OMPS LP Version 2.0 multi-wavelength aerosol extinction coefficient retrieval algorithm

Taha, Ghassan; Loughman, Robert; Zhu, Tong; Thomason, L. W.; Kar, Jayanta; Rieger, Landon; Bourassa, A. E.

doi:10.5194/amt-14-1015-2021

Cited by 68 publications

(126 citation statements)

References 76 publications

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“…Regarding the separation of smoke and dust fractions by means of the polarization lidar technique (Tesche et al, 2009(Tesche et al, , 2011Nisantzi et al, 2014), we have to distinguish two branches. As long as the smoke-containing layers occur at low altitudes (in the lower and middle troposphere up to 5-7 km height), we can apply the traditional approach to determine the smoke fraction in dust-smoke mixtures by as-suming a low smoke depolarization ratio of <0.05 and a high mineral dust depolarization ratio of 0.31.…”

Section: Methodological Background: Microphysical Properties From Backscatter Coefficientsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tropospheric and stratospheric wildfire smoke profiling with lidar: mass, surface area, CCN, and INP retrieval

et al. 2021

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Abstract. We present retrievals of tropospheric and stratospheric height profiles of particle mass, volume, surface area, and number concentrations in the case of wildfire smoke layers as well as estimates of smoke-related cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and ice-nucleating particle (INP) concentrations from backscatter lidar measurements on the ground and in space. Conversion factors used to convert the optical measurements into microphysical properties play a central role in the data analysis, in addition to estimates of the smoke extinction-to-backscatter ratios required to obtain smoke extinction coefficients. The set of needed conversion parameters for wildfire smoke is derived from AERONET observations of major smoke events, e.g., in western Canada in August 2017, California in September 2020, and southeastern Australia in January–February 2020 as well as from AERONET long-term observations of smoke in the Amazon region, southern Africa, and Southeast Asia. The new smoke analysis scheme is applied to CALIPSO observations of tropospheric smoke plumes over the United States in September 2020 and to ground-based lidar observation in Punta Arenas, in southern Chile, in aged Australian smoke layers in the stratosphere in January 2020. These case studies show the potential of spaceborne and ground-based lidars to document large-scale and long-lasting wildfire smoke events in detail and thus to provide valuable information for climate, cloud, and air chemistry modeling efforts performed to investigate the role of wildfire smoke in the atmospheric system.

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Section: Methodological Background: Microphysical Properties From Backscatter Coefficientsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tropospheric and stratospheric wildfire smoke profiling with lidar: mass, surface area, CCN, and INP retrieval

et al. 2021

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“…OMPS LP retrieves aerosol extinction profiles at 510, 600, 674, 745, 869, and 997 nm wavelengths 80 . In addition, it provides some information about cloud height and type, which is used to identify enhanced aerosol layers in the stratosphere.…”

Section: Omps Lp Data Processingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The OMPS LP sensor uses three vertical slits separated horizontally by 250 km, to provide near global coverage and more than 7000 profiles a day. All OMPS LP analysis is based on data from the center slit, which has the most accurate calibration and straylight correction 80 . The temperature, pressure, and tropopause altitudes are derived from the geopotential height product provided by the NASA Global Modeling and Assimilation Office operational model, and these fields are included in OMPS LP Level 2 daily files.…”

Section: Omps Lp Data Processingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…9b) were calculated for 2.5°latitude bands on 26 March 2020. When considering OMPS LP observing geometry, 997 nm is considered to be the most sensitive wavelength to aerosols in the Southern Hemisphere and lower altitudes, where the Rayleigh scattering is high 80 . However, measurements at 997 nm are only available after 26 November 2013.…”

Section: Omps Lp Data Processingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Australia’s Black Summer pyrocumulonimbus super outbreak reveals potential for increasingly extreme stratospheric smoke events

Peterson

Fromm

McRae³

et al. 2021

npj Clim Atmos Sci

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The Black Summer fire season of 2019–2020 in southeastern Australia contributed to an intense ‘super outbreak’ of fire-induced and smoke-infused thunderstorms, known as pyrocumulonimbus (pyroCb). More than half of the 38 observed pyroCbs injected smoke particles directly into the stratosphere, producing two of the three largest smoke plumes observed at such altitudes to date. Over the course of 3 months, these plumes encircled a large swath of the Southern Hemisphere while continuing to rise, in a manner consistent with existing nuclear winter theory. We connect cause and effect of this event by quantifying the fire characteristics, fuel consumption, and meteorology contributing to the pyroCb spatiotemporal evolution. Emphasis is placed on the unusually long duration of sustained pyroCb activity and anomalous persistence during nighttime hours. The ensuing stratospheric smoke plumes are compared with plumes injected by significant volcanic eruptions over the last decade. As the second record-setting stratospheric pyroCb event in the last 4 years, the Australian super outbreak offers new clues on the potential scale and intensity of this increasingly extreme fire-weather phenomenon in a warming climate.

