Analysis and Calibration of CRF Raman Lidar Cloud Liquid Water Measurements

The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Raman lidar (RL), located at the Southern Great Plains (SGP) Climate Research Facility (CRF), is a unique state-of-the-art active remote sensor that is able to measure profiles of water vapor, aerosol, and cloud properties at high temporal and vertical resolution throughout the diurnal cycle. In October 2005, the capability of the RL was extended by the addition of a new detection channel that is sensitive to the Raman scattering of liquid water. This new channel permits the system, in theory, to measure profiles of liquid water content (LWC) by the RL. To our knowledge, the ARM RL is the only operation lidar with this capability. The liquid water Raman backscattering cross-section is a relatively weak and spectrally broad feature, relative to the water vapor Raman backscatter signal. The wide bandpass required to achieve reasonable signal-to-noise in the liquid water channel essentially eliminates the ability to measure LWC profiles during the daytime in the presence of large solar background, and thus all LWC observations are nighttime only. Additionally, the wide bandpass increases the probability that other undesirable signals, such as fluorescence from aerosols, may contaminate the observation. The liquid water Raman cross-section has a small amount of overlap with the water vapor Raman cross-section, and thus there will be a small amount of ‘cross-talk’ between the two signals, with water vapor contributing a small amount of signal to the LWC observation. And finally, there is significant uncertainty in the actual strength of the liquid water Raman cross-section in the literature. The calibrated LWC profiles, together with the coincident cloud backscatter observations also made by the RL, can be used to derive profiles of cloud droplet effective radius. By combining these profiles of effective radius in the lower portion of the cloud with the aerosol extinction measurements made below the cloud by the RL, the first aerosol indirect effect can be investigated using a single instrument, thereby reducing the uncertainty associated with aligning the different sampling periods and fields of view of multiple instruments. We have applied a “first principles” calibration to the LWC profiles. This approach requires that the relative differences in optical efficiency between the water vapor and liquid water channels be known; this relative difference is easily computed using the efficiency values of the beam splitters and interference filters in the lidar that were provided by the vendors of these components. The first principles approach then transfers the calibration from the water vapor mixing ratio to the LWC using the difference in the optical efficiency and an interpolated value of the liquid water Raman cross section from the literature, and the better established water vapor Raman cross section. After accounting for all known error sources, the vertical integral of LWC was compared against a similar value retrieved from a co-located ground-based infrared radiometer. The RL and infrared radiometer have significantly different fields of view; thus to compare the two sensors the data were averaged to 5 min intervals where only cloudy samples were included in the average of each. While there is fair scatter in the data (r=0.47), there is also a clear indication of a positive correlation between the infrared and the RL values. The value of the slope of the regression is 0.49, which indicates a tendency of the RL measurements to underestimate the total liquid amount with respect to the infrared retrieval. Research continues to investigate the source of the bias, but the most likely candidate is the large uncertainty in the liquid water Raman cross-section as there have been no direct measurements made of this parameter at the lidar’s laser wavelength of 355 nm. The calibrated LWC profile was then used together with the cloud backscatter coefficient profile from the RL to derive profiles of cloud droplet effective radius and cloud droplet number density. These profiles of cloud droplet size together with the aerosol extinction observed by the same lidar are used to investigate the aerosol indirect effect in several case studies in August 2006. Russo F. “An investigation of Raman lidar measurements and their application to the study of the aerosol indirect effect”, PhD Thesis (2007). Russo F., D. N. Whiteman, D. D. Turner, B. B. Demoz, R. M. Hoff, I. Veselovskii, “Measurements of the Aerosol Indirect Effect using a Raman lidar. Part 1: cloud liquid water measurements”, manuscript in preparation. Russo F., D. N. Whiteman, D. D. Turner, B. B. Demoz, R. M. Hoff, I. Veselovskii, “Measurements of the Aerosol Indirect Effect using a Raman lidar. Part 2: the calculation of IE”, manuscript in preparation

