Remote sensing of aerosols in the Arctic for an evaluation of global climate model simulations

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are madeIn this study Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Aqua retrievals of aerosol optical thickness (AOT) at 555 nm are compared to Sun photometer measurements from Svalbard for a period of 9 years. For the 642 daily coincident measurements that were obtained, MODIS AOT generally varies within the predicted uncertainty of the retrieval over ocean (ΔAOT=±0.03±0.05·AOT). The results from the remote sensing have been used to examine the accuracy in estimates of aerosol optical properties in the Arctic, generated by global climate models and from in situ measurements at the Zeppelin station, Svalbard. AOT simulated with the Norwegian Earth System Model/Community Atmosphere Model version 4 Oslo global climate model does not reproduce the observed seasonal variability of the Arctic aerosol. The model overestimates clear-sky AOT by nearly a factor of 2 for the background summer season, while tending to underestimate the values in the spring season. Furthermore, large differences in all-sky AOT of up to 1 order of magnitude are found for the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 model ensemble for the spring and summer seasons. Large differences between satellite/ground-based remote sensing of AOT and AOT estimated from dry and humidified scattering coefficients are found for the subarctic marine boundary layer in summer.Peer reviewe

Stratospheric aerosol data records for the climate change initiative : Development, validation and application to chemistry-climate modelling

This paper presents stratospheric aerosol climate records developed in the framework of the Aerosol_cci project, one of the 14 parallel projects from the ESA Climate Change Initiative. These data records were processed from a stratospheric aerosol dataset derived from the GOMOS experiment, using an inversion algorithm optimized for aerosol retrieval, called AerGOM. They provide a suite of aerosol parameters, such as the aerosol extinction coefficient at different wavelengths in the UV-visible range.The extinction record includes the total extinction as well as separate fields for liquid sulfate aerosols and polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs). Several additional fields (PSC flag, etc.) are also provided. The resulting stratospheric aerosol dataset, which spans the whole duration of the GOMOS mission (2002-2012), was validated using different reference datasets (lidar and balloon profiles). In the present paper, the emphasis is put on the extinction records. After a thorough analysis of the original AerGOM dataset, we describe the methodology used to construct the gridded CCI-GOMOS dataset and the resulting improvements on both the AerGOM algorithm and the binning procedure, in terms of spatio-temporal resolution, coverage and data quality. The extinction datasets were validated using lidar profiles from three ground-based stations (Mauna Loa, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Dumont d'Urville). The median difference of the CCI-GOMOS (Level 3) extinction and ground-based lidar profiles is between similar to 15% and similar to 45% in the 16-21 km altitude range, depending on the considered site and aerosol type. The CCI-GOMOS dataset was subsequently used, together with a MIPAS SO2 time series, to update a volcanic eruption inventory published previously, thus providing a more comprehensive list of eruptions for the ENVISAT period (2002-2012). The number of quantified eruptions increases from 102 to 230 in the updated inventory. This new inventory was used to simulate the evolution of the global radiative forcing by application of the EMAC chemistry-climate model. Results of this simulation improve the agreement between modelled global radiative forcing of stratospheric aerosols at about 100 hPa compared to values estimated from observations. Medium eruptions like the ones of Soufriere Hills/Rabaul (2006), Sarychev (2009) and Nabro (2011) cause a forcing change from about -0.1 W/m(2) to -0.2 W/m(2). (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc.Peer reviewe

Development, Production and Evaluation of Aerosol Climate Data Records from European Satellite Observations (Aerosol_cci)

Producing a global and comprehensive description of atmospheric aerosols requires integration of ground-based, airborne, satellite and model datasets. Due to its complexity, aerosol monitoring requires the use of several data records with complementary information content. This paper describes the lessons learned while developing and qualifying algorithms to generate aerosol Climate Data Records (CDR) within the European Space Agency (ESA) Aerosol_cci project. An iterative algorithm development and evaluation cycle involving core users is applied. It begins with the application-specific refinement of user requirements, leading to algorithm development, dataset processing and independent validation followed by user evaluation. This cycle is demonstrated for a CDR of total Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) from two subsequent dual-view radiometers. Specific aspects of its applicability to other aerosol algorithms are illustrated with four complementary aerosol datasets. An important element in the development of aerosol CDRs is the inclusion of several algorithms evaluating the same data to benefit from various solutions to the ill-determined retrieval problem. The iterative approach has produced a 17-year AOD CDR, a 10-year stratospheric extinction profile CDR and a 35-year Absorbing Aerosol Index record. Further evolution cycles have been initiated for complementary datasets to provide insight into aerosol properties (i.e., dust aerosol, aerosol absorption).Peer reviewe