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“…In Fig. 14, we compare our seasonal mean extinction profiles calculated from the MOSAiC profile data sets with CALIPSO long-term observations of Arctic aerosol profiles (Yang et al, 2021) and retrievals of the particle extinction coefficient from satellite-based OMPS-LP (Ozone Mapping Profiler Suite Limb Profiler) measurements at 675 nm and Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) II and III observations (Treffeisen et al, 2006;Taha et al, 2021). In this way, a consistent, vertically resolved view on the aerosol condition in the central Arctic during the winter half-year up to 30 km is provided, to our knowledge, for the first time.…”

Section: Case Studies Confirming the Smoke Dominance Inmentioning

confidence: 99%

The unexpected smoke layer in the High Arctic winter stratosphere during MOSAiC 2019–2020

et al. 2021

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Abstract. During the 1-year MOSAiC (Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate) expedition, the German icebreaker Polarstern drifted through Arctic Ocean ice from October 2019 to May 2020, mainly at latitudes between 85 and 88.5∘ N. A multiwavelength polarization Raman lidar was operated on board the research vessel and continuously monitored aerosol and cloud layers up to a height of 30 km. During our mission, we expected to observe a thin residual volcanic aerosol layer in the stratosphere, originating from the Raikoke volcanic eruption in June 2019, with an aerosol optical thickness (AOT) of 0.005–0.01 at 500 nm over the North Pole area during the winter season. However, the highlight of our measurements was the detection of a persistent, 10 km deep aerosol layer in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS), from about 7–8 to 17–18 km height, with clear and unambiguous wildfire smoke signatures up to 12 km and an order of magnitude higher AOT of around 0.1 in the autumn of 2019. Case studies are presented to explain the specific optical fingerprints of aged wildfire smoke in detail. The pronounced aerosol layer was present throughout the winter half-year until the strong polar vortex began to collapse in late April 2020. We hypothesize that the detected smoke originated from extraordinarily intense and long-lasting wildfires in central and eastern Siberia in July and August 2019 and may have reached the tropopause layer by the self-lifting process. In this article, we summarize the main findings of our 7-month smoke observations and characterize the aerosol in terms of geometrical, optical, and microphysical properties. The UTLS AOT at 532 nm ranged from 0.05–0.12 in October–November 2019 and 0.03–0.06 during the main winter season. The Raikoke aerosol fraction was estimated to always be lower than 15 %. We assume that the volcanic aerosol was above the smoke layer (above 13 km height). As an unambiguous sign of the dominance of smoke in the main aerosol layer from 7–13 km height, the particle extinction-to-backscatter ratio (lidar ratio) at 355 nm was found to be much lower than at 532 nm, with mean values of 55 and 85 sr, respectively. The 355–532 nm Ångström exponent of around 0.65 also clearly indicated the presence of smoke aerosol. For the first time, we show a distinct view of the aerosol layering features in the High Arctic from the surface up to 30 km height during the winter half-year. Finally, we provide a vertically resolved view on the late winter and early spring conditions regarding ozone depletion, smoke occurrence, and polar stratospheric cloud formation. The latter will largely stimulate research on a potential impact of the unexpected stratospheric aerosol perturbation on the record-breaking ozone depletion in the Arctic in spring 2020.

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OMPS LP Version 2.0 multi-wavelength aerosol extinction coefficient retrieval algorithm

Cited by 68 publications

References 76 publications

Tropospheric and stratospheric wildfire smoke profiling with lidar: mass, surface area, CCN, and INP retrieval

Tropospheric and stratospheric wildfire smoke profiling with lidar: mass, surface area, CCN, and INP retrieval

Australia’s Black Summer pyrocumulonimbus super outbreak reveals potential for increasingly extreme stratospheric smoke events

The unexpected smoke layer in the High Arctic winter stratosphere during MOSAiC 2019–2020

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