maqueo Anaya, Dietrich Althausen, Julian Hofer, Moritz Haarig, Ulla Wandinger, Bernd Heinold, Ina Tegen, Matthias Faust, Holger Baars, Albert Ansmann, Ronny Engelmann, Annett Skupin, Birgit Heese, and Kerstin Schepanski
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3159, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3159, 2024
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This study investigates how hematite (an iron oxide mineral) in the Saharan Desert dust affects how dust particles interact with radiation. Using lidar data from Cabo Verde (2021–2022) and hematite content from atmospheric model simulations, the results show that higher hematite fraction leads to stronger particle backscattering at specific wavelengths. These findings can improve the representaiton of mineral dust in climate models, particularly regarding their radiative effect.
Natalie G. Ratcliffe, Claire L. Ryder, Nicolas Bellouin, Stephanie Woodward, Anthony Jones, Ben Johnson, Lisa-Maria Wieland, Maximilian Dollner, Josef Gasteiger, and Bernadett Weinzierl
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 12161–12181, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12161-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12161-2024, 2024
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Large mineral dust particles are more abundant in the atmosphere than expected and have different impacts on the environment than small particles, which are better represented in climate models. We use aircraft measurements to assess a climate model representation of large-dust transport. We find that the model underestimates the amount of large dust at all stages of transport and that fast removal of the large particles increases this underestimation with distance from the Sahara.
Sylvain Mailler, Sotirios Mallios, Arineh Cholakian, Vassilis Amiridis, Laurent Menut, and Romain Pennel
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 5641–5655, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-5641-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-5641-2024, 2024
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We propose two explicit expressions to calculate the settling speed of solid atmospheric particles with prolate spheroidal shapes. The first formulation is based on theoretical arguments only, while the second one is based on computational fluid dynamics calculations. We show that the first method is suitable for virtually all atmospheric aerosols, provided their shape can be adequately described as a prolate spheroid, and we provide an implementation of the first method in AerSett v2.0.2.
Claire L. Ryder, Clément Bézier, Helen F. Dacre, Rory Clarkson, Vassilis Amiridis, Eleni Marinou, Emmanouil Proestakis, Zak Kipling, Angela Benedetti, Mark Parrington, Samuel Rémy, and Mark Vaughan
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 2263–2284, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-2263-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-2263-2024, 2024
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Desert dust poses a hazard to aircraft via degradation of engine components. This has financial implications for the aviation industry and results in increased fuel burn with climate impacts. Here we quantify dust ingestion by aircraft engines at airports worldwide. We find Dubai and Delhi in summer are among the dustiest airports, where substantial engine degradation would occur after 1000 flights. Dust ingestion can be reduced by changing take-off times and the altitude of holding patterns.
Emmanouil Proestakis, Antonis Gkikas, Thanasis Georgiou, Anna Kampouri, Eleni Drakaki, Claire L. Ryder, Franco Marenco, Eleni Marinou, and Vassilis Amiridis
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3625–3667, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3625-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3625-2024, 2024
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A new four-dimensional, multiyear, and near-global climate data record of the fine-mode (submicrometer diameter) and coarse-mode (supermicrometer diameter) components of atmospheric pure dust is presented. The dataset is considered unique with respect to a wide range of potential applications, including climatological, time series, and trend analysis over extensive geographical domains and temporal periods, validation of atmospheric dust models and datasets, and air quality.
Manuel Schöberl, Maximilian Dollner, Josef Gasteiger, Petra Seibert, Anne Tipka, and Bernadett Weinzierl
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2761–2776, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2761-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2761-2024, 2024
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Transporting a representative aerosol sample to instrumentation inside a research aircraft remains a challenge due to losses or enhancements of particles in the aerosol sampling system. Here, we present sampling efficiencies and the cutoff diameter for the DLR Falcon aerosol sampling system as a function of true airspeed by comparing the in-cabin and the out-cabin particle number size distributions observed during the A-LIFE aircraft mission.
Henriette Gebauer, Athena Augusta Floutsi, Moritz Haarig, Martin Radenz, Ronny Engelmann, Dietrich Althausen, Annett Skupin, Albert Ansmann, Cordula Zenk, and Holger Baars
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 5047–5067, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5047-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5047-2024, 2024
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Sulfate aerosol from the volcanic eruption at La Palma in 2021 was observed over Cabo Verde. We characterized the aerosol burden based on a case study of lidar and sun photometer observations. We compared the volcanic case to the typical background conditions (reference case) to quantify the volcanic pollution. We show the first ever measurements of the extinction coefficient, lidar ratio and depolarization ratio at 1064 nm for volcanic sulfate.
Ilias Fountoulakis, Alexandra Tsekeri, Stelios Kazadzis, Vassilis Amiridis, Angelos Nersesian, Maria Tsichla, Emmanouil Proestakis, Antonis Gkikas, Kyriakoula Papachristopoulou, Vasileios Barlakas, Claudia Emde, and Bernhard Mayer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 4915–4948, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4915-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4915-2024, 2024
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In our study we provide an assessment, through a sensitivity study, of the limitations of models to calculate the dust direct radiative effect (DRE) due to the underrepresentation of its size, refractive index (RI), and shape. Our results indicate the necessity of including more realistic sizes and RIs for dust particles in dust models, in order to derive better estimations of the dust direct radiative effects.
Kangwen Sun, Guangyao Dai, Songhua Wu, Oliver Reitebuch, Holger Baars, Jiqiao Liu, and Suping Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 4389–4409, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4389-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4389-2024, 2024
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This paper investigates the correlation between marine aerosol optical properties and wind speeds over remote oceans using the spaceborne lidars ALADIN and CALIOP. Three remote ocean areas are selected. Pure marine aerosol optical properties at 355 nm are derived from ALADIN. The relationships between marine aerosol optical properties and wind speeds are analyzed within and above the marine atmospheric boundary layer, revealing the effect of wind speed on marine aerosols over remote oceans.
Fani Alexandri, Felix Müller, Goutam Choudhury, Peggy Achtert, Torsten Seelig, and Matthias Tesche
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 1739–1757, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1739-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1739-2024, 2024
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We present a novel method for studying aerosol–cloud interactions. It combines cloud-relevant aerosol concentrations from polar-orbiting lidar observations with the development of individual clouds from geostationary observations. Application to 1 year of data gives first results on the impact of aerosols on the concentration and size of cloud droplets and on cloud phase in the regime of heterogeneous ice formation. The method could enable the systematic investigation of warm and cold clouds.
Alkistis Papetta, Franco Marenco, Maria Kezoudi, Rodanthi-Elisavet Mamouri, Argyro Nisantzi, Holger Baars, Ioana Elisabeta Popovici, Philippe Goloub, Stéphane Victori, and Jean Sciare
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 1721–1738, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1721-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1721-2024, 2024
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We propose a method to determine depolarization parameters using observations from a reference instrument at a nearby location, needed for systems where a priori knowledge of cross-talk parameters is not available. It uses three-parameter equations to compare VDR between two co-located lidars at dust and molecular layers. It can be applied retrospectively to existing data acquired during campaigns. Its application to Cimel CE376 corrected VDR bias at high- and low-depolarizing layers.
