On the spectral depolarisation and lidar ratio of mineral dust provided in the AERONET version 3 inversion product

Knowledge of the particle lidar ratio (Sγ) and the particle linear depolarisation ratio (δγ) for different aerosol types allows for aerosol typing and aerosol-Type separation in lidar measurements. Reference values generally originate from dedicated lidar observations but might also be obtained from the inversion of AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET) sun/sky radiometer measurements. This study investigates the consistency of spectral Sγ and δγ provided in the recently released AERONET version 3 inversion product for observations of undiluted mineral dust in the vicinity of the following major deserts: Gobi, Sahara, Arabian, Great Basin, and Great Victoria. Pure dust conditions are identified by an Angström exponent < 0:4 and a fine-mode fraction < 0:1. The values of spectral Sγ are found to vary for the different source regions but generally show an increase with decreasing wavelength. The feature correlates to AERONET, retrieving an increase in the imaginary part of the refractive index with decreasing wavelength. The smallest values of Sγ D 35- 45 sr are found for mineral dust from the Great Basin desert, while the highest values of 50-70 sr have been inferred from AERONET observations of Saharan dust. Values of Sγ at 675, 870, and 1020 nm seem to be in reasonable agreement with available lidar observations, while those at 440 nm are up to 10 sr higher than the lidar reference. The spectrum of δγ shows a maximum of 0.26-0.31 at 1020 nm and decreasing values as wavelength decreases. AERONET-derived δγ values at 870 and 1020 nm are in line with the lidar reference, while values of 0.19-0.24 at 440 nm are smaller than the independent lidar observations by a difference of 0.03 to 0.08. This general behaviour is consistent with earlier studies based on AERONET version 2 products.Peer reviewe

The Universal Cloud and Aerosol Sounding System (UCASS): a low-cost miniature optical particle counter for use in dropsonde or balloon-borne sounding systems

© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. An earlier version of this work was published in Atmospheric Measurement Techniques Discussions: https://dx.doi.org/10.5194/amt-2019-70.A low-cost miniaturized particle counter has been developed by The University of Hertfordshire (UH) for the measurement of aerosol and droplet concentrations and size distributions. The Universal Cloud and Aerosol Sounding System (UCASS) is an optical particle counter (OPC), which uses wide-angle elastic light scattering for the high-precision sizing of fluid-borne particulates. The UCASS has up to 16 configurable size bins, capable of sizing particles in the range 0.4–40 µm in diameter. Unlike traditional particle counters, the UCASS is an open-geometry system that relies on an external air flow. Therefore, the instrument is suited for use as part of a dropsonde, balloon-borne sounding system, as part of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), or on any measurement platform with a known air flow. Data can be logged autonomously using an on-board SD card, or the device can be interfaced with commercially available meteorological sondes to transmit data in real time. The device has been deployed on various research platforms to take measurements of both droplets and dry aerosol particles. Comparative results with co-located instrumentation in both laboratory and field settings show good agreement for the sizing and counting ability of the UCASS.Peer reviewe

Measurement report: Balloon-borne in situ profiling of Saharan dust over Cyprus with the UCASS optical particle counter

This paper presents measurements of mineral dust concentration in the diameter range from 0.4 to 14.0 µm with a novel balloon-borne optical particle counter, the Universal Cloud and Aerosol Sounding System (UCASS). The balloon launches were coordinated with ground-based active and passive remote-sensing observations and airborne in situ measurements with a research aircraft during a Saharan dust outbreak over Cyprus from 20 to 23 April 2017. The aerosol optical depth at 500 nm reached values up to 0.5 during that event over Cyprus, and particle number concentrations were as high as 50 cm−3 for the diameter range between 0.8 and 13.9 µm. Comparisons of the total particle number concentration and the particle size distribution from two cases of balloon-borne measurements with aircraft observations show reasonable agreement in magnitude and shape despite slight mismatches in time and space. While column-integrated size distributions from balloon-borne measurements and ground-based remote sensing show similar coarse-mode peak concentrations and diameters, they illustrate the ambiguity related to the missing vertical information in passive sun photometer observations. Extinction coefficient inferred from the balloon-borne measurements agrees with those derived from coinciding Raman lidar observations at height levels with particle number concentrations smaller than 10 cm−3 for the diameter range from 0.8 to 13.9 µm. An overestimation of the UCASS-derived extinction coefficient of a factor of 2 compared to the lidar measurement was found for layers with particle number concentrations that exceed 25 cm−3, i.e. in the centre of the dust plume where particle concentrations were highest. This is likely the result of a variation in the refractive index and the shape and size dependency of the extinction efficiency of dust particles along the UCASS measurements. In the future, profile measurements of the particle number concentration and particle size distribution with the UCASS could provide a valuable addition to the measurement capabilities generally used in field experiments that are focussed on the observation of coarse aerosols and clouds

