Preliminary comparison of the direct aerosol radiative forcing over Ukraine and Antarctic AERONET sites

Objectives. To analyze data on aerosol optical thickness (AOT) in the atmosphere over some Ukraine and Antarctic AERONET (AErosol RObotic NETwork) sites. To determine and compare direct aerosol radiative forcing (DRF) typical values using the data from midlatitude and Antarctic AERONET sites.Мета. Проаналізувати дані щодо аерозольної оптичної товщини (АОТ) в атмосфері на деяких пунктах мережі AERONET (AErosol RObotic NETwork) в Україні та Антарктиці. Для визначення та порівняння типових значень аерозольного прямого радіаційного форсингу (ПРФ) використати типові дані середньоширотної та двох антарктичних пунктів AERONET

Aerosol Microtops II sunphotometer observations over Ukraine

Atmospheric aerosols and their impact on climate study are based on measurements by networks of ground-based instruments, satellite sensors, and measurements on portable sunphotometers. This paper presents the preliminary aerosol characteristics obtained during 2009-2012 using portable multi-wavelength Microtops II sunphotometer. Measurements were collected at different Ukraine sites in Kyiv, Odesa, Lugansk, Rivne, Chornobyl regions. The main aerosol characteristics, namely aerosol optical thickness (AOT) and Angström exponent, have been retrieved and analyzed. Aerosol data processing, ltering and calibration techniques are discussed in the paper

Aerosol Seasonal Variations over Urban-Industrial Regions in Ukraine According to AERONET and POLDER Measurements

The paper presents an investigation of aerosol seasonal variations in several urban-industrial regions in Ukraine. Our analysis of seasonal variations of optical and physical aerosol parameters is based on the sun-photometer 2008-2013 data from two urban ground-based AERONET (AErosol RObotic NETwork) sites in Ukraine (Kyiv, Lugansk) as well as on satellite POLDER instrument data for urban-industrial areas in Ukraine. We also analyzed the data from one AERONET site in Belarus (Minsk) in order to compare with the Ukrainian sites. Aerosol amount and optical depth (AOD) values in the atmosphere columns over the large urbanized areas like Kyiv and Minsk have maximum values in the spring (April-May) and late summer (August), whereas minimum values are observed in late autumn. The results show that fine-mode particles are most frequently detected during the spring and late summer seasons. The analysis of the seasonal AOD variations over the urban-industrial areas in the eastern and central parts of Ukraine according to both ground-based and POLDER data exhibits the similar traits. The seasonal variation similarity in the regions denotes the resemblance in basic aerosol sources that are closely related to properties of aerosol particles. The behavior of basic aerosol parameters in the western part of Ukraine is different from eastern and central regions and shows an earlier appearance of the spring and summer AOD maxima. Spectral single-scattering albedo, complex refractive index and size distribution of aerosol particles in the atmosphere column over Kyiv have different behavior for warm (April-October) and cold seasons. The seasonal features of fine and coarse aerosol particle behavior over the Kyiv site were analyzed. A prevailing influence of the fine-mode particles on the optical properties of the aerosol layer over the region has been established. The back-trajectory and cluster analysis techniques were applied to study the seasonal back trajectories and prevailing directions of the arrived air mass for the Kyiv and Minsk sites

Remote sensing of aerosol in the terrestrial atmosphere from space: new missions

The distribution and properties of atmospheric aerosols on a global scale are not well known in terms of determination of their effects on climate. This mostly is due to extreme variability of aerosol concentrations, properties, sources, and types. Aerosol climate impact is comparable to the effect of greenhouse gases, but its influence is more dificult to measure, especially with respect to aerosol microphysical properties and the evaluation of anthropogenic aerosol effect. There are many satellite missions studying aerosol distribution in the terrestrial atmosphere, such as MISR/Terra, OMI/Aura, AVHHR, MODIS/Terra and Aqua, CALIOP/CALIPSO. To improve the quality of data and climate models, and to reduce aerosol climate forcing uncertainties, several new missions are planned. The gap in orbital instruments for studying aerosol microphysics has arisen after the Glory mission failed during launch in 2011. In this review paper, we describe several planned aerosol space missions, including the Ukrainian project Aerosol-UA that obtains data using a multi-channel scanning polarimeter and wide-angle polarimetric camera. The project is designed for remote sensing of the aerosol microphysics and cloud properties on a global scale