Sofía Gómez Maqueo Anaya, Dietrich Althausen, Matthias Faust, Holger Baars, Bernd Heinold, Julian Hofer, Ina Tegen, Albert Ansmann, Ronny Engelmann, Annett Skupin, Birgit Heese, and Kerstin Schepanski
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 1271–1295, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-1271-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-1271-2024, 2024
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Mineral dust aerosol particles vary greatly in their composition depending on source region, which leads to different physicochemical properties. Most atmosphere–aerosol models consider mineral dust aerosols to be compositionally homogeneous, which ultimately increases model uncertainty. Here, we present an approach to explicitly consider the heterogeneity of the mineralogical composition for simulations of the Saharan atmospheric dust cycle with regard to dust transport towards the Atlantic.
Xiaoxia Shang, Antti Lipponen, Maria Filioglou, Anu-Maija Sundström, Mark Parrington, Virginie Buchard, Anton S. Darmenov, Ellsworth J. Welton, Eleni Marinou, Vassilis Amiridis, Michael Sicard, Alejandro Rodríguez-Gómez, Mika Komppula, and Tero Mielonen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 1329–1344, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1329-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1329-2024, 2024
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In June 2019, smoke particles from a Canadian wildfire event were transported to Europe. The long-range-transported smoke plumes were monitored with a spaceborne lidar and reanalysis models. Based on the aerosol mass concentrations estimated from the observations, the reanalysis models had difficulties in reproducing the amount and location of the smoke aerosols during the transport event. Consequently, more spaceborne lidar missions are needed for reliable monitoring of aerosol plumes.
Athena Augusta Floutsi, Holger Baars, and Ulla Wandinger
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 693–714, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-693-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-693-2024, 2024
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We introduce an aerosol-typing scheme (HETEAC-Flex) based on lidar-derived intensive optical properties and applicable to ground-based and spaceborne lidars. HETEAC-Flex utilizes the optimal estimation method and enables the identification of up to four different aerosol components, as well as the determination of their contribution to the aerosol mixture in terms of relative volume. The aerosol components represent common aerosol types such as dust, sea salt, smoke and pollution.
Juseon Shin, Gahyeong Kim, Dukhyeon Kim, Matthias Tesche, Gahyeon Park, and Youngmin Noh
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 397–406, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-397-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-397-2024, 2024
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We introduce the multi-section method, a novel approach for stable extinction coefficient retrievals in horizontally scanning aerosol lidar measurements, in this study. Our method effectively removes signal–noise-induced irregular peaks and derives a reference extinction coefficient, αref, from multiple scans, resulting in a strong correlation (>0.74) with PM2.5 mass concentrations. Case studies demonstrate its utility in retrieving spatio-temporal aerosol distributions and PM2.5 concentrations.
Alexandra Tsekeri, Anna Gialitaki, Marco Di Paolantonio, Davide Dionisi, Gian Luigi Liberti, Alnilam Fernandes, Artur Szkop, Aleksander Pietruczuk, Daniel Pérez-Ramírez, Maria J. Granados Muñoz, Juan Luis Guerrero-Rascado, Lucas Alados-Arboledas, Diego Bermejo Pantaleón, Juan Antonio Bravo-Aranda, Anna Kampouri, Eleni Marinou, Vassilis Amiridis, Michael Sicard, Adolfo Comerón, Constantino Muñoz-Porcar, Alejandro Rodríguez-Gómez, Salvatore Romano, Maria Rita Perrone, Xiaoxia Shang, Mika Komppula, Rodanthi-Elisavet Mamouri, Argyro Nisantzi, Diofantos Hadjimitsis, Francisco Navas-Guzmán, Alexander Haefele, Dominika Szczepanik, Artur Tomczak, Iwona S. Stachlewska, Livio Belegante, Doina Nicolae, Kalliopi Artemis Voudouri, Dimitris Balis, Athena A. Floutsi, Holger Baars, Linda Miladi, Nicolas Pascal, Oleg Dubovik, and Anton Lopatin
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 6025–6050, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-6025-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-6025-2023, 2023
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EARLINET/ACTRIS organized an intensive observational campaign in May 2020, with the objective of monitoring the atmospheric state over Europe during the COVID-19 lockdown and relaxation period. The work presented herein focuses on deriving a common methodology for applying a synergistic retrieval that utilizes the network's ground-based passive and active remote sensing measurements and deriving the aerosols from anthropogenic activities over Europe.
Rodanthi-Elisavet Mamouri, Albert Ansmann, Kevin Ohneiser, Daniel A. Knopf, Argyro Nisantzi, Johannes Bühl, Ronny Engelmann, Annett Skupin, Patric Seifert, Holger Baars, Dragos Ene, Ulla Wandinger, and Diofantos Hadjimitsis
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 14097–14114, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14097-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14097-2023, 2023
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For the first time, rather clear evidence is found that wildfire smoke particles can trigger strong cirrus formation. This finding is of importance because intensive and large wildfires may occur increasingly often in the future as climate change proceeds. Based on lidar observations in Cyprus in autumn 2020, we provide detailed insight into the cirrus formation at the tropopause in the presence of aged wildfire smoke (here, 8–9 day old Californian wildfire smoke).
Vasiliki Daskalopoulou, Panagiotis I. Raptis, Alexandra Tsekeri, Vassilis Amiridis, Stelios Kazadzis, Zbigniew Ulanowski, Vassilis Charmandaris, Konstantinos Tassis, and William Martin
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4529–4550, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4529-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4529-2023, 2023
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Atmospheric dust particles may present a preferential alignment due to their shape on long range transport. Since dust is abundant and plays a key role to global climate, the elusive observation of orientation will be a game changer to existing measurement techniques and the representation of particles in climate models. We utilize a specifically designed instrument, SolPol, and target the Sun from the ground for large polarization values under dusty conditions, a clear sign of orientation.
Paulus S. Bauer, Dorian Spät, Martina Eisenhut, Andreas Gattringer, and Bernadett Weinzierl
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4445–4460, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4445-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4445-2023, 2023
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Particle number concentration is one of the most important parameters to quantify an aerosol. Aerosol number concentration in the nanometer range is commonly measured with condensation particle counters (CPCs). A CEN technical specification harmonizes the CPC specifications. However, it is not specified for low-pressure conditions as on high mountains or on airplanes. Here, we present the pressure-dependent performance of two different models of CEN CPCs, the Grimm 5410 CEN and the TSI 3772 CEN.
Ulla Wandinger, Moritz Haarig, Holger Baars, David Donovan, and Gerd-Jan van Zadelhoff
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4031–4052, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4031-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4031-2023, 2023
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We introduce the algorithms that have been developed to derive cloud top height and aerosol layer products from observations with the Atmospheric Lidar (ATLID) onboard the Earth Cloud, Aerosol and Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE). The products provide information on the uppermost cloud and geometrical and optical properties of aerosol layers in an atmospheric column. They can be used individually but also serve as input for algorithms that combine observations with EarthCARE’s lidar and imager.
Goutam Choudhury and Matthias Tesche
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 3747–3760, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-3747-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-3747-2023, 2023
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Aerosols in the atmosphere that can form liquid cloud droplets are called cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). Accurate measurements of CCN, especially CCN of anthropogenic origin, are necessary to quantify the effect of anthropogenic aerosols on the present-day as well as future climate. In this paper, we describe a novel global 3D CCN data set calculated from satellite measurements. We also discuss the potential applications of the data in the context of aerosol–cloud interactions.
