Optics InfoBase is the Optical Society's online library for flagship journals, partnered and copublished journals, and recent proceedings from OSA conferences.

An intercomparison of aerosol backscatter lidar algorithms was performed in 2001 within the framework of the European Aerosol Research Lidar Network to Establish an Aerosol Climatology (EARLINET). The objective of this research was to test the correctness of the algorithms and the influence of the lidar ratio used by the various lidar teams involved in the EARLINET for calculation of backscatter-coefficient profiles from the lidar signals. The exercise consisted of processing synthetic lidar signals of various degrees of difficulty. One of these profiles contained height-dependent lidar ratios to test the vertical influence of those profiles on the various retrieval algorithms. Furthermore, a realistic incomplete overlap of laser beam and receiver field of view was introduced to remind the teams to take great care in the nearest range to the lidar. The intercomparison was performed in three stages with increasing knowledge on the input parameters. First, only the lidar signals were distributed; this is the most realistic stage. Afterward the lidar ratio profiles and the reference values at calibration height were provided. The unknown height-dependent lidar ratio had the largest influence on the retrieval, whereas the unknown reference value was of minor importance. These results show the necessity of making additional independent measurements, which can provide us with a suitable approximation of the lidar ratio. The final stage proves in general, that the data evaluation schemes of the different groups of lidar systems work well.

Air quality forecast systems need reliable and accurate representations of the planetary boundary layer (PBL) to perform well. An important question is how accurately numerical weather prediction models can reproduce conditions in diverse synoptic flow types. Here, observations from the summer 2014 HygrA-CD (Hygroscopic Aerosols to Cloud Droplets) experimental campaign are used to validate simulations from the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model over the complex, urban terrain of the Greater Athens Area. Three typical atmospheric flow types were identified during the 39-day campaign based on 2-day backward trajectories: Continental, Etesians, and Saharan. It is shown that the numerical model simulations differ dramatically depending on the PBL scheme, atmospheric dynamics, and meteorological parameter (e.g., 2-m air temperature). Eight PBL schemes from WRF version 3.4 are tested with daily simulations on an inner domain at 1-km grid spacing. Near-surface observations of 2-m air temperature and relative humidity and 10-m wind speed are collected from multiple meteorological stations. Estimates of the PBL height come from measurements using a multiwavelength Raman lidar, with an adaptive extended Kalman filter technique. Vertical profiles of atmospheric variables are obtained from radiosonde launches, along with PBL heights calculated using bulk Richardson number. Daytime maximum PBL heights ranged from 2.57 km during Etesian flows, to as low as 0.37 km during Saharan flows. The largest differences between model and observations are found with simulated PBL height during Saharan synoptic flows. During the daytime, campaign-averaged near-surface variables show WRF tended to have a cool, moist bias with higher simulated wind speeds than the observations, especially near the coast. It is determined that non-local PBL schemes give the most agreeable solutions when compared with observations.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Regular aerosol backscatter measurements using an elastic-backscatter lidar were performed between May 2000 and December 2002 in Barcelona (Spain), within the framework of the European project EARLINET (European Aerosol Research Lidar Network). The mixed-layer depth was one of the major parameters to be retrieved. Three derivative methods have been tested in this complex coastal area using the range-squared-corrected lidar signal: (1) the minimum of its first derivative, (2) the minimum of its second derivative, and (3) the minimum of the first derivative of its logarithm. The second method was found to give statistically the best results when compared to radiosoundings, and was used to process the whole dataset. A number of 162 days and 660 profiles averaged over 30 min have been examined. Between 1000 and 1500 UTC, the mixed-layer depth oscillates between 300 and 1450 m in summer and between 390 and 1420 m in winter. The standard deviation for this portion of the day is 180 and 256 m, respectively, in summer and winter. In summer, low heights (mainly limited to 400–800 m) are associated with large mesoscale compensatory subsidence over the sea and to the thermal internal boundary-layer formation. The strong coastal and orographic influences and the climatological settling of Barcelona determine the complexity of the boundary-layer dynamics and the high heterogeneity of the lidar signals. In many cases, single lidar analyses do not allow an unambiguous determination of the mixed-layer depth. Two diurnal cycle measurements are discussed together with synoptic maps, backtrajectories and radiosoundings in order to outline the complexity of the area and the limitations of the methods.

This paper presents a detailed description of LIRIC (LIdar-Radiometer Inversion Code) algorithm for simultaneous processing of coincident lidar and radiometric (sun photometric) observations for the retrieval of the aerosol concentration vertical profiles. As the lidar/radiometric input data we use measurements from European Aerosol Research Lidar Network (EARLINET) lidars and collocated sun-photometers of Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET). The LIRIC data processing provides sequential inversion of the combined lidar and radiometric data. The algorithm starts with the estimations of column-integrated aerosol parameters from radiometric measurements followed by the retrieval of height dependent concentrations of fine and coarse aerosols from lidar signals using integrated column characteristics of aerosol layer as a priori constraints. The use of polarized lidar observations allows us to discriminate between spherical and non-spherical particles of the coarse aerosol mode.The LIRIC software package was implemented and tested at a number of EARLINET stations. Intercomparison of the LIRIC-based aerosol retrievals was performed for the observations by seven EARLINET lidars in Leipzig, Germany on 25 May 2009. We found close agreement between the aerosol parameters derived from different lidars that supports high robustness of the LIRIC algorithm. The sensitivity of the retrieval results to the possible reduction of the available observation data is also discussed.