16 research outputs found
New national and regional bryophyte records, 59
Peer reviewe
Aerosol backscatter profiles from ceilometers: validation of water vapor correction in the framework of CeiLinEx2015
With the rapidly growing number of automated single-wavelength backscatter
lidars (ceilometers), their potential benefit for aerosol remote sensing
received considerable scientific attention. When studying the accuracy of
retrieved particle backscatter coefficients, it must be considered that most
of the ceilometers are influenced by water vapor absorption in the spectral
range around 910 nm. In the literature methodologies have been proposed to correct for this
effect; however, a validation was not yet performed. In
the framework of the ceilometer intercomparison campaign CeiLinEx2015 in
Lindenberg, Germany, hosted by the German Weather Service, it was possible to
tackle this open issue. Ceilometers from Lufft (CHM15k and CHM15kx, operating
at 1064 nm), from Vaisala (CL51 and CL31) and from Campbell Scientific
(CS135), all operating at a wavelength of approximately 910 nm, were
deployed together with a multi-wavelength research lidar (RALPH) that served
as a reference. In this paper the validation of the water vapor correction is
performed by comparing ceilometer backscatter signals with measurements of
the reference system extrapolated to the water vapor regime. One inherent
problem of the validation is the spectral extrapolation of particle optical
properties. For this purpose AERONET measurements and inversions of RALPH
signals were used. Another issue is that the vertical range where validation
is possible is limited to the upper part of the mixing layer due to incomplete
overlap and the generally low signal-to-noise ratio and signal artifacts
above that layer. Our intercomparisons show that the water vapor correction
leads to quite a good agreement between the extrapolated reference signal and
the measurements in the case of CL51 ceilometers at one or more wavelengths
in the specified range of the laser diode's emission. This ambiguity is due
to the similar effective water vapor transmission at several wavelengths. In
the case of CL31 and CS135 ceilometers the validation was not always
successful. That suggests that error sources beyond the water vapor
absorption might be dominant. For future applications we recommend monitoring
the emitted wavelength and providing “dark” measurements on a regular
basis.</p
The fingerprint of the summer 2018 drought in Europe on ground-based atmospheric CO2 measurements
During the summer of 2018, a widespread drought developed over Northern and Central Europe. The increase in temperature and the reduction of soil moisture have influenced carbon dioxide (CO2) exchange between the atmosphere and terrestrial ecosystems in various ways, such as a reduction of photosynthesis, changes in ecosystem respiration, or allowing more frequent fires. In this study, we characterize the resulting perturbation of the atmospheric CO2 seasonal cycles. 2018 has a good coverage of European regions affected by drought, allowing the investigation of how ecosystem flux anomalies impacted spatial CO2 gradients between stations. This density of stations is unprecedented compared to previous drought events in 2003 and 2015, particularly thanks to the deployment of the Integrated Carbon Observation System (ICOS) network of atmospheric greenhouse gas monitoring stations in recent years. Seasonal CO2 cycles from 48 European stations were available for 2017 and 2018.The UK sites were funded by the UK Department of Business,
Energy and Industrial Strategy (formerly the Department of Energy
and Climate Change) through contracts TRN1028/06/2015 and
TRN1537/06/2018. The stations at the ClimaDat Network in
Spain have received funding from the ‘la Caixa’ Foundation, under
agreement 2010-002624
The fingerprint of the summer 2018 drought in Europe on ground-based atmospheric CO 2 measurements : Atmospheric CO 2 anomaly
During the summer of 2018, a widespread drought developed over Northern and Central Europe. The increase in temperature and the reduction of soil moisture have influenced carbon dioxide (CO 2) exchange between the atmosphere and terrestrial ecosystems in various ways, such as a reduction of photosynthesis, changes in ecosystem respiration, or allowing more frequent fires. In this study, we characterize the resulting perturbation of the atmospheric CO 2 seasonal cycles. 2018 has a good coverage of European regions affected by drought, allowing the investigation of how ecosystem flux anomalies impacted spatial CO 2 gradients between stations. This density of stations is unprecedented compared to previous drought events in 2003 and 2015, particularly thanks to the deployment of the Integrated Carbon Observation System (ICOS) network of atmospheric greenhouse gas monitoring stations in recent years. Seasonal CO 2 cycles from 48 European stations were available for 2017 and 2018. Earlier data were retrieved for comparison from international databases or national networks. Here, we show that the usual summer minimum in CO 2 due to the surface carbon uptake was reduced by 1.4 ppm in 2018 for the 10 stations located in the area most affected by the temperature anomaly, mostly in Northern Europe. Notwithstanding, the CO 2 transition phases before and after July were slower in 2018 compared to 2017, suggesting an extension of the growing season, with either continued CO 2 uptake by photosynthesis and/or a reduction in respiration driven by the depletion of substrate for respiration inherited from the previous months due to the drought. For stations with sufficiently long time series, the CO 2 anomaly observed in 2018 was compared to previous European droughts in 2003 and 2015. Considering the areas most affected by the temperature anomalies, we found a higher CO 2 anomaly in 2003 (+3 ppm averaged over 4 sites), and a smaller anomaly in 2015 (+1 ppm averaged over 11 sites) compared to 2018. This article is part of the theme issue 'Impacts of the 2018 severe drought and heatwave in Europe: from site to continental scale'
The fingerprint of the summer 2018 drought in Europe on ground-based atmospheric CO2 measurements
During the summer of 2018, a widespread drought developed over Northern and Central Europe. The increase in temperature and the reduction of soil moisture have influenced carbon dioxide (CO 2) exchange between the atmosphere and terrestrial ecosystems in various ways, such as a reduction of photosynthesis, changes in ecosystem respiration, or allowing more frequent fires. In this study, we characterize the resulting perturbation of the atmospheric CO 2 seasonal cycles. 2018 has a good coverage of European regions affected by drought, allowing the investigation of how ecosystem flux anomalies impacted spatial CO 2 gradients between stations. This density of stations is unprecedented compared to previous drought events in 2003 and 2015, particularly thanks to the deployment of the Integrated Carbon Observation System (ICOS) network of atmospheric greenhouse gas monitoring stations in recent years. Seasonal CO 2 cycles from 48 European stations were available for 2017 and 2018. Earlier data were retrieved for comparison from international databases or national networks. Here, we show that the usual summer minimum in CO 2 due to the surface carbon uptake was reduced by 1.4 ppm in 2018 for the 10 stations located in the area most affected by the temperature anomaly, mostly in Northern Europe. Notwithstanding, the CO 2 transition phases before and after July were slower in 2018 compared to 2017, suggesting an extension of the growing season, with either continued CO 2 uptake by photosynthesis and/or a reduction in respiration driven by the depletion of substrate for respiration inherited from the previous months due to the drought. For stations with sufficiently long time series, the CO 2 anomaly observed in 2018 was compared to previous European droughts in 2003 and 2015. Considering the areas most affected by the temperature anomalies, we found a higher CO 2 anomaly in 2003 (+3 ppm averaged over 4 sites), and a smaller anomaly in 2015 (+1 ppm averaged over 11 sites) compared to 2018. This article is part of the theme issue 'Impacts of the 2018 severe drought and heatwave in Europe: from site to continental scale'