Holger Baars, Joshua Walchester, Elizaveta Basharova, Henriette Gebauer, Martin Radenz, Johannes Bühl, Boris Barja, Ulla Wandinger, and Patric Seifert
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 3809–3834, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3809-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3809-2023, 2023
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In 2018, the Aeolus satellite of the European Space Agency (ESA) was launched to improve weather forecasts through global measurements of wind profiles. Given the novel lidar technique onboard, extensive validation efforts have been needed to verify the observations. For this reason, we performed long-term validation measurements in Germany and Chile. We found significant improvement in the data products due to a new algorithm version and can confirm the general validity of Aeolus observations.
Akriti Masoom, Ilias Fountoulakis, Stelios Kazadzis, Ioannis-Panagiotis Raptis, Anna Kampouri, Basil E. Psiloglou, Dimitra Kouklaki, Kyriakoula Papachristopoulou, Eleni Marinou, Stavros Solomos, Anna Gialitaki, Dimitra Founda, Vasileios Salamalikis, Dimitris Kaskaoutis, Natalia Kouremeti, Nikolaos Mihalopoulos, Vassilis Amiridis, Andreas Kazantzidis, Alexandros Papayannis, Christos S. Zerefos, and Kostas Eleftheratos
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 8487–8514, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8487-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8487-2023, 2023
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We analyse the spatial and temporal aerosol spectral optical properties during the extreme wildfires of August 2021 in Greece and assess their effects on air quality and solar radiation quantities related to health, agriculture, and energy. Different aerosol conditions are identified (pure smoke, pure dust, dust–smoke together); the largest impact on solar radiation quantities is found for cases with mixed dust–smoke aerosols. Such situations are expected to occur more frequently in the future.
Ulla Wandinger, Athena Augusta Floutsi, Holger Baars, Moritz Haarig, Albert Ansmann, Anja Hünerbein, Nicole Docter, David Donovan, Gerd-Jan van Zadelhoff, Shannon Mason, and Jason Cole
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 2485–2510, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2485-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2485-2023, 2023
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We introduce an aerosol classification model that has been developed for the Earth Clouds, Aerosols and Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE). The model provides a consistent description of microphysical, optical, and radiative properties of common aerosol types such as dust, sea salt, pollution, and smoke. It is used for aerosol classification and assessment of radiation effects based on the synergy of active and passive observations with lidar, imager, and radiometer of the multi-instrument platform.
Athena Augusta Floutsi, Holger Baars, Ronny Engelmann, Dietrich Althausen, Albert Ansmann, Stephanie Bohlmann, Birgit Heese, Julian Hofer, Thomas Kanitz, Moritz Haarig, Kevin Ohneiser, Martin Radenz, Patric Seifert, Annett Skupin, Zhenping Yin, Sabur F. Abdullaev, Mika Komppula, Maria Filioglou, Elina Giannakaki, Iwona S. Stachlewska, Lucja Janicka, Daniele Bortoli, Eleni Marinou, Vassilis Amiridis, Anna Gialitaki, Rodanthi-Elisavet Mamouri, Boris Barja, and Ulla Wandinger
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 2353–2379, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2353-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2353-2023, 2023
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DeLiAn is a collection of lidar-derived aerosol intensive optical properties for several aerosol types, namely the particle linear depolarization ratio, the extinction-to-backscatter ratio (lidar ratio) and the Ångström exponent. The data collection is based on globally distributed, long-term, ground-based, multiwavelength, Raman and polarization lidar measurements and currently covers two wavelengths, 355 and 532 nm, for 13 aerosol categories ranging from basic aerosol types to mixtures.
Pantelis Kiriakidis, Antonis Gkikas, Georgios Papangelis, Theodoros Christoudias, Jonilda Kushta, Emmanouil Proestakis, Anna Kampouri, Eleni Marinou, Eleni Drakaki, Angela Benedetti, Michael Rennie, Christian Retscher, Anne Grete Straume, Alexandru Dandocsi, Jean Sciare, and Vasilis Amiridis
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 4391–4417, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-4391-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-4391-2023, 2023
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With the launch of the Aeolus satellite, higher-accuracy wind products became available. This research was carried out to validate the assimilated wind products by testing their effect on the WRF-Chem model predictive ability of dust processes. This was carried out for the eastern Mediterranean and Middle East region for two 2-month periods in autumn and spring 2020. The use of the assimilated products improved the dust forecasts of the autumn season (both quantitatively and qualitatively).
Antonis Gkikas, Anna Gialitaki, Ioannis Binietoglou, Eleni Marinou, Maria Tsichla, Nikolaos Siomos, Peristera Paschou, Anna Kampouri, Kalliopi Artemis Voudouri, Emmanouil Proestakis, Maria Mylonaki, Christina-Anna Papanikolaou, Konstantinos Michailidis, Holger Baars, Anne Grete Straume, Dimitris Balis, Alexandros Papayannis, Tomasso Parrinello, and Vassilis Amiridis
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 1017–1042, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1017-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1017-2023, 2023
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We perform an assessment analysis of the Aeolus Standard Correct Algorithm (SCA) backscatter coefficient retrievals against reference observations acquired at three Greek lidar stations (Athens, Thessaloniki and Antikythera) of the PANACEA network. Overall, 43 cases are analysed, whereas specific aerosol scenarios in the vicinity of Antikythera island (SW Greece) are emphasised. All key Cal/Val aspects and recommendations, and the ongoing related activities, are thoroughly discussed.
Konstantinos Michailidis, Maria-Elissavet Koukouli, Dimitris Balis, J. Pepijn Veefkind, Martin de Graaf, Lucia Mona, Nikolaos Papagianopoulos, Gesolmina Pappalardo, Ioanna Tsikoudi, Vassilis Amiridis, Eleni Marinou, Anna Gialitaki, Rodanthi-Elisavet Mamouri, Argyro Nisantzi, Daniele Bortoli, Maria João Costa, Vanda Salgueiro, Alexandros Papayannis, Maria Mylonaki, Lucas Alados-Arboledas, Salvatore Romano, Maria Rita Perrone, and Holger Baars
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 1919–1940, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-1919-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-1919-2023, 2023
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Comparisons with ground-based correlative lidar measurements constitute a key component in the validation of satellite aerosol products. This paper presents the validation of the TROPOMI aerosol layer height (ALH) product, using archived quality assured ground-based data from lidar stations that belong to the EARLINET network. Comparisons between the TROPOMI ALH and co-located EARLINET measurements show good agreement over the ocean.
Pamela S. Rickly, Hongyu Guo, Pedro Campuzano-Jost, Jose L. Jimenez, Glenn M. Wolfe, Ryan Bennett, Ilann Bourgeois, John D. Crounse, Jack E. Dibb, Joshua P. DiGangi, Glenn S. Diskin, Maximilian Dollner, Emily M. Gargulinski, Samuel R. Hall, Hannah S. Halliday, Thomas F. Hanisco, Reem A. Hannun, Jin Liao, Richard Moore, Benjamin A. Nault, John B. Nowak, Jeff Peischl, Claire E. Robinson, Thomas Ryerson, Kevin J. Sanchez, Manuel Schöberl, Amber J. Soja, Jason M. St. Clair, Kenneth L. Thornhill, Kirk Ullmann, Paul O. Wennberg, Bernadett Weinzierl, Elizabeth B. Wiggins, Edward L. Winstead, and Andrew W. Rollins
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 15603–15620, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15603-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15603-2022, 2022
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Biomass burning sulfur dioxide (SO2) emission factors range from 0.27–1.1 g kg-1 C. Biomass burning SO2 can quickly form sulfate and organosulfur, but these pathways are dependent on liquid water content and pH. Hydroxymethanesulfonate (HMS) appears to be directly emitted from some fire sources but is not the sole contributor to the organosulfur signal. It is shown that HMS and organosulfur chemistry may be an important S(IV) reservoir with the fate dependent on the surrounding conditions.
