The European Aerosol Research Lidar Network, EARLINET, was founded in 2000 as a research project for establishing a quantitative, comprehensive, and statistically significant database for the ...horizontal, vertical, and temporal distribution of aerosols on a continental scale. Since then EARLINET has continued to provide the most extensive collection of ground-based data for the aerosol vertical distribution over Europe. This paper gives an overview of the network's main developments since 2000 and introduces the dedicated EARLINET special issue, which reports on the present innovative and comprehensive technical solutions and scientific results related to the use of advanced lidar remote sensing techniques for the study of aerosol properties as developed within the network in the last 13 years. Since 2000, EARLINET has developed greatly in terms of number of stations and spatial distribution: from 17 stations in 10 countries in 2000 to 27 stations in 16 countries in 2013. EARLINET has developed greatly also in terms of technological advances with the spread of advanced multiwavelength Raman lidar stations in Europe. The developments for the quality assurance strategy, the optimization of instruments and data processing, and the dissemination of data have contributed to a significant improvement of the network towards a more sustainable observing system, with an increase in the observing capability and a reduction of operational costs. Consequently, EARLINET data have already been extensively used for many climatological studies, long-range transport events, Saharan dust outbreaks, plumes from volcanic eruptions, and for model evaluation and satellite data validation and integration. Future plans are aimed at continuous measurements and near-real-time data delivery in close cooperation with other ground-based networks, such as in the ACTRIS (Aerosols, Clouds, and Trace gases Research InfraStructure Network) www.actris.net, and with the modeling and satellite community, linking the research community with the operational world, with the aim of establishing of the atmospheric part of the European component of the integrated global observing system.
Volcanic ash plumes, emitted by the Eyjafjallajökull volcano (Iceland) in spring 2010, were observed by the lidar systems MULIS and POLIS in Maisach (near Munich, Germany), and by a CIMEL Sun ...photometer and a JenOptik ceilometer in Munich. We retrieve mass concentrations of volcanic ash from the lidar measurements; spectral optical properties, i.e. extinction coefficients, backscatter coefficients, and linear depolarization ratios, are used as input for an inversion. The inversion algorithm searches for model aerosol ensembles with optical properties that agree with the measured values within their uncertainty ranges. The non-sphericity of ash particles is considered by assuming spheroids. Optical particle properties are calculated using the T-matrix method supplemented by the geometric optics approach. The lidar inversion is applied to observations of the pure volcanic ash plume in the morning of 17 April 2010. We find 1.45 g m−2 for the ratio between the mass concentration and the extinction coefficient at λ = 532 nm, assuming an ash density of 2.6 g cm−3. The uncertainty range for this ratio is from 0.87 g m−2 to 2.32 g m−2. At the peak of the ash concentration over Maisach the extinction coefficient at λ = 532 nm was 0.75 km−1 (1-h-average), which corresponds to a maximum mass concentration of 1.1 mg m−3 (0.65 to 1.8 mg m−3). Model calculations show that particle backscatter at our lidar wavelengths (λ ≤ 1064 nm), and thus the lidar retrieval, is hardly sensitive to large particles (r ≳ 3 μm); large particles, however, may contain significant amounts of mass. Therefore, as an independent cross check of the lidar retrieval and to investigate the presence of large particles in more detail, we model ratios of sky radiances in the aureole of the Sun and compare them to measurements of the CIMEL. These ratios are sensitive to particles up to r ≈ 10 μm. This approach confirms the mass concentrations from the lidar retrieval. We conclude that synergistic utilization of high quality lidar and Sun photometer data, in combination with realistic aerosol models, is recommended for improving ash mass concentration retrievals.
Since a few years, the number of active remote sensing systems has been rapidly increasing as national weather services started to build up networks of ceilometers. As ceilometers can be considered ...as "simple" backscatter lidars, it is obvious to investigate to which extent they can provide quantitative aerosol information. In this context, the calibration of the ceilometer is the most crucial point: whereas previous studies primarily have relied on the comparisons with co-incident sun photometer measurements and the Rayleigh calibration, we provide an absolute calibration of the ceilometer. The advantage of this approach is that backscatter profiles can be derived during daytime and nighttime, and even in cases when the signal-to-noise ratio of signals from the free troposphere is very low. Moreover, the retrieval can easily be automated. In this paper, we consider the Jenoptik CHM15kx-ceilometer. We discuss the methodology and the achievable accuracy and present a set of examples to highlight the wide range of applications, and the limitations. The achievable temporal resolution is of the order of a few minutes; the relative error of the particle backscatter coefficient is less than 10%. It is emphasized that the accuracy of extinction coefficients and - as a consequence - of the aerosol optical depth is limited due to the unknown lidar ratio. This is, however, an inherent problem of any backscatter lidar and not a special feature of the ceilometer.
