Study of vertical structure of aerosol optical properties with sun photometers and ceilometer during the MACRON campaign in 2007

• Published in: Acta geophysica 2012-10, Vol.60 (5), p.1308-1337
• Main Authors: Markowicz, Krzysztof M., Zieliński, Tymon, Blindheim, Sandra, Gausa, Michael, Jagodnicka, Anna K., Kardas, Aleksandra E., Kumala, Wojciech, Malinowski, Szymon P., Petelski, Tomasz, Posyniak, Michał, Stacewicz, Tadeusz
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: aerosol extinction; aerosol optical thickness; Aerosols; Albedo; Atmospheric boundary layer; Boundary layers; Clouds; Dust; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Geophysics; Geophysics/Geodesy; Geotechnical Engineering & Applied Earth Sciences; Measurement techniques; Observatories; Optical properties; Photometers; Remote sensing; remote sensing retrieval; single scattering albedo; Structural Geology; Sun
• ISSN: 1895-6572; 1895-7455
• DOI: 10.2478/s11600-011-0056-7

This paper presents the measurements of a vertical structure of aerosol optical properties performed during the MACRON (Maritime Aerosol, Clouds and Radiation Observation in Norway) campaign, which took place in July and August 2007 at ALOMAR observatory on Andøya island (69.279°N, 16.009°E, elevation 380 m a.s.l.). The mean value of the aerosol optical thickness (AOT) at 500 nm during campaign was 0.12. Significant increase of the AOT above longtime mean value was observed on 7 and 8 August 2007 when the AOT exceeded 0.4 at 500 nm. Analyses of back trajectories show the aerosol transported from over Africa and Central Europe. The aerosol extinction coefficient obtained from the synergy of ceilometer and sun photometer observations reached 0.05–0.08 km −1 (at 1064 nm) in the dust layer. The single scattering albedo at the ALOMAR observatory decreased during the dust episode to 0.93–0.94, which indicates some absorptive aerosols in the lower PBL.