Characterization of forest fire and Saharan desert dust aerosols over south-western Europe using a multi-wavelength Raman lidar and Sun-photometer

Salgueiro, Vanda; Costa, María João; Guerrero-Rascado, Juan Luís; Couto, Flavio T.; Bortoli, Daniele

doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2021.118346

Cited by 23 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 72 publications

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“…A layer with strong northwest winds was reproduced below 1 km altitude. This layer favoured the transport of the smoke plume to southern Portugal, previously identified by [34], as seen in Figure 3. In addition, a strong southwest wind at higher altitudes is responsible for the second smoke plume north-eastward of Vila de Rei, as observed in the satellite images (Figure 3).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 59%

“…Both are from the group brush, according to [49]. They represent 87% of the fuel in the Vila de Rei wildfire and correspond to 70% pine trees and 17% eucalyptus [34].…”

Section: Overview Of the Fire Eventmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, the largest forest fire in Portugal, which occurred in 2019, was characterised by a rapid spread and burned approximately 20 km in length in the first 12 h [33]. The smoke plume was unusually extensive and was detected in southern Portugal [34]. This episode in Vila de Rei county has been considered in order to understand the atmospheric environment associated with a forest fire occurring over complex terrain from simulations with convection explicitly resolved.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Modelling the Atmospheric Environment Associated with a Wind-Driven Fire Event in Portugal

et al. 2022

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Increased knowledge of the meteorological conditions that lead to mega-fires is important to prevent wildfires and improve firefighting. This study analyses the atmospheric conditions that led to the largest forest fire ever observed in Portugal in 2019. The fire burned an estimated total area of around 9000 hectares in 12 h. The study is based on two simulations performed with the Meso-NH atmospheric model. The control simulation was configured in a single and large domain with 2500 m resolution, whereas a second simulation was configured using the grid nesting technique with an inner domain with 500 m resolution. The fire developed under typical summer conditions, under the influence of the Azores anticyclone and the presence of the Iberian thermal low. The weather pattern included intense northwest winds in the western region of the Iberian Peninsula. In the fire area, the wind speed was around 7 m s−1 with maximum wind gusts of 15 m s−1, favouring the rapid spread of the fire and characterising the event as a wind-driven fire. This study demonstrates the benefits of the use of large domains and high-resolution numerical simulations to explore the regional and local effects, which are crucial for the evolution of some fires.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 59%

“…Both are from the group brush, according to [49]. They represent 87% of the fuel in the Vila de Rei wildfire and correspond to 70% pine trees and 17% eucalyptus [34].…”

Section: Overview Of the Fire Eventmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Modelling the Atmospheric Environment Associated with a Wind-Driven Fire Event in Portugal

et al. 2022

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“…Furthermore, due to the station's proximity to the Sahara Desert, mineral dust layers are frequent over the city (Pereira et al, 2009;Preißler et al, 2011Preißler et al, , 2013 with many extreme events occurring (Preißler et al, 2011;Valenzuela et al, 2017;Couto et al, 2021). Rare events of simultaneous biomass burning and mineral dust intrusions have been characterized (Salgueiro et al, 2021). Significant bioaerosol concentration events can also occur at specific stages of the year (Galveias et al, 2021).…”

Section: Actris/earlinet Stationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Statistical validation of Aeolus L2A particle backscatter coefficient retrievals over ACTRIS/EARLINET stations on the Iberian Peninsula

