Abstract
Abstract. Vertical profiles of the particle backscattering coefficient at 355, 532 and 1064 nm measured by the University of Basilicata Raman lidar system (BASIL) have been compared with simulated particle backscatter profiles obtained through a Mie scattering code based on the use of simultaneous and almost co-located profiles provided by an airborne optical particle counter. Measurements were carried out during dedicated flights of the French research aircraft ATR42 in the framework of the European Facility for Airborne Research (EUFAR) project “WaLiTemp”, as part of the Hydrological Cycle in the Mediterranean Experiment – Special Observation Period 1 (HyMeX-SOP1). Results from two selected case studies are reported and discussed in the paper, and a dedicated analysis approach is illustrated and applied to the dataset. Results reveal a good agreement between measured and simulated multi-wavelength particle backscattering profiles. Specifically, simulated and measured particle backscattering profiles at 355 and 532 nm for the second case study are found to deviate less than 15 % (mean value =5.9 %) and 50 % (mean value =25.9 %), respectively, when considering the presence of a continental–urban aerosol component, while slightly larger deviation values are found for the first study. The reported good agreement between measured and simulated multi-wavelength particle backscatter profiles testifies to the ability of multi-wavelength Raman lidar systems to infer aerosol types at different altitudes.
Highlights
Aerosols are a key atmospheric component, playing a major role in meteo-climatic processes
During Hydrological cycle in the Mediterranean Experiment (HyMeX)-Special Observation Period 1 (SOP1), the Raman lidar system Basilicata Raman lidar system (BASIL) was deployed in Candillargues and operated almost continuously over a 2-month period in the time frame October–November 2012
The ATR42 payload included in situ sensors for turbulence measurements, as well as aerosol and cloud microphysics probes, together with an optical particle counter (GRIMM Aerosol Technik GmbH, model: Sky-OPC 1.129) capable of measuring particle number concentration in the size interval 0.25–2.5 μm
Summary
Aerosols are a key atmospheric component, playing a major role in meteo-climatic processes. The possibility of retrieving particle size and microphysical parameters from multi-wavelength lidar data of particle backscattering, extinction and depolarization has been recently demonstrated by a variety of authors (Müller et al, 2001, 2007, 2009; Veselovskii et al, 2002, 2009, 2010) These measurements can be combined with simultaneous measurements of the atmospheric thermodynamic profiles (Wulfmeyer et al, 2005; Di Girolamo et al, 2008, 2018a) to characterize aerosol– cloud interaction mechanisms. Measurements carried out by BASIL are illustrated with the purpose of characterizing atmospheric aerosol optical properties These measurements, in combination with in situ measurements from an airborne optical particle counter and the application of a Mie scattering code, are used to infer aerosol types.
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