How Certain are We of the Uncertainties in Recent Ozone Profile Trend Assessments of Merged Limbo Ccultation Records? Challenges and Possible Ways Forward

Most recent assessments of long-term changes in the vertical distribution of ozone (by e.g. WMO and SI2N) rely on data sets that integrate observations by multiple instruments. Several merged satellite ozone profile records have been developed over the past few years; each considers a particular set of instruments and adopts a particular merging strategy. Their intercomparison by Tummon et al. revealed that the current merging schemes are not sufficiently refined to correct for all major differences between the limb/occultation records. This shortcoming introduces uncertainties that need to be known to obtain a sound interpretation of the different satellite-based trend studies. In practice however, producing realistic uncertainty estimates is an intricate task which depends on a sufficiently detailed understanding of the characteristics of each contributing data record and on the subsequent interplay and propagation of these through the merging scheme. Our presentation discusses these challenges in the context of limb/occultation ozone profile records, but they are equally relevant for other instruments and atmospheric measurements. We start by showing how the NDACC and GAW-affiliated ground-based networks of ozonesonde and lidar instruments allowed us to characterize fourteen limb/occultation ozone profile records, together providing a global view over the last three decades. Our prime focus will be on techniques to estimate long-term drift since our results suggest this is the main driver of the major trend differences between the merged data sets. The single-instrument drift estimates are then used for a tentative estimate of the systematic uncertainty in the profile trends from merged data records. We conclude by reflecting on possible further steps needed to improve the merging algorithms and to obtain a better characterization of the uncertainties involved

Earth observations and volcanic ash. A report from the ESA/Eumetsat Dublin workshop, 4-7 March 2013, April 2014

FOREWORD: The Eyjafjallajökull eruption in spring 2010 found the European air transportation system unprepared to deal effectively with such a large-scale event. At that time the European Space Agency and Eumetsat convened a two-day meeting in Frascati, Italy, with specialists in spacebased observations of volcanic emissions, to consider if best possible use was being made of observing systems, along with models, to inform management of the situation. The workshop demonstrated that the research community across Europe had responded extensively to the crisis on a best-effort basis, and their results offered significant promise for more effective future management of such events. A comprehensive set of recommendations was made for work to realize this research potential as operational tools that could better inform the response to any similar future situations. The present report summarizes the outcome of a follow-on workshop in March 2013, also convened by ESA and EUMETSAT, in Dublin, Ireland. This brought together representatives of the research community along with aircraft manufacturing industry, airline operators, regulators and meteorological offices, to review progress and guide on-going work within the ESA “Volcanic Ash Strategic Initiative Team” project, led by the Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU). This report summarizes the workshop findings on progress made in the intervening three years on observations and models, as well as on the regulatory side. It shows that, while a similar event would today be met with a more adaptive and economically effective response, there remains significant opportunity to optimize the operational use of satellite, ground and airborne observations during such situations

Earth observations and volcanic ash. A report from the ESA/Eumetsat Dublin workshop, 4-7 March, 2013.

FOREWORD: The Eyjafjallajökull eruption in spring 2010 found the European air transportation system unprepared to deal effectively with such a large-scale event. At that time the European Space Agency and Eumetsat convened a two-day meeting in Frascati, Italy, with specialists in spacebased observations of volcanic emissions, to consider if best possible use was being made of observing systems, along with models, to inform management of the situation. The workshop demonstrated that the research community across Europe had responded extensively to the crisis on a best-effort basis, and their results offered significant promise for more effective future management of such events. A comprehensive set of recommendations was made for work to realize this research potential as operational tools that could better inform the response to any similar future situations. The present report summarizes the outcome of a follow-on workshop in March 2013, also convened by ESA and EUMETSAT, in Dublin, Ireland. This brought together representatives of the research community along with aircraft manufacturing industry, airline operators, regulators and meteorological offices, to review progress and guide on-going work within the ESA “Volcanic Ash Strategic Initiative Team” project, led by the Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU). This report summarizes the workshop findings on progress made in the intervening three years on observations and models, as well as on the regulatory side. It shows that, while a similar event would today be met with a more adaptive and economically effective response, there remains significant opportunity to optimize the operational use of satellite, ground and airborne observations during such situations

Monitoring of the atmospheric ozone layer and natural ultraviolet radiation: Annual report 2014

This is an annual report describing the activities and main results of the monitoring programme “Monitoring of the atmospheric ozone layer and natural ultraviolet radiation” for 2014. The ozone layer was below the long-term mean in spring 2014, but increased in April/May and was close to normal rest of the year. A clear decrease in total ozone above Norway during the period 1979-1997 stopped after 1998 and the ozone layer above Norway now seems to have stabilized