In recent years attention was increasingly paid to backscatter profiles of ceilometers as a new source of aerosol information. Several case studies have shown that – although originally intended for ...cloud detection only – ceilometers can provide the planetary boundary layer height and even quantitative information such as the aerosol backscatter coefficient βp, provided that the signals have been calibrated. It is expected that the retrieval of aerosol parameters will become widespread as the number of ceilometers is steadily increasing, and continuous and unattended operation is provided. In this context however one should be aware of the fact that the majority of ceilometers provides signals that are influenced by atmospheric water vapor. As a consequence, profiles of aerosol parameters can only be retrieved if water vapor absorption is taken into account. In this paper we describe the influence of water vapor absorption on ceilometer signals at wavelengths around λ = 910 nm. Spectrally high-resolved absorption coefficients are calculated from HITRAN on the basis of realistic emission spectra of ceilometers. These results are used as a reference to develop a methodology ("WAPL") for routine and near-real time corrections of the water vapor influence. Comparison of WAPL with the reference demonstrates its very high accuracy. Extensive studies with simulations based on measurements reveal that the error when water vapor absorption is ignored in the βp-retrieval can be in the order of 20 % for mid-latitudes and more than 50 % for the tropics. It is concluded that the emission spectrum of the laser source should be provided by the manufacturer to increase the accuracy of WAPL, and that 910 nm is better suited than 905 nm. With WAPL systematic errors can be avoided, that would exceed the inherent errors of the Klett solutions by far.
With the establishment of ceilometer networks by national weather services, a discussion commenced to which extent these simple backscatter lidars can be used for aerosol research. Though primarily ...designed for the detection of clouds it was shown that at least observations of the vertical structure of the boundary layer might be possible. However, an assessment of the potential of ceilometers for the quantitative retrieval of aerosol properties is still missing. In this paper we discuss different retrieval methods to derive the aerosol backscatter coefficient βp, with special focus on the calibration of the ceilometers. Different options based on forward and backward integration methods are compared with respect to their accuracy and applicability. It is shown that advanced lidar systems such as those being operated in the framework of the European Aerosol Research Lidar Network (EARLINET) are excellent tools for the calibration, and thus βp retrievals based on forward integration can readily be implemented and used for real-time applications. Furthermore, we discuss uncertainties introduced by incomplete overlap, the unknown lidar ratio, and water vapor absorption. The latter is relevant for the very large number of ceilometers operating in the spectral range around λ = 905–910 nm. The accuracy of the retrieved βp mainly depends on the accuracy of the calibration and the long-term stability of the ceilometer. Under favorable conditions, a relative error of βp on the order of 10% seems feasible. In the case of water vapor absorption, corrections assuming a realistic water vapor distribution and laser spectrum are indispensable; otherwise errors on the order of 20% could occur. From case studies it is shown that ceilometers can be used for the reliable detection of elevated aerosol layers below 5 km, and can contribute to the validation of chemistry transport models, e.g., the height of the boundary layer. However, the exploitation of ceilometer measurements is still in its infancy, so more studies are urgently needed to consolidate the present state of knowledge, which is based on a limited number of case studies.
A combined lidar‐photometer method that permits the retrieval of vertical profiles of ash and non‐ash (fine‐mode) particle mass concentrations is presented. By using a polarization lidar, the ...contributions of non‐ash and ash particles to total particle backscattering and extinction are separated. Sun photometer measurements of the ratio of particle volume concentration to particle optical thickness (AOT) for fine and coarse mode are then used to convert the non‐ash and ash extinction coefficients into respective fine‐mode and ash particle mass concentrations. The method is applied to European Aerosol Research Lidar Network (EARLINET) and Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) Sun photometer observations of volcanic aerosol layers at Cabauw, Netherlands, and Hamburg, Munich, and Leipzig, Germany, after the strong eruptions of the Icelandic Eyjafjallajökull volcano in April and May 2010. A consistent picture in terms of photometer‐derived fine‐ and coarse‐mode AOTs and lidar‐derived non‐ash and ash extinction profiles is found. The good agreement between the fine‐ to coarse‐mode AOT ratio and non‐ash to ash AOT ratio (<10% difference) in several cases corroborates the usefulness of the new retrieval technique. The main phases of the evolution of the volcanic aerosol layers over central Europe from 16 April to 17 May 2010 are characterized in terms of optical properties and mass concentrations of fine fraction and ash particles. Maximum coarse‐mode 500 nm AOTs were of the order of 1.0–1.2. Ash concentrations and column mass loads reached maximum values around 1500 μg/m3 and 1750 mg/m2, respectively, on 16–17 April 2010. In May 2010, the maximum ash loads were lower by at least 50%. A critical aspect of the entire retrieval scheme is the high uncertainty in the mass‐to‐extinction conversion for fresh volcanic plumes with an unknown concentration of particles with radii >15 μm.