In-situ observations of charged Saharan dust from an uncrewed aircraft system

Mineral dust from the Sahara desert can travel long distances at high altitudes, perturbing the energy budget of the atmosphere. Charging of dust has been observed to occur near the surface through triboelectric charging during dust lofting, potentially affecting particle coagulation, fall speeds, and the lofting process itself. Apart from near-surface studies, measurements at elevated dust layers, where charge may play a role in particle long-range transport, are rare. This study presents new observations from an uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) of type MASC-3, through an elevated Saharan dust layer over Cyprus on 6 April 2022. The dust layer ranged from 1500 to 2500 meters above sea level (a.s.l), with maximum particle number concentrations (PNC) of 80–100 cm−3, primarily consisting of particles up to 2.5 µm in size. Measurements showed elevated charge within the dust layer, with magnitude proportional to PNC. It was concluded that there was a small influence of aircraft charge on the measurements, which was handled by developing a PNC-based correction factor. Corrected charge within the dust layer ranged from 0.2 to 3 pC m−3, with most of the charge at the upper and lower dust layer boundaries. The magnitude and location of the charge was consistent with predictions of ion-particle attachment. This suggests that most of the measured charge did not originate from the lofting process, but dust particles were charged on site through ion-particle attachment processe

Profiling Saharan airborne dust with UAV-based in-situ instrumentation during the ASKOS experiment in Cape Verde

The ASKOS experimental campaign of European Space Agency (ESA) was organised by the National Observatory of Athens, and aimed at the calibration and validation of the Aeolus satellite aerosol/cloud product. Airborne observations were performed by the Climate and Atmosphere Research Centre (CARE-C) team of the Cyprus Institute at the Cesaria Evora International Airport of the island of São Vicente in Cape Verde between 10 and 30 June 2022. These in-situ aerosol measurements were conducted using the advanced Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) of the Unmanned System Research Laboratory (USRL), equipped with specialised aerosol in-situ sensors, capturing the Saharan Air Layer (SAL) from ground up to 5.3 km Above Sea Level (ASL). The new custom-designed Composite Bird (CoBi) USRL and Skywalker UAVs (Kezoudi et al., 2021), were equipped with Optical Particle Counters (OPCs), samplers and backscatter sondes.25 UAV vertical flights were performed in total, with 11 of them during night. The altitude of the Marine Boundary Layer (MBL) was mainly observed from ground up to about 1.0 km ASL, whereas during most of the flights, high concentrations of dust particles were found between 1.5 and 5.0 km ASL. Results obtained from OPCs show the presence of particles sizing up to 20 um within MBL and up to 40 um within SAL. Further information on morphology and mineralogy of observed particles will be given by the offline analysis of collected samples under Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). COBALD observations alongside ground-based lidar measurements agree on the presence of non-spherical particles within dust layers.  Ongoing exploitation of airborne observations along with coincident and collocated ground-based measurements will provide a complete picture for comparison with Aeolus data, particularly in relation to aerosols, where we have the most to learn

Lidar, Ceilometer and Drone-Borne Aerosol Profiling during the EVIAN 2022 Campaign in Cyprus

In this study, we present primary results from the aErosol Vertical profiling with lIdars And droNes (EVIAN) campaign, under the ATMO-ACCESS project, which took place in Nicosia, Cyprus (35°10′21″ N, 33°21′54″ E). Measurements from different instrument techniques, e.g., lidar, ceilometer and “drone-borne” Optical Particle Counter (OPC), have been used in a synergistic way during the campaign to derive the aerosol properties. This study focuses on the comparison of the drone-borne and ceilometer retrievals, mainly in the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL), and the synergistic use of the above-mentioned instruments in analyzing the geometrical and optical properties of the detected aerosol layers to improve the determination of the lidar overlap function

The Unmanned Systems Research Laboratory (USRL)