Peter Bräuer and Matthias Tesche
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 7557–7572, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-7557-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-7557-2022, 2022
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This paper presents a tool for (i) finding temporally and spatially resolved intersections between two- or three-dimensional geographical tracks (trajectories) and (ii) extracting of data in the vicinity of intersections to achieve the optimal combination of various data sets.
Eleni Drakaki, Vassilis Amiridis, Alexandra Tsekeri, Antonis Gkikas, Emmanouil Proestakis, Sotirios Mallios, Stavros Solomos, Christos Spyrou, Eleni Marinou, Claire L. Ryder, Demetri Bouris, and Petros Katsafados
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 12727–12748, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12727-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12727-2022, 2022
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State-of-the-art atmospheric dust models have limitations in accounting for a realistic dust size distribution (emission, transport). We modify the parameterization of the mineral dust cycle by including particles with diameter >20 μm, as indicated by observations over deserts. Moreover, we investigate the effects of reduced settling velocities of dust particles. Model results are evaluated using airborne and spaceborne dust measurements above Cabo Verde.
Albert Ansmann, Kevin Ohneiser, Alexandra Chudnovsky, Daniel A. Knopf, Edwin W. Eloranta, Diego Villanueva, Patric Seifert, Martin Radenz, Boris Barja, Félix Zamorano, Cristofer Jimenez, Ronny Engelmann, Holger Baars, Hannes Griesche, Julian Hofer, Dietrich Althausen, and Ulla Wandinger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 11701–11726, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-11701-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-11701-2022, 2022
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For the first time we present a systematic study on the impact of wildfire smoke on ozone depletion in the Arctic (2020) and Antarctic stratosphere (2020, 2021). Two major fire events in Siberia and Australia were responsible for the observed record-breaking stratospheric smoke pollution. Our analyses were based on lidar observations of smoke parameters (Polarstern, Punta Arenas) and NDACC Arctic and Antarctic ozone profiles as well as on Antarctic OMI satellite observations of column ozone.
Xianda Gong, Martin Radenz, Heike Wex, Patric Seifert, Farnoush Ataei, Silvia Henning, Holger Baars, Boris Barja, Albert Ansmann, and Frank Stratmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 10505–10525, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10505-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10505-2022, 2022
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The sources of ice-nucleating particles (INPs) are poorly understood in the Southern Hemisphere (SH). We studied INPs in the boundary layer in the southern Patagonia region. No seasonal cycle of INP concentrations was observed. The majority of INPs are biogenic particles, likely from local continental sources. The INP concentrations are higher when strong precipitation occurs. While previous studies focused on marine INP sources in SH, we point out the importance of continental sources of INPs.
Bernd Heinold, Holger Baars, Boris Barja, Matthew Christensen, Anne Kubin, Kevin Ohneiser, Kerstin Schepanski, Nick Schutgens, Fabian Senf, Roland Schrödner, Diego Villanueva, and Ina Tegen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 9969–9985, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9969-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9969-2022, 2022
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The extreme 2019–2020 Australian wildfires produced massive smoke plumes lofted into the lower stratosphere by pyrocumulonimbus convection. Most climate models do not adequately simulate the injection height of such intense fires. By combining aerosol-climate modeling with prescribed pyroconvective smoke injection and lidar observations, this study shows the importance of the representation of the most extreme wildfire events for estimating the atmospheric energy budget.
Harshvardhan Harshvardhan, Richard Ferrare, Sharon Burton, Johnathan Hair, Chris Hostetler, David Harper, Anthony Cook, Marta Fenn, Amy Jo Scarino, Eduard Chemyakin, and Detlef Müller
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 9859–9876, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9859-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9859-2022, 2022
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The evolution of aerosol in biomass burning smoke plumes that travel over marine clouds off the Atlantic coast of central Africa was studied using measurements made by a lidar deployed on a high-altitude aircraft. The main finding was that the physical properties of aerosol do not change appreciably once the plume has left land and travels over the ocean over a timescale of 1 to 2 d. Almost all particles in the plume are of radius less than 1 micrometer and spherical in shape.
Stergios Misios, Ioannis Logothetis, Mads F. Knudsen, Christoffer Karoff, Vassilis Amiridis, and Kleareti Tourpali
Weather Clim. Dynam., 3, 811–823, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-3-811-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-3-811-2022, 2022
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We investigate the impact of strong volcanic eruptions on the northerly Etesian winds blowing in the eastern Mediterranean. Μodel simulations of the last millennium demonstrate a robust reduction in the total number of days with Etesian winds in the post-eruption summers. The decline in the Etesian winds is attributed to a weakened Indian summer monsoon in the post-eruption summer. These findings could improve seasonal predictions of the wind circulation in the eastern Mediterranean.
Matthias Tesche and Vincent Noel
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 4225–4240, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4225-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4225-2022, 2022
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Mid-level and high clouds can be considered natural laboratories for studying cloud glaciation in the atmosphere. While they can be conveniently observed from ground with lidar, such measurements require a clear line of sight between the instrument and the target cloud. Here, observations of clouds with two spaceborne lidars are used to assess where ground-based lidar measurements of mid- and upper-level clouds are least affected by the light-attenuating effect of low-level clouds.
Kevin Ohneiser, Albert Ansmann, Bernd Kaifler, Alexandra Chudnovsky, Boris Barja, Daniel A. Knopf, Natalie Kaifler, Holger Baars, Patric Seifert, Diego Villanueva, Cristofer Jimenez, Martin Radenz, Ronny Engelmann, Igor Veselovskii, and Félix Zamorano
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 7417–7442, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7417-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7417-2022, 2022
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We present and discuss 2 years of long-term lidar observations of the largest stratospheric perturbation by wildfire smoke ever observed. The smoke originated from the record-breaking Australian fires in 2019–2020 and affects climate conditions and even the ozone layer in the Southern Hemisphere. The obvious link between dense smoke occurrence in the stratosphere and strong ozone depletion found in the Arctic and in the Antarctic in 2020 can be regarded as a new aspect of climate change.
Goutam Choudhury, Albert Ansmann, and Matthias Tesche
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 7143–7161, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7143-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7143-2022, 2022
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Lidars provide height-resolved type-specific aerosol properties and are key in studying vertically collocated aerosols and clouds. In this study, we compare the aerosol number concentrations derived from spaceborne lidar with the in situ flight measurements. Our results show a reasonable agreement between both datasets. Such an agreement has not been achieved yet. It shows the potential of spaceborne lidar in studying aerosol–cloud interactions, which is needed to improve our climate forecasts.
Marilena Teri, Thomas Müller, Josef Gasteiger, Sara Valentini, Helmuth Horvath, Roberta Vecchi, Paulus Bauer, Adrian Walser, and Bernadett Weinzierl
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 3161–3187, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3161-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3161-2022, 2022
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We performed an extensive closure study including laboratory and simulated experiments to evaluate various angular corrections for the Aurora 4000 polar nephelometer, focusing on irregularly shaped aerosols such as mineral dust. We describe the impact of particle size, refractive index, and shape on the determination of the particle scattering coefficient and propose a guideline to establish the most appropriate angular correction depending on the aerosol type and the investigated size range.