Retrievals of aerosol single scattering albedo by multiwavelength lidar measurements: evaluations with nasa langley hsrl-2 during discover-aq field campaigns

This work focuses on the study and evaluation of the retrievals of aerosol complex refractive index (m = m r + im i ) and single scattering albedo (SSA) from the inversion of multi-wavelength lidar measurements, particularly of three backscattering coefficients (β) at 355, 532 and 1064 nm and two extinction coefficients (α) at 355 and 532 nm, typically known as the stand-alone 3β + 2α lidar inversion. The focus is on the well-known regularization technique for spherical particles. It is well known that constraints in the range of refractive indices allowed in the inversion are essential, both for the real (m r ) and imaginary (m i ) parts, due to the under-de- termined nature of the problem. Usually these constraints are fixed for a given set of inversions. Using a large database of AERONET retrievals, correlations between retrieved m r and mi are observed and those correlations together with results from the GOCART model are used to define optimized, case-dependent, constraints in the stand-alone 3β + 2α lidar inversion. For each inversion performed, the optimized constraints are computed from the 3β + 2α data using a-priori information of extinction-to-backscattered ratio (LR) and the Angstrom exponent computed with α at 355 and 532 nm. The stand-alone 3β + 2α lidar inversion with optimized, case-dependent, constraints is applied to airborne NASA LaRC HSRL-2 experimental measurements during DISCOVER-AQ. The optimized constraints selected from the measured 3β + 2α are compared with the typing classification based on additional multiwavelength depolarization measurements, showing consistency between aerosol size and ab- sorption range and aerosol typing. Evaluations of the SSA retrieved by the stand-alone 3β + 2α lidar inversion with optimized constraints are done by comparisons with correlative airborne in-situ measured SSA. The agreement between both methodologies is satisfactory for most aerosol types as differences are within the uncertainties of each methodology.Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research Innovation and Staff Exchange (RISE) GRASP-ACE (grant agreement no 778349

Water vapor measurements by Raman lidar during the ARM 1997 Water Vapor Intensive Observation Period

Water vapor is the most important greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, as it is the most active infrared absorber and emitter of radiation, and it also plays an important role in energy transport and cloud formation. Accurate, high resolution measurements of this variable are critical in order to improve the understanding of these processes and thus their ability to model them. Because of the importance of water vapor, the Department of Energy`s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program initiated a series of three intensive operating periods (IOPs) at its Cloud and Radiation Testbed (CART) site in northern Oklahoma. The goal of these IOPs is to improve and validate the state-of-the-art capabilities in measuring water vapor. To date, two of the planned three IOPs have occurred: the first was in September of 1996, with an emphasis on the lowest kilometer, while the second was conducted from September--October 1997 with a focus on both the upper troposphere and lowest kilometer. The ARM CART site is the home of several different water vapor measurement systems. These systems include a Raman lidar, a microwave radiometer, a radiosonde launch site, and an instrumented tower. During these IOPs, additional instrumentation was brought to the site to augment the normal measurements in the attempt to characterize the CART instruments and to address the need to improve water vapor measurement capabilities. Some of the instruments brought to the CART site include a scanning Raman lidar system from NASA/GSFC, additional microwave radiometers from NOAA/ETL, a chilled mirror that was flown on a tethersonde and kite system, and dewpoint hygrometer instruments flow on the North Dakota Citation. This paper will focus on the Raman lidar intercomparisons from the second IOP

CART and GSFC Raman lidar measurements of atmospheric aerosol backscattering and extinction profiles for EOS validation and ARM radiation studies