The Unmanned Systems Research Laboratory (USRL) of the Cyprus Institute is a new mobile exploratory platform of the EU Research Infrastructure Aerosol, Clouds and Trace Gases Research InfraStructure (ACTRIS). USRL offers exclusive Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)-sensor solutions that can be deployed anywhere in Europe and beyond, e.g., during intensive field campaigns through a transnational access scheme in compliance with the drone regulation set by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for the research, innovation, and training. UAV sensor systems play a growing role in the portfolio of Earth observation systems. They can provide cost-effective, spatial in-situ atmospheric observations which are complementary to stationary observation networks. They also have strong potential for calibrating and validating remote-sensing sensors and retrieval algorithms, mapping close-to-the-ground emission point sources and dispersion plumes, and evaluating the performance of atmospheric models. They can provide unique information relevant to the short- and long-range transport of gas and aerosol pollutants, radiative forcing, cloud properties, emission factors and a variety of atmospheric parameters. Since its establishment in 2015, USRL is participating in major international research projects dedicated to (1) the better understanding of aerosol-cloud interactions, (2) the profiling of aerosol optical properties in different atmospheric environments, (3) the vertical distribution of air pollutants in and above the planetary boundary layer, (4) the validation of Aeolus satellite dust products by utilizing novel UAV-balloon-sensor systems, and (5) the chemical characterization of ship and stack emissions. A comprehensive overview of the new UAV-sensor systems developed by USRL and their field deployments is presented here. This paper aims to illustrate the strong scientific potential of UAV-borne measurements in the atmospheric sciences and the need for their integration in Earth observation networks

Measurement report: Balloon-borne in-situ profiling of Saharan dust over Cyprus with the UCASS optical particle counter

© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.This paper presents measurements of mineral dust concentration in the diameter range from 0.4 to 14.0 μm with a novel balloon-borne optical particle counter, the Universal Cloud and Aerosol Sounding System (UCASS). The balloon launches were coordinated with ground-based active and passive remote-sensing observations and airborne in-situ measurements with a research aircraft during a Saharan dust outbreak over Cyprus from 20 to 23 April 2017. The aerosol optical depth at 500 nm reached values up to 0.5 during that event over Cyprus and particle number concentrations were as high as 50 cm−3 for the diameter range between 0.8 and 13.9 μm. Comparisons of the total particle number concentration and the particle size distribution from two cases of balloon-borne measurements with aircraft observations show reasonable agreement in magnitude and shape despite slight mismatches in time and space. While column-integrated size distributions from balloon-borne measurements and ground-based remote sensing show similar coarse-mode peak concentrations and diameters, they illustrate the ambiguity related to the missing vertical information in passive sun photometer observations. Extinction coefficient inferred from the balloon-borne measurements agrees with those derived from coinciding Raman lidar observations at height levels with particle number concentrations smaller than 10 cm−3 for the diameter range from 0.8 to 13.9 μm. An overestimation of the extinction coefficient of a factor of two was found for layers with particle number concentrations that exceed 25 cm−3. This is likely the result of a variation in the refractive index, the shape- and size-dependency of the extinction efficiency of dust particles along the UCASS measurements.Peer reviewe

The Unmanned Systems Research Laboratory (USRL) : A New Facility for UAV-Based Atmospheric Observations

The Unmanned Systems Research Laboratory (USRL) of the Cyprus Institute is a new mobile exploratory platform of the EU Research Infrastructure Aerosol, Clouds and Trace Gases Research InfraStructure (ACTRIS). USRL offers exclusive Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)-sensor solutions that can be deployed anywhere in Europe and beyond, e.g., during intensive field campaigns through a transnational access scheme in compliance with the drone regulation set by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for the research, innovation, and training. UAV sensor systems play a growing role in the portfolio of Earth observation systems. They can provide cost-effective, spatial in-situ atmospheric observations which are complementary to stationary observation networks. They also have strong potential for calibrating and validating remote-sensing sensors and retrieval algorithms, mapping close-to-the-ground emission point sources and dispersion plumes, and evaluating the performance of atmospheric models. They can provide unique information relevant to the short- and long-range transport of gas and aerosol pollutants, radiative forcing, cloud properties, emission factors and a variety of atmospheric parameters. Since its establishment in 2015, USRL is participating in major international research projects dedicated to (1) the better understanding of aerosol-cloud interactions, (2) the profiling of aerosol optical properties in different atmospheric environments, (3) the vertical distribution of air pollutants in and above the planetary boundary layer, (4) the validation of Aeolus satellite dust products by utilizing novel UAV-balloon-sensor systems, and (5) the chemical characterization of ship and stack emissions. A comprehensive overview of the new UAV-sensor systems developed by USRL and their field deployments is presented here. This paper aims to illustrate the strong scientific potential of UAV-borne measurements in the atmospheric sciences and the need for their integration in Earth observation networks.Peer reviewe