et al. 2022

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Abstract. The Global Observing System (GOS) has encountered some limitations due to a lack of worldwide real-time wind measurements. In this context, the European Space Agency (ESA) has developed the Aeolus satellite mission, based on the ALADIN (Atmospheric Laser Doppler Instrument) Doppler wind lidar; this mission aims to obtain near-real-time wind retrievals at the global scale. As spin-off products, the instrument retrieves aerosol optical properties such as particle backscatter and extinction coefficients. In this work, a validation of Aeolus reprocessed (baseline 10) co-polar backscatter coefficients (βAeoluspart) is presented through an intercomparison with analogous ground-based measurements taken at the ACTRIS (Aerosols, Clouds and Trace gases Research InfraStructure Network)/EARLINET (European Aerosol Research Lidar Network) stations of Granada (Spain), Évora (Portugal) and Barcelona (Spain) over the period from July 2019 until October 2020. Case studies are first presented, followed by a statistical analysis. The stations are located in a hot spot between Africa and the rest of Europe, which guarantees a variety of aerosol types, from mineral dust layers to continental/anthropogenic aerosol, and allows us to test Aeolus performance under different scenarios. The so called Aeolus-like profiles (βAeoluslike,355part) are obtained from total particle backscatter coefficient and linear particle depolarization ratio (δlinearpart) profiles at 355 and 532 nm measured from the surface, through a thorough bibliographic review of dual-polarization measurements for relevant aerosol types. Finally, the study proposes a relation for the spectral conversion of δlinearpart, which is implemented in the Aeolus-like profile calculation. The statistical results show the ability of the satellite to detect and characterize significant aerosol layers under cloud-free conditions, along with the surface effect on the lowermost measurements, which causes the satellite to largely overestimate co-polar backscatter coefficients. Finally, the Aeolus standard correct algorithm middle bin (SCAmb) shows a better agreement with ground-based measurements than the standard correct algorithm (SCA), which tends to retrieve negative and meaningless coefficients in the clear troposphere. The implementation of Aeolus quality flags entails a vast reduction in the number of measurements available for comparison, which affects the statistical significance of the results.

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“…Furthermore, due to the proximity to the Sahara Desert, mineral dust layers are frequent over the city (Pereira et al, 2009;Preißler et al 2011Preißler et al , 2013 with many extreme events (Preißler et al, 2011;Valenzuela et al, 2017;Couto et al, 2021). Rare events of simultaneous biomass burnings and mineral dust intrusions have been characterized (Salgueiro et al, 2021). Significant bioaerosol concentration events can occur at specific stages of the year (Galveias et al, 2021).…”

Section: Actris/earlinet Stationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Statistical validation of Aeolus L2A particle backscatter coefficient retrievals over ACTRIS/EARLINET stations in the Iberian Peninsula

Abril-Gago

Guerrero-Rascado

Costa

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Abstract. Global Observing Systems (GOS) encounter some limitations due to a lack of worldwide real-time wind measurements. In this context, the European Space Agency (ESA) has developed the Aeolus satellite mission, based on the ALADIN (Atmospheric Laser Doppler Instrument) Doppler wind lidar, aimed to obtain near real-time wind retrievals at global scale. As spin-off products, the instrument retrieves aerosol optical properties such as particle backscatter and extinction coefficients. In this work, a validation of Aeolus reprocessed (baseline 10) co-polar backscatter coefficients is presented through an intercomparison with analogous ground-based measurements taken at the ACTRIS/EARLINET stations of Granada (Spain), Évora (Portugal) and Barcelona (Spain) over the period from July 2019 until October 2020. Case studies are first presented, followed by a statistical analysis. The stations are located in a hot spot between Africa and the rest of Europe, which guarantees a variety of aerosol types, from mineral dust layers to continental/anthropogenic aerosol, and allow us to test Aeolus performance under different scenarios. The so called Aeolus-like profiles are obtained from total particle backscatter coefficient and linear particle depolarization ratio profiles at 355 nm and 532 nm measured from surface, through a thorough bibliographic review of dual-polarization measurements for relevant aerosol types. Finally, the study proposes a relation for the spectral conversion of , which is implemented in the Aeolus-like profile calculation. The statistical results show the ability of the satellite to detect and characterize significant aerosol layers under cloud free conditions, along with the surface effect on the lowermost measurements, which causes the satellite to largely overestimate co-polar backscatter coefficients. Finally, Aeolus standard correct algorithm middle bin (SCAmb) shows a better agreement with ground-based measurements than the standard correct algorithm (SCA), which tends to retrieve negative and meaningless coefficients in the clear troposphere. The implementation of Aeolus quality flags entails a vast reduction in the number of measurements available for comparison, which affects the statistical significance of the results, without improving significantly the statistical agreement between satellite and ground-based measurements.

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Characterization of forest fire and Saharan desert dust aerosols over south-western Europe using a multi-wavelength Raman lidar and Sun-photometer

Cited by 23 publications

References 72 publications

Modelling the Atmospheric Environment Associated with a Wind-Driven Fire Event in Portugal

Modelling the Atmospheric Environment Associated with a Wind-Driven Fire Event in Portugal

Statistical validation of Aeolus L2A particle backscatter coefficient retrievals over ACTRIS/EARLINET stations on the Iberian Peninsula

Statistical validation of Aeolus L2A particle backscatter coefficient retrievals over ACTRIS/EARLINET stations in the Iberian Peninsula

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