Aerosol optical properties were continuously measured with the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) compact Raman lidar over Beijing, China, from 15 to 31 December 2007. The results indicated that in a moderate pollution episode, the averaged aerosol extinction below $1\mathrm{km}$ height was $0.39\pm 0.15{\mathrm{km}}^{-1}$ and the lidar ratio was $60.8\pm 13.5\mathrm{sr}$; in heavy pollution episode, they were $1.97\pm 0.91{\mathrm{km}}^{-1}$ and $43.7\pm 8.3\mathrm{sr}$; in an Asian dust episode, they were $0.33\pm 0.11{\mathrm{km}}^{-1}$ and $38.3\pm 9.8\mathrm{sr}$. The total depolarization ratio was mostly below 10% in the pollution episode, whereas it was larger than 20% in the Asian dust episode. The distinct characteristics of aerosol optical properties in moderate and heavy pollution episodes were attributed to the difference in air mass trajectory and the ambient atmospheric conditions such as relative humidity.

We verified an algorithm using multi-wavelength Mie-Raman lidar (MMRL) observations to retrieve four aerosol components (black carbon (BC), sea salt (SS), air pollution (AP), and mineral dust (DS)) with in-situ aerosol measurements, and determined the seasonal variation of aerosol components in Fukuoka, in the western region of Japan. PM_2.5, PM₁₀, and mass concentrations of BC and SS components are derived from in-situ measurements. MMRL provides the aerosol extinction coefficient (α), particle linear depolarization ratio (δ), backscatter coefficient (β), and lidar ratio (S) at 355 and 532 nm, and the attenuated backscatter coefficient (β_att) at 1064 nm. We retrieved vertical distributions of extinction coefficients at 532 nm for four aerosol components (BC, SS, AP, and DS) using 1α₅₃₂ + 1β₅₃₂ + 1β_att,1064 + 1δ₅₃₂ data of MMRL. The retrieved extinction coefficients of the four aerosol components at 532 nm were converted to mass concentrations using the theoretical computed conversion factor assuming the prescribed size distribution, particle shape, and refractive index for each aerosol component. MMRL and in-situ measurements confirmed that seasonal variation of aerosol optical properties was affected by internal/external mixing of various aerosol components, in addition to hygroscopic growth of water-soluble aerosols. MMRL overestimates BC mass concentration compared to in-situ observation using the pure BC model. This overestimation was reduced drastically by introducing the internal mixture model of BC and water-soluble substances (Core-Gray Shell (CGS) model). This result suggests that considering the internal mixture of BC and water-soluble substances is essential for evaluating BC mass concentration in this area. Systematic overestimation of BC mass concentration was found during summer, even when we applied the CGS model. The observational facts based on in-situ and MMRL measurements suggested that misclassification of AP as CGS particles was due to underestimation of relative humidity (RH) by the numerical model in lidar analysis, as well as mismatching of the optical models of AP and CGS assumed in the retrieval with aerosol properties in the actual atmosphere. The time variation of lidar-derived SS was generally consistent with in-situ measurement; however, we found some overestimation of SS during dust events. The cause of this SS overestimation is mainly due to misclassifying internally mixing DS as SS, implying that to consider internal mixing between DS and water-soluble substances leads to better estimation. The time-variations of PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ generally showed good agreement with in-situ measurement although lidar-derived PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ overestimated in dust events.

Using two‐wavelength lidar with one‐wavelength depolarization measurement installed on the research vessel Mirai, we retrieved vertical distributions of extinction coefficients of water‐soluble, sea‐salt, and dust particles at 532 nm. In the retrieval, the mode radii, standard deviations, and refractive indexes for each aerosol component are prescribed; the retrieval uncertainties due to spherical assumption in our dust model are estimated to be 30–50%. The ship‐based measurements were conducted in the western Pacific Ocean near Japan from 14 to 27 May 2001. For the analysis, we applied two‐wavelength lidar algorithms to the three‐channel lidar data, i.e., for signal strengths at 532 and 1064 nm and the total depolarization ratio at 532 nm. Water‐soluble and sea‐salt particles occurred below 1 km, whereas air masses dominated by water‐soluble and dust particles were sometimes found above 1 km. We also investigated the correlation of sea‐salt extinction coefficient with surface wind velocity for various altitudes. A positive correlation was found at low altitude, but no correlation was indicated at high altitude. We also compared the extinction coefficients of water‐soluble and sea‐salt particles directly under cloud bottom with those in clear‐sky. Below clouds, the extinction coefficients of water‐soluble and sea‐salt particles were 1.6 and 1.4 times larger, respectively, than those in clear sky; this could be explained by hygroscopic growth using Hänel theory. Finally, we evaluated the global aerosol transport model SPRINTARS using the retrieved aerosol properties and measured lidar signals. The model underestimated sea salt and overestimated dust, although the general patterns agreed with the observed patterns.

Coincident profiles from the space-borne and ground-based lidar measurements provide a unique opportunity to estimate the planetary boundary layer height (PBLH). In this study, PBLHs derived from the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) were assessed by comparing them with those obtained from the ground-based lidar at Seoul National University (SNU) in Korea for both day and night from 2006 to 2019, and sounding data. CALIOP-derived PBLHs using wavelet covariance transform (WCT) are generally higher than those derived from the SNU lidar for both day and night. The difference in PBLH tends to increase as the signal-to-noise ratio for CALIOP decreases. The difference also increases as aerosol optical depth increases, implying that the PBLH estimated from CALIOP could be higher than that determined from the SNU lidar because of the signal attenuation within the aerosol layer under optically thick aerosol layer conditions. The higher PBLH for CALIOP in this study is mainly attributed to multiple aerosol layers. After eliminating multilayer cases, the PBLHs estimated from both the lidars showed significantly improved agreement: a mean difference of 0.09 km (R = 0.81) for daytime and 0.25 km (R = 0.51) for nighttime. The results from this study suggest that PBL detection using CALIOP is reliable for daytime if multilayer cases are removed. For nighttime, PBLHs derived from the SNU lidar and CALIOP showed a relatively large difference in frequency distribution compared with sounding data. It suggests that further investigations are needed for nighttime PBLHs, such as investigations about discriminating the residual layer and the difference between lidar-derived PBLH based on the aerosol layer and thermally derived PBLH from radiosonde data for the stable boundary layer during the nighttime.

We have operated a ground-based lidar network AD-Net using dual wavelength (532, 1064nm) depolarization Mie lidar continuously and observed movement of Asian dust and air pollution aerosols in East Asia since 2001. This lidar network observation contributed to understanding of the occurrence and transport mechanisms of Asian dust, validation of chemical transport models, data assimilation and epidemiologic studies. To better understand the optical and microphysical properties, externally and internally mixing states, and the movements of Asian dust and airpollution aerosols, we go forward with introducing a multi-wavelength Raman lidar to the AD-Net and developing a multi-wavelength technique of HSRL in order to evaluate optical concentrations of more aerosol components. We will use this evolving AD-Net for validation of Earth-CARE satellite observation and data assimilation to evaluate emissions of air pollution and dust aerosols in East Asia. We go forward with deploying an in-situ instrument polarization optical particle counter (POPC), which can measure size distributions and non-sphericity of aerosols, to several main AD-Net sites and conducting simultaneous observation of POPC and lidar to clarify internally mixed state of Asian dust and air pollution aerosols transported from the Asian continent to Japan.