scholarly journals Comparison of mixed layer heights from airborne high spectral resolution lidar, ground-based measurements, and the WRF-Chem model during CalNex and CARES

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 13721-13772 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. J. Scarino ◽  
M. D. Obland ◽  
J. D. Fast ◽  
S. P. Burton ◽  
R. A. Ferrare ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
Mixed Layer ◽  
Spectral Resolution ◽  
Temporal Distribution ◽  
Carbonaceous Aerosol ◽  
High Spectral Resolution ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Field Campaigns ◽  
Langley Research Center ◽  
High Spectral Resolution Lidar

Abstract. The California Research at the Nexus of Air Quality and Climate Change (CalNex) and Carbonaceous Aerosol and Radiative Effects Study (CARES) field campaigns during May and June 2010 provided a data set appropriate for studying characteristics of the planetary boundary layer (PBL). The NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) airborne High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) was deployed to California onboard the NASA LaRC B-200 aircraft to aid in characterizing aerosol properties during these two field campaigns. Measurements of aerosol extinction (532 nm), backscatter (532 and 1064 nm), and depolarization (532 and 1064 nm) profiles during 31 flights, many in coordination with other research aircraft and ground sites, constitute a diverse data set for use in characterizing the spatial and temporal distribution of aerosols, as well as the depth and variability of the daytime mixed layer (ML), which is a subset within the PBL. This work illustrates the temporal and spatial variability of the ML in the vicinity of Los Angeles and Sacramento, CA. ML heights derived from HSRL measurements are compared to PBL heights derived from radiosonde profiles, ML heights measured from ceilometers, and simulated PBL heights from the Weather Research and Forecasting Chemistry (WRF-Chem) community model. Comparisons between the HSRL ML heights and the radiosonde profiles in Sacramento result in a correlation coefficient value (R) of 0.93 (root-mean-square (RMS) difference of 157 m and bias difference (HSRL – radiosonde) of 57 m). HSRL ML heights compare well with those from the ceilometer in the LA Basin with an R of 0.89 (RMS difference of 108 m and bias difference (HSRL – Ceilometer) of −9.7 m) for distances of up to 30 km between the B-200 flight track and the ceilometer site. Simulated PBL heights from WRF-Chem were compared with those obtained from all flights for each campaign, producing an R of 0.58 (RMS difference of 604 m and a bias difference (WRF-Chem – HSRL) of −157 m) for CalNex and 0.59 (RMS difference of 689 m and a bias difference (WRF-Chem – HSRL) of 220 m) for CARES. Aerosol backscatter simulations are also available from WRF-Chem and are compared to those from HSRL to examine differences among the methods used to derive ML heights.

scholarly journals Comparison of mixed layer heights from airborne high spectral resolution lidar, ground-based measurements, and the WRF-Chem model during CalNex and CARES

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 5547-5560 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. J. Scarino ◽  
M. D. Obland ◽  
J. D. Fast ◽  
S. P. Burton ◽  
R. A. Ferrare ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
Spatial Variability ◽  
Mixed Layer ◽  
Spectral Resolution ◽  
Carbonaceous Aerosol ◽  
High Spectral Resolution ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Mountainous Regions ◽  
Field Campaigns ◽  
High Spectral Resolution Lidar