Michael Weger, Holger Baars, Henriette Gebauer, Maik Merkel, Alfred Wiedensohler, and Bernd Heinold
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 3315–3345, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-3315-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-3315-2022, 2022
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Numerical models are an important tool to assess the air quality in cities,
as they can provide near-continouos data in time and space. In this paper,
air pollution for an entire city is simulated at a high spatial resolution of 40 m.
At this spatial scale, the effects of buildings on the atmosphere,
like channeling or blocking of the air flow, are directly represented by diffuse obstacles in the used model CAIRDIO. For model validation, measurements from air-monitoring sites are used.
Juseon Shin, Juhyeon Sim, Naghmeh Dehkhoda, Sohee Joo, Taekyung Kim, Gahyung Kim, Detlef Müller, Matthias Tesche, Sungkyun Shin, Dongho Shin, and Youngmin Noh
Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2022-219, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2022-219, 2022
Preprint withdrawn
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We analyzed long-term AERONET sun/sky radiometer for 6 continentals to verify the trend of aerosol physical properties depending on sources (dust or pollution) and size (fine or coarse mode). We identified the trend of classified aerosol optical depth (AOD) and size change over 9 years. Especially, we find out aerosol properties causing AOD variations are different from regions and fine aerosol particle in most regions has become smaller using MK-test for trend analysis.
Peristera Paschou, Nikolaos Siomos, Alexandra Tsekeri, Alexandros Louridas, George Georgoussis, Volker Freudenthaler, Ioannis Binietoglou, George Tsaknakis, Alexandros Tavernarakis, Christos Evangelatos, Jonas von Bismarck, Thomas Kanitz, Charikleia Meleti, Eleni Marinou, and Vassilis Amiridis
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 2299–2323, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2299-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2299-2022, 2022
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The eVe lidar delivers quality-assured aerosol and cloud optical properties according to the standards of ACTRIS. It is a mobile reference system for the validation of the ESA's Aeolus satellite mission (L2 aerosol and cloud products). eVe provides linear and circular polarisation measurements with Raman capabilities. Here, we describe the system design, the polarisation calibration techniques, and the software for the retrieval of the optical products.
Xiaoxia Shang, Holger Baars, Iwona S. Stachlewska, Ina Mattis, and Mika Komppula
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 3931–3944, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3931-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3931-2022, 2022
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This study reports pollen observations at four lidar stations (Hohenpeißenberg, Germany; Kuopio, Finland; Leipzig, Germany; and Warsaw, Poland) during the intensive observation campaign organized in May 2020. A novel simple method for the characterization of the pure pollen is proposed, based on lidar measurements. It was applied to evaluate the pollen depolarization ratio and for the aerosol classifications.
Antonis Gkikas, Emmanouil Proestakis, Vassilis Amiridis, Stelios Kazadzis, Enza Di Tomaso, Eleni Marinou, Nikos Hatzianastassiou, Jasper F. Kok, and Carlos Pérez García-Pando
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 3553–3578, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3553-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3553-2022, 2022
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We present a comprehensive climatological analysis of dust optical depth (DOD) relying on the MIDAS dataset. MIDAS provides columnar mid-visible (550 nm) DOD at fine spatial resolution (0.1° × 0.1°) over a 15-year period (2003–2017). In the current study, the analysis is performed at various spatial (from regional to global) and temporal (from months to years) scales. More specifically, focus is given to specific regions hosting the major dust sources as well as downwind areas of the planet.
Goutam Choudhury and Matthias Tesche
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 639–654, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-639-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-639-2022, 2022
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Aerosols are tiny particles suspended in the atmosphere. A fraction of these particles can form clouds and are called cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). Measurements of such aerosol particles are necessary to study the aerosol–cloud interactions and reduce the uncertainty in our future climate predictions. We present a novel methodology to estimate global 3D CCN concentrations from the CALIPSO satellite measurements. The final data set will be used to study the aerosol–cloud interactions.
Birgit Heese, Athena Augusta Floutsi, Holger Baars, Dietrich Althausen, Julian Hofer, Alina Herzog, Silke Mewes, Martin Radenz, and Yoav Y. Schechner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 1633–1648, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-1633-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-1633-2022, 2022
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The aerosol distribution over Haifa, Israel, was measured for 2 years by a laser-based vertically resolved measurement technique called lidar. From these data, the aerosol types and their percentages of the observed aerosol mixtures were identified in terms of their size and shape. We found mostly desert dust from the surrounding deserts and sea salt from the close-by Mediterranean Sea. But aerosols from anthropogenic and industrial pollution from local and far away sources were also detected.
Jerónimo Escribano, Enza Di Tomaso, Oriol Jorba, Martina Klose, Maria Gonçalves Ageitos, Francesca Macchia, Vassilis Amiridis, Holger Baars, Eleni Marinou, Emmanouil Proestakis, Claudia Urbanneck, Dietrich Althausen, Johannes Bühl, Rodanthi-Elisavet Mamouri, and Carlos Pérez García-Pando
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 535–560, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-535-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-535-2022, 2022
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We explore the benefits and consistency in adding lidar dust observations in a dust optical depth assimilation. We show that adding lidar data to a dust optical depth assimilation has valuable benefits and the dust analysis improves. We discuss the impact of the narrow satellite footprint of the lidar dust observations on the assimilation.
Frithjof Ehlers, Thomas Flament, Alain Dabas, Dimitri Trapon, Adrien Lacour, Holger Baars, and Anne Grete Straume-Lindner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 185–203, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-185-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-185-2022, 2022
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The Aeolus satellite observes the Earth and can vertically detect any kind of particles (aerosols or clouds) in the atmosphere below it. These observations are typically very noisy, which needs to be accounted for. This work dampens the noise in Aeolus' aerosol and cloud data, which are provided publicly by the ESA, so that the scientific community can make better use of it. This makes the data potentially more useful for weather prediction and climate research.
Moritz Haarig, Albert Ansmann, Ronny Engelmann, Holger Baars, Carlos Toledano, Benjamin Torres, Dietrich Althausen, Martin Radenz, and Ulla Wandinger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 355–369, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-355-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-355-2022, 2022
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The irregular shape of dust particles makes it difficult to treat them correctly in optical models. Atmospheric measurements of dust optical properties are therefore of great importance. The present study increases the space of observed parameters from 355 and 532 nm towards 1064 nm, which is of special importance for large dust particles. The lidar ratio influenced by mineralogy and the depolarization ratio influenced by shape are measured for the first time at all three wavelengths.
Martin Radenz, Johannes Bühl, Patric Seifert, Holger Baars, Ronny Engelmann, Boris Barja González, Rodanthi-Elisabeth Mamouri, Félix Zamorano, and Albert Ansmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 17969–17994, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-17969-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-17969-2021, 2021
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This study brings together long-term ground-based remote-sensing observations of mixed-phase clouds at three key locations of aerosol–cloud interactions in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere midlatitudes. The findings contribute several new aspects on the nature of the excess of supercooled liquid clouds in the Southern Hemisphere, such as a long-term lidar-based estimate of ice-nucleating particle profiles as well as the effects of boundary layer coupling and gravity waves on ice formation.
