Polar Aerosol Vertical Structures and Characteristics Observed with a High Spectral Resolution Lidar at the ARM NSA Observatory

• Published in: Remote Sensing
• Main Authors: Damao Zhang, Jennifer Comstock, Hailing Xie, Zhien Wang
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2022
• Subjects: aerosol vertical distribution; HSRL; arctic haze; transported dust; Science; Q; Arctic; north slope; Alaska
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14184638; https://doaj.org/article/3d7b27bdc15843459614c4968bcfac06

Aerosol vertical distributions impact both the direct and indirect radiative effects of aerosols. High Spectra Resolution Lidar (HSRL) separates between atmospheric molecular signals and aerosol particle signals and therefore can provide reliable measurements of aerosol properties. Six years of HSRL measurements between 2014 and 2019 from the Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) North Slope of Alaska (NSA) atmospheric observatory at Utqiaġvik are used to statistically analyze Arctic aerosol vertical distributions. The annual cycle of aerosol vertical distributions in terms of aerosol particulate backscatter coefficient ( <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><msub><mi>β</mi><mi>p</mi></msub></mrow></semantics></math> ), lidar scattering ratio ( SR ), and aerosol particulate depolarization ratio ( <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><msub><mi>δ</mi><mi>p</mi></msub></mrow></semantics></math> ) profiles at the wavelength of 532 nm shows that Arctic Haze events are prevalent in later winter and spring at the NSA site. Mineral dust is frequently presented in strong aerosol layers in the spring, fall, and winter seasons. Over the summer season, the NSA site has large aerosol loadings that are dominated by small spherical aerosol particles.