Increased aerosol content in the atmosphere over Ukraine during summer 2010

In this paper we assessed the influence of biomass burning during forest fires throughout summer (1 June–31 August) 2010 on aerosol abundance, dynamics, and its properties over Ukraine. We also considered influences and effects over neighboring countries: European Russia, Estonia, Belarus, Poland, Moldova, and Romania. We used MODIS satellite instrument data to study fire distribution. We also used ground-based remote measurements from the international sun photometer network AERONET plus MODIS and CALIOP satellite instrument data to determine the aerosol content and optical properties in the atmosphere over Eastern Europe. We applied the HYSPLIT model to investigate atmospheric dynamics and model pathways of particle transport. As with previous studies, we found that the highest aerosol content was observed over Moscow in the first half of August 2010 due to the proximity of the most active fires. Large temporal variability of the aerosol content with pronounced pollution peaks during 7–17 August was observed at the Ukrainian (Kyiv and Sevastopol), Belarusian (Minsk), Estonian (Toravere), and Romanian (Bucharest) AERONET sites. We analyzed aerosol spatiotemporal distribution over Ukraine using MODIS AOD 550 nm and further compared with the Kyiv AERONET site sun photometer measurements; we also compared CALIOP AOD 532 nm with MODIS AOD data. We analyzed vertical distribution of aerosol extinction at 532 nm, retrieved from CALIOP measurements, for the territory of Ukraine at locations where high AOD values were observed during intense fires. We estimated the influence of fires on the spectral single scattering albedo, size distribution, and complex refractive indices using Kyiv AERONET measurements performed during summer 2010. In this study we showed that the maximum AOD in the atmosphere over Ukraine recorded in summer 2010 was caused by particle transport from the forest fires in Russia. Those fires caused the highest AOD 500 nm over the Kyiv site, which in August 2010 exceeded multiannual monthly mean for the entire observational period (2008–2016, excluding 2010) by a factor of 2.2. Also, the influence of fires resulted in a change of the particle microphysics in the polluted regions

The climatology of dust events over the European continent using data of the BSC-DREAM8b model

© . This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Highlights The climatology of desert dust events over the whole European region is presented. This study is based on the data of BSC-DREAM8b model and other validation tools. AERONET and satellite data are used for validation of the model outputs. The most affected areas are the central sectors, mainly in spring and summertime. Main dust contributors, over the European region are the western and central Sahara.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Variability of aerosol properties over Eastern Europe observed from ground and satellites in the period from 2003 to 2011

The paper presents some results of the study on aerosol variability in the period from 2003 to 2011 over the Eastern Europe region, with latitude ranging from 40° N to 60° N and longitude from 20° E to 50° E. The analysis was based on the POLDER/PARASOL and POLDER-2/ADEOS satellites and AERONET (AErosol RObotic NETwork) ground-based sun photometer observations. The aerosol optical thickness (AOT) of the studied area is characterized by values (referenced to 870 nm wavelength) ranging from 0.05 to 0.2, except for in the period of July–August 2010 with strong forest and peat wildfires when the AOT typical values range from 0.3 to 0.5 according to both retrievals. The analysis of seasonal dynamics of aerosol loading has revealed two AOT high value peaks. The spring peak observed in April–May is the result of solitary transportation of Saharan dust in the atmosphere over Eastern Europe, infrequent agricultural fires, transportation of sea salt aerosols by southern winds to Ukraine and Moldova from the Black and Azov seas. The autumn peak in August–September is associated with forest and peat wildfires, considerable transportation of Saharan dust and the presence of soil dust aerosols due to harvesting activity. The maximum values of AOT are observed in May 2006 (0.1–0.15), April 2009 (0.07–0.15) and August 2010 (0.2–0.5). Furthermore, the study has identified a distinct pattern of anthropogenic aerosols over the industrial areas, especially in central Ukraine and eastern Belarus as well as Moscow region in Russia. The comparison of the AOT derived by standard algorithm POLDER/PARASOL with those recomputed from AERONET inversions for fine mode particles with radius < 0.3 μm was performed over several AERONET sites. The correlation coefficients for the POLDER/AERONET AOT retrieval comparisons are equal: 0.78 for Moscow site, 0.76 – Minsk, 0.86 – Belsk, 0.81 – Moldova (period 2005–2009), 0.93 – Kyiv and 0.63 for Sevastopol sites (2008–2009). The deviations are explained by the spatial inhomogeneity of the surface polarization that has a stronger effect on aerosol retrieval for clear atmospheric conditions with low aerosol loading when surface impact on satellite observations is more pronounced. In addition, the preliminary analysis of the detailed aerosol properties derived by a new generation PARASOL algorithm was evaluated. The comparison of AOT and single scattering albedo retrieved from the POLDER/PARASOL observations over Kyiv with the closest AERONET retrievals within 30 min of satellite overpass time and with a cloudless day shows acceptable agreement of the aerosol dynamics. The correspondence of those data is observed even for extreme AOT440 value 1.14, which was caused by the forest and peat fires in August 2010