Key Points
New lidar technique to separate volcanic sulfate and ash particles
Observation of the evolution of volcanic aerosols over central Europe
Synergistic EARLINET lidar and AERONET photometer observations
More than 130 observation days of the horizontal and vertical extent of Saharan dust intrusions over Europe during the period May 2000 to December 2002 were studied by means of a coordinated lidar ...network in the frame of the European Aerosol Research Lidar Network (EARLINET). The number of dust events was greatest in late spring, summer, and early autumn periods, mainly in southern (S) and southeastern (SE) Europe. Multiple aerosol dust layers of variable thickness (300–7500 m) were observed. The center of mass of these layers was located in altitudes between 850 and 8000 m. However, the mean thickness of the dust layer typically stayed around 1500–3400 m and the corresponding mean center of mass ranged from 2500 to 6000 m. In exceptional cases, dust aerosols reached northwestern (NW), northern (N), or northeastern (NE) Europe, penetrating the geographical area located between 4°W–28°E (longitude) and 38°N–58°N (latitude). Mean aerosol optical depths (AOD), extinction‐to‐backscatter ratios (lidar ratios, LR), and linear depolarization ratios of desert aerosols ranged from 0.1 to 0.25 at the wavelength of 355 or 351 nm, 30 to 80 sr at 355 or 351 nm, and 10 to 25% at 532 nm, respectively, within the lofted dust plumes. In these plumes typical Saharan dust backscatter coefficients ranged from 0.5 to 2 Mm−1sr−1. Southern European stations presented higher variability of the LR values and the backscatter‐related Ångström exponent values (BRAE) (LR: 20–100 sr; BRAE: −0.5 to 3) than northern ones (LR: 30–80 sr; BRAE: −0.5 to 1).
The optically thickest volcanic ash plume ever measured over Germany was monitored with multiwavelength Raman lidars and Sun photometer at Leipzig and Munich. When this ash layer, originating from ...the Eyjafjoll eruptions in southern Iceland, crossed Leipzig between 2.5 and 6 km height on 16 April 2010, the total 500 nm aerosol optical depth reached 1.0, and the ash–related optical depth was about 0.7. Volume light–extinction coefficients (40–75–minute mean values) measured over Leipzig and Munich at 355 and 532 nm reached values of 400–600 Mm−1 and ash mass concentrations were on the order of 1000 ± 350 μg/m3 in the center of the main ash layer. Extinction–to–backscatter ratios ranged from 55 ± 5 sr (Munich) to 60 ± 5 sr (Leipzig) in the main ash layer, and the particle linear depolarization ratio was close to 0.35 at both wavelengths. Rather low photometer–derived Ångström exponents (500–1640 nm wavelength range) indicated the presence of a significant amount of large ash particles with diameters >20 μm.
Multiwavelength lidar, Sun photometer, and radiosonde observations were conducted at Ouarzazate (30.9°N, 6.9°W, 1133 m above sea level, asl), Morocco, in the framework of the Saharan Mineral Dust ...Experiment (SAMUM) in May–June 2006. The field site is close to the Saharan desert. Information on the depolarization ratio, backscatter and extinction coefficients, and lidar ratio of the dust particles, estimates of the available concentration of atmospheric ice nuclei at cloud level, profiles of temperature, humidity, and the horizontal wind vector as well as backward trajectory analysis are used to study cases of cloud formation in the dust with focus on heterogeneous ice formation. Surprisingly, most of the altocumulus clouds that form at the top of the Saharan dust layer, which reaches into heights of 4–7 km asl and has layer top temperatures of −8°C to −18°C, do not show any ice formation. According to the lidar observations the presence of a high number of ice nuclei (1–20 cm−3) does not automatically result in the obvious generation of ice particles, but the observations indicate that cloud top temperatures must typically reach values as low as −20°C before significant ice production starts. Another main finding is that liquid clouds are obviously required before ice crystals form via heterogeneous freezing mechanisms, and, as a consequence, that deposition freezing is not an important ice nucleation process. An interesting case with cloud seeding in the free troposphere above the dust layer is presented in addition. Small water clouds formed at about −30°C and produced ice virga. These virga reached water cloud layers several kilometers below the initiating cloud cells and caused strong ice production in these clouds at temperatures as high as −12°C to −15°C.
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