We present the evaluation activity of the European Aerosol Research Lidar Network (EARLINET) for the quantitative assessment of the Level 2 aerosol backscatter coefficient product derived by the Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS) aboard the International Space Station (ISS; Rodier et al., 2015). The study employs correlative CATS and EARLINET backscatter measurements within a 50km distance between the ground station and the ISS overpass and as close in time as possible, typically with the starting time or stopping time of the EARLINET performed measurement time window within 90min of the ISS overpass, for the period from February 2015 to September 2016. The results demonstrate the good agreement of the CATS Level 2 backscatter coefficient and EARLINET. Three ISS overpasses close to the EARLINET stations of Leipzig, Germany; Évora, Portugal; and Dushanbe, Tajikistan, are analyzed here to demonstrate the performance of the CATS lidar system under different conditions. The results show that under cloud-free, relative homogeneous aerosol conditions, CATS is in good agreement with EARLINET, independent of daytime and nighttime conditions. CATS low negative biases are observed, partially attributed to the deficiency of lidar systems to detect tenuous aerosol layers of backscatter signal below the minimum detection thresholds; these are biases which may lead to systematic deviations and slight underestimations of the total aerosol optical depth (AOD) in climate studies. In addition, CATS misclassification of aerosol layers as clouds, and vice versa, in cases of coexistent and/or adjacent aerosol and cloud features, occasionally leads to non-representative, unrealistic, and cloud-contaminated aerosol profiles. Regarding solar illumination conditions, low negative biases in CATS backscatter coefficient profiles, of the order of 6.1%, indicate the good nighttime performance of CATS. During daytime, a reduced signal-to-noise ratio by solar background illumination prevents retrievals of weakly scattering atmospheric layers that would otherwise be detectable during nighttime, leading to higher negative biases, of the order of 22.3%.

We present a 3-D climatology of the desert dust distribution over South and East Asia derived using CALIPSO (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation) data. To distinguish desert dust from total aerosol load we apply a methodology developed in the framework of EARLINET (European Aerosol Research Lidar Network). The method involves the use of the particle linear depolarization ratio and updated lidar ratio values suitable for Asian dust, applied to multiyear CALIPSO observations (January 2007-December 2015). The resulting dust product provides information on the horizontal and vertical distribution of dust aerosols over South and East Asia along with the seasonal transition of dust transport pathways. Persistent high D-AOD (dust aerosol optical depth) values at 532 nm, of the order of 0.6, are present over the arid and semi-arid desert regions. Dust aerosol transport (range, height and intensity) is subject to high seasonality, with the highest values observed during spring for northern China (Taklimakan and Gobi deserts) and during summer over the Indian subcontinent (Thar Desert). Additionally, we decompose the CALIPSO AOD (aerosol optical depth) into dust and non-dust aerosol components to reveal the nondust AOD over the highly industrialized and densely populated regions of South and East Asia, where the non-dust aerosols yield AOD values of the order of 0.5. Furthermore, the CALIPSO-based short-term AOD and D-AOD time series and trends between January 2007 and December 2015 are calculated over South and East Asia and over selected subregions. Positive trends are observed over northwest and east China and the Indian subcontinent, whereas over southeast China trends are mostly negative. The calculated AOD trends agree well with the trends derived from Aqua MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer), although significant differences are observed over specific regions.

By means of available ice nucleating particle (INP) parameterization schemes we compute profiles of dust INP number concentration utilizing Polly-XT and CALIPSO lidar observations during the INUIT-BACCHUS-ACTRIS 2016 campaign. The polarization-lidar photometer networking (POLIPHON) method is used to separate dust and non-dust aerosol backscatter, extinction, mass concentration, particle number concentration (for particles with radius > 250 nm) and surface area concentration. The INP final products are compared with aerosol samples collected from unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and analyzed using the ice nucleus counter FRIDGE.

In situ measurements using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and remote sensing observations can independently provide dense vertically resolved measurements of atmospheric aerosols, information which is strongly required in climate models. In both cases, inverting the recorded signals to useful information requires assumptions and constraints, and this can make the comparison of the results difficult. Here we compare, for the first time, vertical profiles of the aerosol mass concentration derived from light detection and ranging (lidar) observations and in situ measurements using an optical particle counter on board a UAV during moderate and weak Saharan dust episodes. Agreement between the two measurement methods was within experimental uncertainty for the coarse mode (i.e. particles having radii > 0.5ĝ€μm), where the properties of dust particles can be assumed with good accuracy. This result proves that the two techniques can be used interchangeably for determining the vertical profiles of aerosol concentrations, bringing them a step closer towards their systematic exploitation in climate models.

This paper presents an exploratory study on the aerosol layer height (ALH) retrieval from the OMI 477nm O₂ O₂ spectral band. We have developed algorithms based on the multilayer perceptron (MLP) neural network (NN) approach and applied them to 3-year (2005-2007) OMI cloud-free scenes over north-east Asia, collocated with MODIS Aqua aerosol product. In addition to the importance of aerosol altitude for climate and air quality objectives, our long-term motivation is to evaluate the possibility of retrieving ALH for potential future improvements of trace gas retrievals (e.g. NO₂, HCHO, SO₂) from UV-visible air quality satellite measurements over scenes including high aerosol concentrations. This study presents a first step of this long-term objective and evaluates, from a statistic point of view, an ensemble of OMI ALH retrievals over a long time period of 3 years covering a large industrialized continental region. This ALH retrieval relies on the analysis of the O₂ O₂ slant column density (SCD) and requires an accurate knowledge of the aerosol optical thickness,. Using MODIS Aqua(550nm) as a prior information, absolute seasonal differences between the LIdar climatology of vertical Aerosol Structure for space-based lidar simulation (LIVAS) and average OMI ALH, over scenes with MODIS(550nm) ≥ 1. 0, are in the range of 260-800m (assuming single scattering albedo 0 Combining double low line 0. 95) and 180-310m (assuming 0 Combining double low line 0. 9). OMI ALH retrievals depend on the assumed aerosol single scattering albedo (sensitivity up to 660 m) and the chosen surface albedo (variation less than 200 m between OMLER and MODIS black-sky albedo). Scenes with ≤ 0. 5 are expected to show too large biases due to the little impact of particles on the O₂ O₂ SCD changes. In addition, NN algorithms also enable aerosol optical thickness retrieval by exploring the OMI reflectance in the continuum. Comparisons with collocated MODIS Aqua show agreements between 0. 02 ± 0. 45 and 0. 18 ± g 0. 24, depending on the season. Improvements may be obtained from a better knowledge of the surface albedo and higher accuracy of the aerosol model. Following the previous work over ocean of Park et al.(2016), our study shows the first encouraging aerosol layer height retrieval results over land from satellite observations of the 477 nm O₂ gO₂ absorption spectral band.