Remote Sensing of Aerosol in the Terrestrial Atmosphere from Space: New Missions

The distribution and properties of atmospheric aerosols on a global scale are not well known in terms of determination of their effects on climate. This mostly is due to extreme variability of aerosol concentrations, properties, sources, and types. Aerosol climate impact is comparable to the effect of greenhouse gases, but its influence is more difficult to measure, especially with respect to aerosol microphysical properties and the evaluation of anthropogenic aerosol effect. There are many satellite missions studying aerosol distribution in the terrestrial atmosphere, such as MISR/Terra, OMI/Aura, AVHHR, MODIS/Terra and Aqua, CALIOP/CALIPSO. To improve the quality of data and climate models, and to reduce aerosol climate forcing uncertainties, several new missions are planned. The gap in orbital instruments for studying aerosol microphysics has arisen after the Glory mission failed during launch in 2011. In this review paper, we describe several planned aerosol space missions, including the Ukrainian project Aerosol-UA that obtains data using a multi-channel scanning polarimeter and wide-angle polarimetric camera. The project is designed for remote sensing of the aerosol microphysics and cloud properties on a global scale

New satellite project Aerosol-UA: Remote sensing of aerosols in the terrestrial atmosphere

International audienceWe discuss the development of the Ukrainian space project Aerosol-UA which has the following three main objectives: (1) to monitor the spatial distribution of key characteristics of terrestrial tropospheric and stratospheric aerosols; (2) to provide a comprehensive observational database enabling accurate quantitative estimates of the aerosol contribution to the energy budget of the climate system; and (3) quantify the contribution of anthropogenic aerosols to climate and ecological processes. The remote sensing concept of the project is based on precise orbital measurements of the intensity and polarization of sunlight scattered by the atmosphere and the surface with a scanning polarimeter accompanied by a wide-angle multispectral imager-polarimeter. Preparations have already been made for the development of the instrument suite for the Aerosol-UA project, in particular, of the multi-channel scanning polarimeter (ScanPol) designed for remote sensing studies of the global distribution of aerosol and cloud properties (such as particle size, morphology, and composition) in the terrestrial atmosphere by polarimetric and spectrophotometric measurements of the scattered sunlight in a wide range of wavelengths and viewing directions from which a scene location is observed. ScanPol is accompanied by multispectral wide-angle imager-polarimeter (MSIP) that serves to collect information on cloud conditions and Earth's surface image. Various components of the polarimeter ScanPol have been prototyped, including the opto-mechanical and electronic assemblies and the scanning mirror controller. Preliminary synthetic data simulations for the retrieval of aerosol parameters over land surfaces have been performed using the Generalized Retrieval of Aerosol and Surface Properties (GRASP) algorithm. Methods for the validation of satellite data using ground-based observations of aerosol properties are also discussed. We assume that designing, building, and launching into orbit a multi-functional high-precision scanning polarimeter and an imager-polarimeter should make a significant contribution to the study of natural and anthropogenic aerosols and their climatic and ecological effects