The aerosol retrieval algorithms used by the Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Multi-Angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) sensors on the Earth Observing Satellite (EOS) AM-1 platform operate by comparing measured radiances with tabulated radiances that have been computed for specific aerosol models. These aerosol models are based almost entirely on surface and/or column averaged measurements and so may not accurately represent the ambient aerosol properties. Therefore, to validate these EOS algorithms and to determine the effects of aerosols on the clear-sky radiative flux, the authors have begun to evaluate the vertical variability of ambient aerosol properties using the aerosol backscattering and extinction profiles measured by the Cloud and Radiation Testbed (CART) and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Raman Lidars. Using the procedures developed for the GSFC Scanning Raman Lidar (SRL), the authors have developed and have begun to implement algorithms for the CART Raman Lidar to routinely provide profiles of aerosol extinction and backscattering during both nighttime and daytime operations. Aerosol backscattering and extinction profiles are computed for both lidar systems using data acquired during the 1996 and 1997 Water Vapor Intensive Operating Periods (IOPs). By integrating these aerosol extinction profiles, they derive measurements of aerosol optical thickness and compare these with coincident sun photometer measurements. They also use these measurements to measure the aerosol extinction/backscatter ratio S{sub a} (i.e. lidar ratio). Furthermore, they use the simultaneous water vapor measurements acquired by these Raman lidars to investigate the effects of water vapor on aerosol optical properties

Reference Quality Upper-Air Measurements: guidance for developing GRUAN data products

The accurate monitoring of climate change im- poses strict requirements upon observing systems, in partic- ular regarding measurement accuracy and long-term stability. Currently available data records of the essential climate vari- ables (temperature- T , geopotential- p , humidity-RH, wind, and cloud properties) in the upper-air generally fail to fulfil such requirements. This raises serious issues about the abil- ity to detect, quantify and understand recent climate changes and their causes. GCOS is currently implementing a Ref- erence Upper-Air Network (GRUAN) in order to fill this major void within the global observing system. As part of the GRUAN implementation plan we provide herein funda- mental guidelines for establishing and maintaining reference quality atmospheric observations which are based on prin- cipal concepts of metrology, in particular traceability. It is argued that the detailed analysis of the uncertainty budget of a measurement technique is the critical step for achieving this goal. As we will demonstrate with an example, detailed knowledge of the calibration procedures and data process- ing algorithms are required for determining the uncertainty of each individual data point. Of particular importance is the careful assessment of the uncertainties introduced by correc- tion schemes adjusting for systematic effects

Black carbon emission and transport mechanisms to the free troposphere at the La Paz/El Alto (Bolivia) metropolitan area based on the Day of Census (2012)

International audienceUrban development, growing industrialization, and increasing demand for mobility have led to elevated levels of air pollution in many large cities in Latin America, where air quality standards and WHO guidelines are frequently exceeded. The conurbation of the metropolitan area of La Paz/El Alto is one of the fastest growing urban settlements in South America with the particularity of being located in a very complex terrain at a high altitude. As many large cities or metropolitan areas, the metropolitan area of La Paz/El Alto and the Altiplano region are facing air quality deterioration. Long-term measurement data of the equivalent black carbon (eBC) mass concentrations and particle number size distributions (PNSD) from the Global Atmosphere Watch Observatory Chacaltaya (CHC; 5240 m a.s.l., above sea level) indicated a systematic transport of particle matter from the metropolitan area of La Paz/El Alto to this high altitude station and subsequently to the lower free troposphere. To better understand the sources and the transport mechanisms, we conducted eBC and PNSDs measurements during an intensive campaign at two locations in the urban area of La Paz/El Alto from September to November 2012. While the airport of El Alto site (4040 m a.s.l.) can be seen as representative of the urban and Altiplano background, the road site located in Central La Paz (3590 m a.s.l.) is representative for heavy traffic-dominated conditions. Peaks of eBC mass concentrations up to 5 μg m −3 were observed at the El Alto background site in the early morning and evening, while minimum values were detected in the early afternoon, mainly due to thermal convection and change of the planetary boundary layer height. The traffic-related eBC mass concentrations at the road site reached maximum values of 10-20 μg m −3. A complete traffic ban on the specific Bolivian Day of Census (November 21, 2012) led to a decrease of eBC below 1 μg m −3 at the road site for the entire day. Compared to the day before and after, particle number concentrations decreased by a factor between 5 and 25 over the particle size range from 10 to 800 nm, while the submicrometer particle mass concentration dropped by approximately 80%. These results indicate that traffic is the dominating source of BC and particulate air pollution in the metropolitan area of La Paz/El Alto. In general, the diurnal cycle of eBC mass concentration at the Chacaltaya observatory is anti-correlated to the observations at the El Alto background site. This pattern indicates that the traffic-related particulate matter, including BC, is transported to higher altitudes with the developing of the boundary layer during daytime. The metropolitan area of La Paz/El Alto seems to be a significant source for BC of the regional lower free troposphere. From there, BC can be transported over long distances and exert impact on climate and composition of remote southern hemisphere

