@misc{10481/62395,
year = {2020},
month = {3},
url = {http://hdl.handle.net/10481/62395},
abstract = {This work evaluates the Lidar-Radiometer Inversion Code (LIRIC) using sun-sky
photometers located at different altitudes in the same atmospheric column. Measurements were
acquired during an intensive observational period in summer 2012 at Aerosols, Clouds, and Trace gases
Research InfraStructure Network (ACTRIS)/Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) Granada (GRA;
37.16◦N, 3.61◦W, 680 m above sea level (a.s.l.)) and Cerro Poyos (CP; 37.11◦N, 3.49◦W, 1820 m a.s.l.)
sites. Both stations operated AERONET sun-photometry, with an additional lidar system operating
at Granada station. The extended database of simultaneous lidar and sun-photometry measurements
from this study allowed the statistical analysis of vertically resolved microphysical properties retrieved
with LIRIC, with 70% of the analyzed cases corresponding to mineral dust. Consequently, volume
concentration values were 46 µm3
/cm3 on average, with a value of ~30 µm3
/cm3
corresponding to
the coarse spheroid mode and concentrations below 10 µm3
/cm3
for the fine and coarse spherical
modes. According to the microphysical properties’ profiles, aerosol particles reached altitudes
up to 6000 m a.s.l., as observed in previous studies over the same region. Results obtained from
comparing the LIRIC retrievals from GRA and from CP revealed good agreement between both stations
with differences within the expected uncertainties associated with LIRIC (15%). However, larger
discrepancies were found for 10% of the cases, mostly due to the incomplete overlap of the lidar signal
and/or to the influence of different aerosol layers advected from the local origin located between
both stations, which is particularly important in cases of low aerosol loads. Nevertheless, the results
presented here demonstrate the robustness and self-consistency of LIRIC and consequently its
applicability to large databases such as those derived from ACTRIS-European Aerosol Research Lidar
Network (EARLINET) observations.},
organization = {This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through projects
CGL2016-81092-R, and CGL2017-83538-C3-1-R; the Excellence network CGL2017-90884-REDT; by the European
Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program through ACTRIS project (grant agreement n. 654169).},
publisher = {MDPI},
keywords = {LIRIC},
keywords = {Aerosol microphysical properties},
keywords = {LIDAR},
keywords = {Sun-sky photometer},
title = {Evaluation of LIRIC Algorithm Performance Using Independent Sun-Sky Photometer Data at Two Altitude Levels},
doi = {doi:10.3390/rs12050842},
author = {Granados Muñoz, María José and Benavent Oltra, José Antonio and Pérez Ramírez, Daniel and Lyamani, Hassan and Guerrero Rascado, Juan Luis and Bravo Aranda, Juan Antonio and Valenzuela Gutiérrez, Antonio and Olmo Reyes, Francisco José and Alados Arboledas, Lucas},
}