Abstract. The California Research at the Nexus of Air Quality and Climate Change (CalNex) and Carbonaceous Aerosol and Radiative Effects Study (CARES) field campaigns during May and June 2010 provided a data set appropriate for studying the structure of the atmospheric boundary layer (BL). The NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) airborne high spectral resolution lidar (HSRL) was deployed to California onboard the NASA LaRC B-200 aircraft to aid in characterizing aerosol properties during these two field campaigns. Measurements of aerosol extinction (532 nm), backscatter (532 and 1064 nm), and depolarization (532 and 1064 nm) profiles during 31 flights, many in coordination with other research aircraft and ground sites, constitute a diverse data set for use in characterizing the spatial and temporal distribution of aerosols, as well as the depth and variability of the daytime mixed layer (ML) height. The paper describes the modified Haar wavelet covariance transform method used to derive the ML heights from HSRL backscatter profiles. HSRL ML heights are validated using ML heights derived from two radiosonde profile sites during CARES. Comparisons between ML heights from HSRL and a Vaisala ceilometer operated during CalNex were used to evaluate the representativeness of a fixed measurement over a larger region. In the Los Angeles basin, comparisons of ML heights derived from HSRL measurements and ML heights derived from the ceilometer result in a very good agreement (mean bias difference of 10 m and correlation coefficient of 0.89) up to 30 km away from the ceilometer site, but are essentially uncorrelated for larger distances, indicating that the spatial variability of the ML height is significant over these distances and not necessarily well captured by limited ground stations. The HSRL ML heights are also used to evaluate the performance in simulating the temporal and spatial variability of ML heights from the Weather Research and Forecasting Chemistry (WRF-Chem) community model. When compared to aerosol ML heights from HSRL, thermodynamic ML heights from WRF-Chem were underpredicted in the CalNex and CARES regions, shown by a bias difference value of −157 m and −29 m, respectively. Better agreement over the Central Valley than in mountainous regions suggests that some variability in the ML height is not well captured at the 4 km grid resolution of the model. A small but significant number of cases have poor agreement when WRF-Chem consistently overestimates the ML height in the late afternoon. Additional comparisons with WRF-Chem aerosol mixed layer heights show no significant improvement over thermodynamic ML heights, confirming that any differences between measurement and model are not due to the methodology of ML height determination.

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

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

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

scholarly journals Ocean Backscatter Profiling Using High-Spectral-Resolution Lidar and a Perturbation Retrieval

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Churnside ◽  
Johnathan Hair ◽  
Chris Hostetler ◽  
Amy Scarino
Keyword(s):  
Attenuation Coefficient ◽  
Spectral Resolution ◽  
Calibration Procedure ◽  
High Spectral Resolution ◽  
Scattering Parameters ◽  
Scattering Parameter ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Coefficient Of Variability ◽  
High Spectral Resolution Lidar

Ocean lidar attenuation and scattering parameters were derived from a high-spectral-resolution lidar (HSRL) using two different retrieval techniques. The first used the standard HSRL retrieval, and the second used only the total backscatter channel and a perturbation retrieval (PR). The motivation is to evaluate differences between the two techniques that would affect the decision of whether to use a simple backscatter lidar or a more complex HSRL in future applications. For the data set investigated, the attenuation coefficient from the PR was an average of 11% lower than that from the HSRL. The PR estimate of the scattering parameter decreased with depth relative to the HSRL estimate, although the overall bias was zero as a result of the calibration procedure. Near the surface, the coefficient of variability in both estimates of attenuation and in HSRL estimates of scattering were around 5%, but that in the PR estimate of scattering was over 10%. At greater depths, the variability increases for all of the profile parameters. The correlation between the two estimates of attenuation coefficient was 0.7. The correlation between scattering parameters was > 0.8 near the surface, but decreased to 0.4 at a depth of around 20 m. Overall, the PR performed better relative to the HSRL in offshore waters than in nearshore waters.

scholarly journals Aerosol classification by airborne high spectral resolution lidar observations

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

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

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

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (12) ◽  
pp. 4317-4340 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. R. Rogers ◽  
M. A. Vaughan ◽  
C. A. Hostetler ◽  
S. P. Burton ◽  
R. A. Ferrare ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Optical Depth ◽  
Spectral Resolution ◽  
Detection Threshold ◽  
High Spectral Resolution ◽  
Aerosol Layer ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Uncertainty Estimates ◽  
Lidar Ratio ◽  
High Spectral Resolution Lidar ◽  
Level 2