Validation of MIPAS IMK/IAA temperature, water vapor, and ozone profiles with MOHAVE-2009 campaign measurements

MIPAS observations of temperature, water vapor, and ozone in October 2009 as derived with the scientific level-2 processor run by Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Institute for Meteorology and Climate Research (IMK) and CSIC, Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA) and retrieved from version 4.67 level-1b data have been compared to co-located field campaign observations obtained during the MOHAVE-2009 campaign at the Table Mountain Facility near Pasadena, California in October 2009. The MIPAS measurements were validated regarding any potential biases of the profiles, and with respect to their precision estimates. The MOHAVE-2009 measurement campaign provided measurements of atmospheric profiles of temperature, water vapor/relative humidity, and ozone from the ground to the mesosphere by a suite of instruments including radiosondes, ozonesondes, frost point hygrometers, lidars, microwave radiometers and Fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) spectrometers. For MIPAS temperatures (version V4O_T_204), no significant bias was detected in the middle stratosphere; between 22 km and the tropopause MIPAS temperatures were found to be biased low by up to 2 K, while below the tropopause, they were found to be too high by the same amount. These findings confirm earlier comparisons of MIPAS temperatures to ECMWF data which revealed similar differences. Above 12 km up to 45 km, MIPAS water vapor (version V4O_H2O_203) is well within 10% of the data of all correlative instruments. The well-known dry bias of MIPAS water vapor above 50 km due to neglect of non-LTE effects in the current retrievals has been confirmed. Some instruments indicate that MIPAS water vapor might be biased high by 20 to 40% around 10 km (or 5 km below the tropopause), but a consistent picture from all comparisons could not be derived. MIPAS ozone (version V4O_O3_202) has a high bias of up to +0.9 ppmv around 37 km which is due to a non-identified continuum like radiance contribution. No further significant biases have been detected. Cross-comparison to co-located observations of other satellite instruments (Aura/MLS, ACE-FTS, AIRS) is provided as well

AIRS/AMSU/HSB validation

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder/Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit/Humidity Sounder for Brazil (AIRS/AMSU/HSB) instrument suite onboard Aqua observes infrared and microwave radiances twice daily over most of the planet. AIRS offers unprecedented radiometric accuracy and signal to noise throughout the thermal infrared. Observations from the combined suite of AIRS, AMSU, and HSB are processed into retrievals of atmospheric parameters such as temperature, water vapor, and trace gases under all but the cloudiest conditions. A more limited retrieval set based on the microwave radiances is obtained under heavy cloud cover. Before measurements and retrievals from AIRS/AMSU/HSB instruments can be fully utilized they must be compared with the best possible in situ and other ancillary "truth" observations. Validation is the process of estimating the measurement and retrieval uncertainties through comparison with a set of correlative data of known uncertainties. The ultimate goal of the validation effort is retrieved product uncertainties constrained to those of radiosondes: tropospheric rms uncertainties of 1.0 degC over a 1-km layer for temperature, and 10% over 2-km layers for water vapor. This paper describes the data sources and approaches to be used for validation of the AIRS/AMSU/HSB instrument suite, including validation of the forward models necessary for calculating observed radiances, validation of the observed radiances themselves, and validation of products retrieved from the observed radiances. Constraint of the AIRS product uncertainties to within the claimed specification of 1 K/1 km over well-instrumented regions is feasible within 12 months of launch, but global validation of all AIRS/AMSU/HSB products may require considerably more time due to the novelty and complexity of this dataset and the sparsity of some types of correlative observations