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    Vertically resolved dust optical properties during SAMUM: Tinfou compared to Ouarzazate
    (Milton Park : Taylor & Francis, 2017) Heese, Birgit; Althausen, Dietrich; Dinter, Tilman; Esselborn, Michael; Müller, Thomas; Tesche, Matthias; Wiegner, Matthias
    Vertical profiles of dust key optical properties are presented from measurements during the Saharan Mineral Dust Experiment (SAMUM) by Raman and depolarization lidar at two ground-based sites and by airborne high spectral resolution lidar. One of the sites, Tinfou, is located close to the border of the Sahara in Southern Morocco and was the main in situ site during SAMUM. The other site was Ouarzazate airport, the main lidar site. From the lidar measurements the spatial distribution of the dust between Tinfou and Ouarzazate was derived for 1 d. The retrieved profiles of backscatter and extinction coefficients and particle depolarization ratios show comparable dust optical properties, a similar vertical structure of the dust layer, and a height of about 4 km asl at both sites. The airborne cross-section of the extinction coefficient at the two sites confirms the low variability in dust properties. Although the general picture of the dust layer was similar, the lidar measurements reveal a higher dust load closer to the dust source. Nevertheless, the observed intensive optical properties were the same. These results indicate that the lidar measurements at two sites close to the dust source are both representative for the SAMUM dust conditions.
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    Numerical simulations of optical properties of Saharan dust aerosols with emphasis on lidar applications
    (Milton Park : Taylor & Francis, 2017) Wiegner, M.; Gasteiger, J.; Kandler, K.; Weinzierl, B.; Rasp, K.; Esselborn, M.; Freudenthaler, V.; Heese, B.; Toledano, C.; Tesche, M.; Althausen, D.
    In the framework of the Saharan Mineral Dust Experiment (SAMUM) for the first time the spectral dependence of particle linear depolarization ratios was measured by combining four lidar systems. In this paper these measurements are compared with results from scattering theory based on the T-matrix method. For this purpose, in situ measurements—size distribution, shape distribution and refractive index—were used as input parameters; particle shape was approximated by spheroids. A sensitivity study showed that lidar-related parameters—lidar ratio Sp and linear depolarization ratio δp—are very sensitive to changes of all parameters. The simulated values of the δp are in the range of 20% and 31% and thus in the range of the measurements. The spectral dependence is weak, so that it could not be resolved by the measurements. Calculated lidar ratios based on the measured microphysics and considering equivalent radii up to 7.5μm show a range of possible values between 29 and 50 sr at λ = 532 nm. Larger Sp might be possible if the real part of the refractive index is small and the imaginary part is large. A strict validation was however not possible as too many microphysical parameters influence Sp and δp that could not be measured with the required accuracy.
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    Optical and microphysical properties of smoke over Cape Verde inferred from multiwavelength lidar measurements
    (Milton Park : Taylor & Francis, 2017) Tesche, Matthias; Müller, Detlef; Gross, Silke; Ansmann, Albert; Althausen, Dietrich; Freudenthaler, Volker; Weinzierl, Bernadett; Veira, Andreas; Petzold, Andreas
    Lidar measurements of mixed dust/smoke plumes over the tropical Atlantic ocean were carried out during the winter campaign of SAMUM-2 at Cape Verde. Profiles of backscatter and extinction coefficients, lidar ratios, and Ångstr¨om exponents related to pure biomass-burning aerosol from southern West Africa were extracted from these observations. Furthermore, these findings were used as input for an inversion algorithm to retrieve microphysical properties of pure smoke. Seven measurement days were found suitable for the procedure of aerosol-type separation and successive inversion of optical data that describe biomass-burning smoke. We inferred high smoke lidar ratios of 87 ± 17 sr at 355 nm and 79 ± 17 sr at 532 nm. Smoke lidar ratios and Ångstr¨om exponents are higher compared to the ones for the dust/smoke mixture. These numbers indicate higher absorption and smaller sizes for pure smoke particles compared to the dust/smoke mixture. Inversion of the smoke data set results in mean effective radii of 0.22 ± 0.08 μm with individual results varying between 0.10 and 0.36 μm. The single-scattering albedo for pure biomass-burning smoke was found to vary between 0.63 and 0.89 with a very low mean value of 0.75 ± 0.07. This is in good agreement with findings of airborne in situ measurements which showed values of 0.77 ± 0.03. Effective radii from the inversion were similar to the ones found for the fine mode of the in situ size distributions.
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    Characterization of the planetary boundary layer during SAMUM-2 by means of lidar measurements
    (Milton Park : Taylor & Francis, 2017) Groß, Silke; Gasteiger, Josef; Freudenthaler, Volker; Wiegner, Matthias; Geiß, Alexander; Schladitz, Alexander; Toledano, Carlos; Kandler, Konrad; Tesche, Matthias; Ansmann, Albert; Wiedensohler, Alfred
    Measurements with two Raman-depolarization lidars of the Meteorological Institute of the Ludwig-Maximilians- Universit¨at, M¨unchen, Germany, performed during SAMUM-2, were used to characterize the planetary boundary layer (PBL) over Praia, Cape Verde. A novel approach was used to determine the volume fraction of dust υd in the PBL. This approach primarily relies on accurate measurements of the linear depolarization ratio. Comparisons with independent in situ measurements showed the reliability of this approach. Based on our retrievals, two different phases could be distinguished within the measurement period of almost one month. The first (22–31 January 2008) was characterized by high aerosol optical depth (AOD) in the PBL and large υd > 95%. During the second phase, the AOD in the PBL was considerably lower and υd less than ∼40%. These findings were in very good agreement with ground based in situ measurements, when ambient volume fractions are considered that were calculated from the actual measurements of the dry volume fraction. Only in cases when dust was not the dominating aerosol component (second phase), effects due to hygroscopic growth became important.