Abstract. The Cloud–Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) instrument onboard the Cloud–Aerosol Lidar and Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) spacecraft has provided over 8 yr of nearly continuous vertical profiling of Earth's atmosphere. In this paper we investigate the V3.01 and V3.02 CALIOP 532 nm aerosol layer optical depth (AOD) product (i.e the AOD of individual layers) and the column AOD product (i.e., the sum AOD of the complete column) using an extensive database of coincident measurements. The CALIOP AOD measurements and AOD uncertainty estimates are compared with collocated AOD measurements collected with the NASA High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) in the North American and Caribbean regions. In addition, the CALIOP aerosol lidar ratios are investigated using the HSRL measurements. In general, compared with the HSRL values, the CALIOP layer AOD are biased high by less than 50% for AOD < 0.3 with higher errors for higher AOD. Less than 60% of the HSRL AOD measurements are encompassed within the CALIOP layer 1 SD uncertainty range (around the CALIOP layer AOD), so an error estimate is created to encompass 68% of the HSRL data. Using this new metric, the CALIOP layer AOD error is estimated using the HSRL layer AOD as ±0.035 ± 0.05 · (HSRL layer AOD) at night and ±0.05 ± 0.05 · (HSRL layer AOD) during the daytime. Furthermore, the CALIOP layer AOD error is found to correlate with aerosol loading as well as aerosol subtype, with the AODs in marine and dust layers agreeing most closely with the HSRL values. The lidar ratios used by CALIOP for polluted dust, polluted continental, and biomass burning layers are larger than the values measured by the HSRL in the CALIOP layers, and therefore the AODs for these types retrieved by CALIOP were generally too large. We estimated the CALIOP column AOD error can be expressed as ±0.05 ± 0.07 · (HSRL column AOD) at night and ±0.08 ± 0.1 · (HSRL column AOD) during the daytime. Multiple sources of error contribute to both positive and negative errors in the CALIOP column AOD, including multiple layers in the column of different aerosol types, lidar ratio errors, cloud misclassification, and undetected aerosol layers. The undetected layers were further investigated and we found that the layer detection algorithm works well at night, although undetected aerosols in the free troposphere introduce a mean underestimate of 0.02 in the column AOD in the data set examined. The decreased signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) during the daytime led to poorer performance of the layer detection. This caused the daytime CALIOP column AOD to be less accurate than during the nighttime, because CALIOP frequently does not detect optically thin aerosol layers with AOD < 0.1. Given that the median vertical extent of aerosol detected within any column was 1.6 km during the nighttime and 1.5 km during the daytime, we can estimate the minimum extinction detection threshold to be 0.012 km−1 at night and 0.067 km−1 during the daytime in a layer median sense. This extensive validation of level 2 CALIOP AOD products extends previous validation studies to nighttime lighting conditions and provides independent measurements of the lidar ratio; thus, allowing the assessment of the effect on the CALIOP AOD of using inappropriate lidar ratio values in the extinction retrieval.

scholarly journals Airborne multiwavelength High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL-2) observations during TCAP 2012: vertical profiles of optical and microphysical properties of a smoke/urban haze plume over the northeastern coast of the US

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 1059-1073 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Müller ◽  
C. A. Hostetler ◽  
R. A. Ferrare ◽  
S. P. Burton ◽  
E. Chemyakin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spectral Resolution ◽  
Phase 1 ◽  
Department Of Energy ◽  
High Spectral Resolution ◽  
Inversion Algorithm ◽  
Data Inversion ◽  
Microphysical Properties ◽  
The Us ◽  
Langley Research Center ◽  
High Spectral Resolution Lidar

Abstract. We present measurements acquired by the world's first airborne multiwavelength High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL-2), developed by NASA Langley Research Center. The instrument was operated during Phase 1 of the Department of Energy (DOE) Two-Column Aerosol Project (TCAP)in July 2012. We observed pollution outflow from the northeast coast of the US out over the West Atlantic Ocean. Lidar ratios were 50–60 sr at 355 nm and 60–70 sr at 532 nm. Extinction-related Ångström exponents were on average 1.2–1.7 indicating comparably small particles. Our novel automated, unsupervised data inversion algorithm retrieves particle effective radii of approximately 0.2 μm, which is in agreement with the large Ångström exponents. We find good agreement with particle size parameters obtained from coincident in situ measurements carried out with the DOE Gulfstream-1 aircraft.

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

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

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

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

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

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

scholarly journals High spectral resolution lidar at the university of wisconsin-madison

2018 ◽  
Vol 176 ◽  
pp. 01024
Author(s):  
Ilya I. Razenkov ◽  
Edwin W. Eloranta
Keyword(s):  
Spectral Resolution ◽  
Atmospheric Temperature ◽  
High Spectral Resolution ◽  
Science And Engineering ◽  
Extinction Cross Section ◽  
University Of Wisconsin ◽  
Atmospheric Temperature Profile ◽  
Field Campaigns ◽  
The University ◽  
High Spectral Resolution Lidar

This paper describes the modifications done on the University of Wisconsin-Madison High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) that improved the instrument’s performance. The University of Wisconsin HSRL lidars designed by our group at the Space Science and Engineering Center were deployed in numerous field campaigns in various locations around the world. Over the years the instruments have undergone multiple modifications that improved the performance and added new measurement capabilities such as atmospheric temperature profile and extinction cross-section measurements.

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

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

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

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document