Alexandra Tsekeri, Vassilis Amiridis, Alexandros Louridas, George Georgoussis, Volker Freudenthaler, Spiros Metallinos, George Doxastakis, Josef Gasteiger, Nikolaos Siomos, Peristera Paschou, Thanasis Georgiou, George Tsaknakis, Christos Evangelatos, and Ioannis Binietoglou
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 7453–7474, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7453-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7453-2021, 2021
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Dust orientation in the Earth's atmosphere has been an ongoing investigation in recent years, and its potential proof will be a paradigm shift for dust remote sensing. We have designed and developed a polarization lidar that provides direct measurements of dust orientation, as well as more detailed information of the particle microphysics. We provide a description of its design as well as its first measurements.
Sebastian Düsing, Albert Ansmann, Holger Baars, Joel C. Corbin, Cyrielle Denjean, Martin Gysel-Beer, Thomas Müller, Laurent Poulain, Holger Siebert, Gerald Spindler, Thomas Tuch, Birgit Wehner, and Alfred Wiedensohler
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 16745–16773, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16745-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16745-2021, 2021
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The work deals with optical properties of aerosol particles in dried and atmospheric states. Based on two measurement campaigns in the rural background of central Europe, different measurement approaches were compared with each other, such as modeling based on Mie theory and direct in situ or remote sensing measurements. Among others, it was shown that the aerosol extinction-to-backscatter ratio is relative humidity dependent, and refinement with respect to the model input parameters is needed.
Stavros-Andreas Logothetis, Vasileios Salamalikis, Antonis Gkikas, Stelios Kazadzis, Vassilis Amiridis, and Andreas Kazantzidis
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 16499–16529, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16499-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16499-2021, 2021
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This study investigates the temporal trends of dust optical depth (DOD; 550 nm) on global, regional and seasonal scales over a 15-year period (2003–2017) using the MIDAS (ModIs Dust AeroSol) dataset. The findings of this study revealed that the DOD was increased across the central Sahara and the Arabian Peninsula, with opposite trends over the eastern and western Sahara, the Thar and Gobi deserts, in the Bodélé Depression, and in the southern Mediterranean.
Kevin Ohneiser, Albert Ansmann, Alexandra Chudnovsky, Ronny Engelmann, Christoph Ritter, Igor Veselovskii, Holger Baars, Henriette Gebauer, Hannes Griesche, Martin Radenz, Julian Hofer, Dietrich Althausen, Sandro Dahlke, and Marion Maturilli
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 15783–15808, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15783-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15783-2021, 2021
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The highlight of the lidar measurements during the 1-year MOSAiC (Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate) expedition of the German icebreaker Polarstern (October 2019–October 2020) was the detection of a persistent, 10 km deep Siberian wildfire smoke layer in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) from about 7–8 km to 17–18 km height that could potentially have impacted the record-breaking ozone depletion over the Arctic in the spring of 2020.
Mariana Adam, Iwona S. Stachlewska, Lucia Mona, Nikolaos Papagiannopoulos, Juan Antonio Bravo-Aranda, Michaël Sicard, Doina N. Nicolae, Livio Belegante, Lucja Janicka, Dominika Szczepanik, Maria Mylonaki, Christina-Anna Papanikolaou, Nikolaos Siomos, Kalliopi Artemis Voudouri, Luca Alados-Arboledas, Arnoud Apituley, Ina Mattis, Anatoli Chaikovsky, Constantino Muñoz-Porcar, Aleksander Pietruczuk, Daniele Bortoli, Holger Baars, Ivan Grigorov, and Zahary Peshev
Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2021-759, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2021-759, 2021
Revised manuscript not accepted
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Results over 10 years of biomass burning events measured by EARLINET are analysed by means of the intensive parameters, based on the methodology described in Part I. Smoke type is characterized for each of the four geographical regions based on continental smoke origin. Relationships between intensive parameters or colour ratios are shown. The smoke is labelled in average as aged smoke.
Charles A. Brock, Karl D. Froyd, Maximilian Dollner, Christina J. Williamson, Gregory Schill, Daniel M. Murphy, Nicholas J. Wagner, Agnieszka Kupc, Jose L. Jimenez, Pedro Campuzano-Jost, Benjamin A. Nault, Jason C. Schroder, Douglas A. Day, Derek J. Price, Bernadett Weinzierl, Joshua P. Schwarz, Joseph M. Katich, Siyuan Wang, Linghan Zeng, Rodney Weber, Jack Dibb, Eric Scheuer, Glenn S. Diskin, Joshua P. DiGangi, ThaoPaul Bui, Jonathan M. Dean-Day, Chelsea R. Thompson, Jeff Peischl, Thomas B. Ryerson, Ilann Bourgeois, Bruce C. Daube, Róisín Commane, and Steven C. Wofsy
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 15023–15063, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15023-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15023-2021, 2021
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The Atmospheric Tomography Mission was an airborne study that mapped the chemical composition of the remote atmosphere. From this, we developed a comprehensive description of aerosol properties that provides a unique, global-scale dataset against which models can be compared. The data show the polluted nature of the remote atmosphere in the Northern Hemisphere and quantify the contributions of sea salt, dust, soot, biomass burning particles, and pollution particles to the haziness of the sky.
Ronny Engelmann, Albert Ansmann, Kevin Ohneiser, Hannes Griesche, Martin Radenz, Julian Hofer, Dietrich Althausen, Sandro Dahlke, Marion Maturilli, Igor Veselovskii, Cristofer Jimenez, Robert Wiesen, Holger Baars, Johannes Bühl, Henriette Gebauer, Moritz Haarig, Patric Seifert, Ulla Wandinger, and Andreas Macke
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 13397–13423, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-13397-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-13397-2021, 2021
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A Raman lidar was operated aboard the icebreaker Polarstern during MOSAiC and monitored aerosol and cloud layers in the central Arctic up to 30 km height. The article provides an overview of the spectrum of aerosol profiling observations and shows aerosol–cloud interaction studies for liquid-water and ice clouds. A highlight was the detection of a 10 km deep wildfire smoke layer over the North Pole up to 17 km height from the fire season of 2019, which persisted over the whole winter period.
Carmen Córdoba-Jabonero, Albert Ansmann, Cristofer Jiménez, Holger Baars, María-Ángeles López-Cayuela, and Ronny Engelmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 5225–5239, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-5225-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-5225-2021, 2021
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An experimental assessment of a polarized micro-pulse lidar (P-MPL) in comparison to reference lidars is presented regarding the retrieval of aerosol optical properties. The evaluation is focused on both the optimally determined overlap function and volume linear depolarization ratio. A P-MPL overlap must be regularly estimated to derive suitable aerosol products (backscatter, extinction, and particle depolarization ratio). This methodology can be easily applied to other P-MPL systems.
Albert Ansmann, Kevin Ohneiser, Rodanthi-Elisavet Mamouri, Daniel A. Knopf, Igor Veselovskii, Holger Baars, Ronny Engelmann, Andreas Foth, Cristofer Jimenez, Patric Seifert, and Boris Barja
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 9779–9807, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-9779-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-9779-2021, 2021
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We present retrievals of tropospheric and stratospheric height profiles of particle mass, volume, surface area concentration of wildfire smoke layers, and related cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and ice-nucleating particle (INP) concentrations. The new analysis scheme is applied to ground-based lidar observations of stratospheric Australian smoke over southern South America and to spaceborne lidar observations of tropospheric North American smoke.
