Abstract
Abstract. Aerosol backscatter coefficients were calculated using multiwavelength aerosol extinction products from the SAGE II and III/ISS instruments (SAGE: Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment). The conversion methodology is presented, followed by an evaluation of the conversion algorithm's robustness. The SAGE-based backscatter products were compared to backscatter coefficients derived from ground-based lidar at three sites (Table Mountain Facility, Mauna Loa, and Observatoire de Haute-Provence). Further, the SAGE-derived lidar ratios were compared to values from previous balloon and theoretical studies. This evaluation includes the major eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in 1991, followed by the atmospherically quiescent period beginning in the late 1990s. Recommendations are made regarding the use of this method for evaluation of aerosol extinction profiles collected using the occultation method.
Highlights
Stratospheric aerosol consists of submicron particles (Chagnon and Junge, 1961) that are composed primarily of sulfuric acid and water (Murphy et al, 1998) and play a crucial role in atmospheric chemistry and radiation transfer (Pitts and Thomason, 1993; Kremser et al, 2016; Wilka et al, 2018)
Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) II was a seven-channel solar occultation instrument (386, 448, 452, 525, 600, 935, 1020 nm) that flew on the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS) from October 1984 through August 2005
We identified three stations that satisfied the requirements of this analysis: Table Mountain Facility, Mauna Loa Observatory, and Observatoire de Haute-Provence
Summary
Stratospheric aerosol consists of submicron particles (Chagnon and Junge, 1961) that are composed primarily of sulfuric acid and water (Murphy et al, 1998) and play a crucial role in atmospheric chemistry and radiation transfer (Pitts and Thomason, 1993; Kremser et al, 2016; Wilka et al, 2018). The SAM II and SAGE instruments made direct measurements of vertical profiles of the aerosol extinction coefficient (k, referred to as aerosol extinction) by recording light transmitted through the atmosphere from the sun or moon as it rises or sets This attenuated light was compared to exo-atmospheric values that were recorded when the light source was sufficiently high above the atmosphere. We present a method of converting SAGE-observed extinction coefficients to backscatter coefficients for direct comparison with stratospheric lidar observations This method is presented as an alternative evaluation technique for the SAGE products with the intent of expanding our long-term trend intercomparison opportunities (i.e., to include ground-based lidar as well as the possibility of satellite-borne lidar)
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