A multiwavelength numerical model in support of quantitative retrievals of aerosol properties from automated lidar ceilometers and test applications for AOT and PM10 estimation

摘要

The use of automated lidar ceilometer (ALC) systems for the aerosol vertically resolved characterization has increased in recent years thanks to their low construction and operation costs and their capability of providing continuous unattended measurements. At the same time there is a need to convert the ALC signals into usable geophysical quantities. In fact, the quantitative assessment of the aerosol properties from ALC measurements and the relevant assimilation in meteorological forecast models is amongst the main objectives of the EU COST Action TOPROF ("Towards operational ground-based profiling with ALCs, Doppler lidars and microwave radiometers for improving weather forecasts"). Concurrently, the E-PROFILE program of the European Meteorological Services Network (EUMETNET) focuses on the harmonization of ALC measurements and data provision across Europe. Within these frameworks, we implemented a model-assisted methodology to retrieve key aerosol properties (extinction coefficient, surface area, and volume) from elastic lidar and/or ALC measurements. The method is based on results from a large set of aerosol scattering simulations (Mie theory) performed at UV, visible, and near-IR wavelengths using a Monte Carlo approach to select the input aerosol microphysical properties.