Vertical profiles of aerosol mass concentration derived by unmanned airborne in situ and remote sensing instruments during dust events
Dimitra Mamali (TU Delft - Atmospheric Remote Sensing)
Eleni Marinou (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, National Observatory of Athens)
Jean Sciare (Energy)
Michael Pikridas (Energy)
Panagiotis Kokkalis (Kuwait University, National Observatory of Athens)
Michael Kottas (National Observatory of Athens)
Ioannis Binietoglou (National Observatory of Athens, National Institute for Research and Development in Optoelectronics)
Alexandra Tsekeri (National Observatory of Athens)
Christos Keleshis (Energy)
Ronny Engelmann (Leibniz-Institut für Troposphärenforschung)
Holger Baars (Leibniz-Institut für Troposphärenforschung)
Albert Ansmann (Leibniz-Institut für Troposphärenforschung)
Vassilis Amiridis (National Observatory of Athens)
Herman Russchenberg (TU Delft - Geoscience and Remote Sensing)
George Biskos (TU Delft - Atmospheric Remote Sensing, The Cyprus Institute)
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Abstract
In situ measurements using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and remote sensing observations can independently provide dense vertically resolved measurements of atmospheric aerosols, information which is strongly required in climate models. In both cases, inverting the recorded signals to useful information requires assumptions and constraints, and this can make the comparison of the results difficult. Here we compare, for the first time, vertical profiles of the aerosol mass concentration derived from light detection and ranging (lidar) observations and in situ measurements using an optical particle counter on board a UAV during moderate and weak Saharan dust episodes. Agreement between the two measurement methods was within experimental uncertainty for the coarse mode (i.e. particles having radii > 0.5ĝ€μm), where the properties of dust particles can be assumed with good accuracy. This result proves that the two techniques can be used interchangeably for determining the vertical profiles of aerosol concentrations, bringing them a step closer towards their systematic exploitation in climate models.
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