Christina J. Williamson, Agnieszka Kupc, Andrew Rollins, Jan Kazil, Karl D. Froyd, Eric A. Ray, Daniel M. Murphy, Gregory P. Schill, Jeff Peischl, Chelsea Thompson, Ilann Bourgeois, Thomas B. Ryerson, Glenn S. Diskin, Joshua P. DiGangi, Donald R. Blake, Thao Paul V. Bui, Maximilian Dollner, Bernadett Weinzierl, and Charles A. Brock
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 9065–9088, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-9065-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-9065-2021, 2021
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Aerosols in the stratosphere influence climate by scattering and absorbing sunlight and through chemical reactions occurring on the particles’ surfaces. We observed more nucleation mode aerosols (small aerosols, with diameters below 12 nm) in the mid- and high-latitude lowermost stratosphere (8–13 km) in the Northern Hemisphere (NH) than in the Southern Hemisphere. The most likely cause of this is aircraft emissions, which are concentrated in the NH at similar altitudes to our observations.
Hongyu Guo, Pedro Campuzano-Jost, Benjamin A. Nault, Douglas A. Day, Jason C. Schroder, Dongwook Kim, Jack E. Dibb, Maximilian Dollner, Bernadett Weinzierl, and Jose L. Jimenez
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 3631–3655, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3631-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3631-2021, 2021
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We utilize a set of high-quality datasets collected during the NASA Atmospheric Tomography Mission to investigate the impact of differences in observable particle sizes across aerosol instruments in aerosol measurement comparisons. Very good agreement was found between chemically and physically derived submicron aerosol volume. Results support a lack of significant unknown biases in the response of an Aerodyne aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) when sampling remote aerosols across the globe.
Rei Kudo, Henri Diémoz, Victor Estellés, Monica Campanelli, Masahiro Momoi, Franco Marenco, Claire L. Ryder, Osamu Ijima, Akihiro Uchiyama, Kouichi Nakashima, Akihiro Yamazaki, Ryoji Nagasawa, Nozomu Ohkawara, and Haruma Ishida
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 3395–3426, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3395-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3395-2021, 2021
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A new method, Skyrad pack MRI version 2, was developed to retrieve aerosol physical and optical properties, water vapor, and ozone column concentrations from the sky radiometer, a filter radiometer deployed in the SKYNET international network. Our method showed good performance in a radiative closure study using surface solar irradiances from the Baseline Surface Radiation Network and a comparison using aircraft in situ measurements of Saharan dust events during the SAVEX-D 2015 campaign.
Ville Vakkari, Holger Baars, Stephanie Bohlmann, Johannes Bühl, Mika Komppula, Rodanthi-Elisavet Mamouri, and Ewan James O'Connor
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 5807–5820, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5807-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5807-2021, 2021
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The depolarization ratio is a valuable parameter for aerosol categorization from remote sensing measurements. Here, we introduce particle depolarization ratio measurements at the 1565 nm wavelength, which is substantially longer than previously utilized wavelengths and enhances our capabilities to study the wavelength dependency of the particle depolarization ratio.
Sebastian O'Shea, Jonathan Crosier, James Dorsey, Louis Gallagher, Waldemar Schledewitz, Keith Bower, Oliver Schlenczek, Stephan Borrmann, Richard Cotton, Christopher Westbrook, and Zbigniew Ulanowski
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 1917–1939, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1917-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1917-2021, 2021
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The number, shape, and size of ice crystals in clouds are important properties that influence the Earth's radiation budget, cloud evolution, and precipitation formation. This work suggests that one of the most widely used methods for in situ measurements of these properties has significant uncertainties and biases. We suggest methods that dramatically improve these measurements, which can be applied to past and future datasets from these instruments.
Martin Radenz, Patric Seifert, Holger Baars, Athena Augusta Floutsi, Zhenping Yin, and Johannes Bühl
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 3015–3033, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-3015-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-3015-2021, 2021
Maria Mylonaki, Elina Giannakaki, Alexandros Papayannis, Christina-Anna Papanikolaou, Mika Komppula, Doina Nicolae, Nikolaos Papagiannopoulos, Aldo Amodeo, Holger Baars, and Ourania Soupiona
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 2211–2227, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-2211-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-2211-2021, 2021
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We introduce an automated aerosol type classification method, SCAN. The output of SCAN is compared with two aerosol classification methods: (1) the Mahalanobis distance automatic aerosol type classification and (2) a neural network aerosol typing algorithm. A total of 97 free tropospheric aerosol layers from four EARLINET stations in the period 2014–2018 were classified.
Myrto Gratsea, Tim Bösch, Panagiotis Kokkalis, Andreas Richter, Mihalis Vrekoussis, Stelios Kazadzis, Alexandra Tsekeri, Alexandros Papayannis, Maria Mylonaki, Vassilis Amiridis, Nikos Mihalopoulos, and Evangelos Gerasopoulos
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 749–767, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-749-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-749-2021, 2021
Vasiliki Daskalopoulou, Sotirios A. Mallios, Zbigniew Ulanowski, George Hloupis, Anna Gialitaki, Ioanna Tsikoudi, Konstantinos Tassis, and Vassilis Amiridis
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 927–949, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-927-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-927-2021, 2021
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This research highlights the detection of charged Saharan dust in Greece and provides indications of charge separation in the plumes through the first-ever co-located ground electric field measurements and sophisticated lidar observations. We provide a robust methodology for the extraction of a fair-weather proxy field used to assess the effect of lofted dust particles to the electric field and insert a realistic modelling aspect to the charge accumulation areas within electrically active dust.
Antonis Gkikas, Emmanouil Proestakis, Vassilis Amiridis, Stelios Kazadzis, Enza Di Tomaso, Alexandra Tsekeri, Eleni Marinou, Nikos Hatzianastassiou, and Carlos Pérez García-Pando
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 309–334, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-309-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-309-2021, 2021
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We present the development of the MIDAS (ModIs Dust AeroSol) data set, providing daily dust optical depth (DOD; 550 nm) at a global scale and fine spatial resolution (0.1° x 0.1°) over a 15-year period (2003–2017). It has been developed via the synergy of MODIS-Aqua and MERRA-2 data, while CALIOP and AERONET retrievals are used for its assessment. MIDAS upgrades existing dust observational capabilities, and it is suitable for dust climatological studies, model evaluation, and data assimilation.
Matthias Tesche, Peggy Achtert, and Michael C. Pitts
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 505–516, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-505-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-505-2021, 2021
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We combine spaceborne lidar observations of clouds in the troposphere and stratosphere to assess the outcome of ground-based polar stratospheric cloud (PSC) observations that are often performed at the mercy of tropospheric clouds. We find that the outcome of ground-based lidar measurements of PSCs depends on the location of the measurement. We also provide recommendations regarding the most suitable sites in the Arctic and Antarctic.
Goutam Choudhury, Bhishma Tyagi, Naresh Krishna Vissa, Jyotsna Singh, Chandan Sarangi, Sachchida Nand Tripathi, and Matthias Tesche
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 15389–15399, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-15389-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-15389-2020, 2020
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This study uses 17 years (2001–2017) of observed rain rate, aerosol optical depth (AOD), meteorological reanalysis fields and outgoing long-wave radiation to investigate high precipitation events at the foothills of the Himalayas. Composite analysis of all data sets for high precipitation events (daily rainfall > 95th percentile) indicates clear and robust associations between high precipitation events, high aerosol loading and high moist static energy values.
