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    Multichannel analysis of correlation length of SEVIRI images around ground-based cloud observatories to determine their representativeness
    (München : European Geopyhsical Union, 2015) Slobodda, J.; Hünerbein, A.; Lindstrot, R.; Preusker, R.; Ebell, K.; Fischer, J.
    Images of measured radiance in different channels of the geostationary Meteosat-9 SEVIRI instrument are analysed with respect to the representativeness of the observations of eight cloud observatories in Europe (e.g. measurements from cloud radars or microwave radiometers). Cloudy situations are selected to get a time series for every pixel in a 300 km × 300 km area centred around each ground station. Then a cross correlation of each time series to the pixel nearest to the corresponding ground site is calculated. In the end a correlation length is calculated to define the representativeness. It is found that measurements in the visible and near infrared channels, which respond to cloud physical properties, are correlated in an area with a 1 to 4 km radius, while the thermal channels, that correspond to cloud top temperature, are correlated to a distance of about 20 km. This also points to a higher variability of the cloud microphysical properties inside a cloud than of the cloud top temperature. The correlation length even increases for the channels at 6.2, 7.3 and 9.7 μm. They respond to radiation from the upper atmospheric layers emitted by atmospheric gases and higher level clouds, which are more homogeneous than low-level clouds. Additionally, correlations at different distances, corresponding to the grid box sizes of forecast models, were compared. The results suggest the possibility of comparisons between instantaneous cloud observations from ground sites and regional forecast models and ground-based measurements. For larger distances typical for global models the correlations decrease, especially for short-wave measurements and corresponding cloud products. By comparing daily means, the correlation length of each station is increased to about 3 to 10 times the value of instantaneous measurements and also the comparability to models grows.
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    Potential of polarization/Raman lidar to separate fine dust, coarse dust, maritime, and anthropogenic aerosol profiles
    (München : European Geopyhsical Union, 2017) Mamouri, Rodanthi-Elisavet; Ansmann, Albert
    We applied the recently introduced polarization lidar–photometer networking (POLIPHON) technique for the first time to triple-wavelength polarization lidar measurements at 355, 532, and 1064 nm. The lidar observations were performed at Barbados during the Saharan Aerosol Long-Range Transport and Aerosol-Cloud-Interaction Experiment (SALTRACE) in the summer of 2014. The POLIPHON method comprises the traditional lidar technique to separate mineral dust and non-dust backscatter contributions and the new, extended approach to separate even the fine and coarse dust backscatter fractions. We show that the traditional and the advanced method are compatible and lead to a consistent set of dust and non-dust profiles at simplified, less complex aerosol layering and mixing conditions as is the case over the remote tropical Atlantic. To derive dust mass concentration profiles from the lidar observations, trustworthy extinction-to-volume conversion factors for fine, coarse, and total dust are needed and obtained from an updated, extended Aerosol Robotic Network sun photometer data analysis of the correlation between the fine, coarse and total dust volume concentration and the respective fine, coarse, and total dust extinction coefficient for all three laser wavelengths. Conversion factors (total volume to extinction) for pure marine aerosol conditions and continental anthropogenic aerosol situations are presented in addition. As a new feature of the POLIPHON data analysis, the Raman lidar method for particle extinction profiling is used to identify the aerosol type (marine or anthropogenic) of the non-dust aerosol fraction. The full POLIPHON methodology was successfully applied to a SALTRACE case and the results are discussed. We conclude that the 532 nm polarization lidar technique has many advantages in comparison to 355 and 1064 nm polarization lidar approaches and leads to the most robust and accurate POLIPHON products.