2 research outputs found
PBL Height Retrievals during ASKOS Campaign
This study analyzes the structure of the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) at Mindelo, Cabo Verde, where the ASKOS Campaign took place from 2021 to 2022. Datasets from ground-based remote sensing instruments and radiosondes are used to derive the PBL height, by applying the Wavelet Covariance Transform (WCT), Threshold (TM), and Gradient Method (GM). Two case studies are described in detail, one with a significant dust load (23 September 2022) and one with relatively less dust load (12 September 2022). In the first case, the PBL top is found lower, and the methods used for the retrievals are characterized by larger uncertainties. In the second case, a higher and more convective PBL is observed. Additionally, results are compared with ECMWF outputs, establishing good agreement
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An overview of the ASKOS campaign in Cabo Verde
In the framework of the ESA-NASA Joint Aeolus Tropical Atlantic Campaign (JATAC), the ASKOS experiment was implemented during the summer and autumn of 2021 and 2022. ASKOS comprised roughly 9 weeks of measurements in the Saharan dust outflow towards the North Atlantic, with operations conducted from the Cabo Verde Islands. Through its unprecedented dataset of synergistic measurements in the region, ASKOS will allow for the calibration and validation of the aerosol/cloud product from Aeolus and the preparation of the terrain for EarthCARE cal/val activities. Moreover, ASKOS marks a turning point in our ability to study Saharan dust properties and the processes affecting its atmospheric transport, as well as the link to other components of the Earth’s system, such as the effect of dust particles on cloud formation over the Eastern Atlantic and the effect of large and giant particles on radiation. This is possible through the synergy of diverse observations acquired during the experiment, which include intense 24/7 ground-based aerosol, cloud, wind, and radiation remote sensing measurements, and UAV-based aerosol in situ measurements within the Saharan air layer, up to 5.3 km altitude, offering particle size-distributions up to 40 μm as well as sample collection for mineralogical analysis. We provide an outline of the novel measurements along with the main scientific objectives of ASKOS. The campaign data will be publicly available by September of 2023 through the EVDC portal (ESA Validation Data Center)