Cristofer Jimenez, Albert Ansmann, Ronny Engelmann, David Donovan, Aleksey Malinka, Patric Seifert, Robert Wiesen, Martin Radenz, Zhenping Yin, Johannes Bühl, Jörg Schmidt, Boris Barja, and Ulla Wandinger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 15265–15284, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-15265-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-15265-2020, 2020
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Part 2 presents the application of the dual-FOV polarization lidar technique introduced in Part 1. A lidar system was upgraded with a second polarization telescope, and it was deployed at the southernmost tip of South America. A comparison with alternative remote sensing techniques and the evaluation of the aerosol–cloud–wind relation in a convective boundary layer in pristine marine conditions are presented in two case studies, demonstrating the potential of the approach for ACI studies.
Joseph Girdwood, Helen Smith, Warren Stanley, Zbigniew Ulanowski, Chris Stopford, Charles Chemel, Konstantinos-Matthaios Doulgeris, David Brus, David Campbell, and Robert Mackenzie
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 6613–6630, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-6613-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-6613-2020, 2020
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We present the design and validation of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) equipped with a bespoke optical particle counter (OPC). This is used to monitor atmospheric particles, which have significant effects on our weather and climate. These effects are hard to characterise properly, partly because they occur in regions that are not commonly accessible to traditional instrumentation. Our new platform gives us the capability to access these regions.
Johannes Quaas, Antti Arola, Brian Cairns, Matthew Christensen, Hartwig Deneke, Annica M. L. Ekman, Graham Feingold, Ann Fridlind, Edward Gryspeerdt, Otto Hasekamp, Zhanqing Li, Antti Lipponen, Po-Lun Ma, Johannes Mülmenstädt, Athanasios Nenes, Joyce E. Penner, Daniel Rosenfeld, Roland Schrödner, Kenneth Sinclair, Odran Sourdeval, Philip Stier, Matthias Tesche, Bastiaan van Diedenhoven, and Manfred Wendisch
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 15079–15099, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-15079-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-15079-2020, 2020
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Anthropogenic pollution particles – aerosols – serve as cloud condensation nuclei and thus increase cloud droplet concentration and the clouds' reflection of sunlight (a cooling effect on climate). This Twomey effect is poorly constrained by models and requires satellite data for better quantification. The review summarizes the challenges in properly doing so and outlines avenues for progress towards a better use of aerosol retrievals and better retrievals of droplet concentrations.
Agnieszka Kupc, Christina J. Williamson, Anna L. Hodshire, Jan Kazil, Eric Ray, T. Paul Bui, Maximilian Dollner, Karl D. Froyd, Kathryn McKain, Andrew Rollins, Gregory P. Schill, Alexander Thames, Bernadett B. Weinzierl, Jeffrey R. Pierce, and Charles A. Brock
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 15037–15060, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-15037-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-15037-2020, 2020
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Tropical upper troposphere over the Atlantic and Pacific oceans is a major source region of new particles. These particles are associated with the outflow from deep convection. We investigate the processes that govern the formation of these particles and their initial growth and show that none of the formation schemes commonly used in global models are consistent with observations. Using newer schemes indicates that organic compounds are likely important as nucleating and initial growth agents.
Anna Gialitaki, Alexandra Tsekeri, Vassilis Amiridis, Romain Ceolato, Lucas Paulien, Anna Kampouri, Antonis Gkikas, Stavros Solomos, Eleni Marinou, Moritz Haarig, Holger Baars, Albert Ansmann, Tatyana Lapyonok, Anton Lopatin, Oleg Dubovik, Silke Groß, Martin Wirth, Maria Tsichla, Ioanna Tsikoudi, and Dimitris Balis
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 14005–14021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-14005-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-14005-2020, 2020
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Stratospheric smoke particles are found to significantly depolarize incident light, while this effect is also accompanied by a strong spectral dependence. We utilize scattering simulations to show that this behaviour can be attributed to the near-spherical shape of the particles. We also examine whether an extension of the current AERONET scattering model to include the near-spherical shapes could be of benefit to the AERONET retrieval for stratospheric smoke associated with enhanced PLDR.
Holger Baars, Alina Herzog, Birgit Heese, Kevin Ohneiser, Karsten Hanbuch, Julian Hofer, Zhenping Yin, Ronny Engelmann, and Ulla Wandinger
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 6007–6024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-6007-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-6007-2020, 2020
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A first validation for the European satellite Aeolus is presented. Aeolus is the first satellite that can actively measure horizontal wind profiles from space.
Radiosonde launches on board the German research vessel Polarstern have been utilized to validate Aeolus observations over the Atlantic Ocean, a region where almost no other reference measurements are available. It is shown that Aeolus is able to measure accurately atmospheric winds and thus may significantly improve weather forecasts.
Hannes J. Griesche, Patric Seifert, Albert Ansmann, Holger Baars, Carola Barrientos Velasco, Johannes Bühl, Ronny Engelmann, Martin Radenz, Yin Zhenping, and Andreas Macke
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 5335–5358, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-5335-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-5335-2020, 2020
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In summer 2017, the research vessel Polarstern performed cruise PS106 to the Arctic north of Svalbard. In the frame of the cruise, remote-sensing observations of the atmosphere were performed on Polarstern to continuously monitor aerosol and clouds above the vessel. In our study, we present the deployed instrumentation and applied data analysis methods and provide case studies of the aerosol and cloud observations made during the cruise. Statistics of low-cloud occurrence are presented as well.
Christof G. Beer, Johannes Hendricks, Mattia Righi, Bernd Heinold, Ina Tegen, Silke Groß, Daniel Sauer, Adrian Walser, and Bernadett Weinzierl
Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 4287–4303, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-4287-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-4287-2020, 2020
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Mineral dust aerosol plays an important role in the climate system. Previously, dust emissions have often been represented in global models by prescribed monthly-mean emission fields representative of a specific year. We now apply an online calculation of wind-driven dust emissions. This results in an improved agreement with observations, due to a better representation of the highly variable dust emissions. Increasing the model resolution led to an additional performance gain.
Nikolaos Papagiannopoulos, Giuseppe D'Amico, Anna Gialitaki, Nicolae Ajtai, Lucas Alados-Arboledas, Aldo Amodeo, Vassilis Amiridis, Holger Baars, Dimitris Balis, Ioannis Binietoglou, Adolfo Comerón, Davide Dionisi, Alfredo Falconieri, Patrick Fréville, Anna Kampouri, Ina Mattis, Zoran Mijić, Francisco Molero, Alex Papayannis, Gelsomina Pappalardo, Alejandro Rodríguez-Gómez, Stavros Solomos, and Lucia Mona
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 10775–10789, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-10775-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-10775-2020, 2020
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Volcanic and desert dust particles affect human activities in manifold ways; consequently, mitigation tools are important. Their early detection and the issuance of early warnings are key elements in the initiation of operational response procedures. A methodology for the early warning of these hazards using European Aerosol Research Lidar Network (EARLINET) data is presented. The tailored product is investigated during a volcanic eruption and mineral dust advected in the eastern Mediterranean.
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Short summary
Mineral dust concentrations in the diameter range from 0.4 to 14.0 μm were measured with the balloon-borne UCASS optical particle counter. Launches were coordinated with ground-based remote-sensing and airborne in situ measurements during a Saharan dust outbreak over Cyprus. Particle number concentrations reached 50 cm−3 for the diameter range 0.8–13.9 μm. Comparisons with aircraft data show reasonable agreement in magnitude and shape of the particle size distribution.
Mineral dust concentrations in the diameter range from 0.4 to 14.0 μm were measured with the...
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