Surface Aerosol Properties Studied Using a Near-Horizontal Lidar

Abstract

Studying near-surface aerosol properties is of importance for a better assessment of the aerosol effect on radiative forcing. We employ the data from a near-horizontal lidar to investigate the diurnal behavior of aerosol extinction and single scattering albedo (SSA) at 349 nm. The response of these parameters to ambient relative humidity (RH) is examined for the data from a one-month campaign conducted in Chiba, Japan, during November 2017, a transition period from fall to winter. The Klett method and adaptive slope method are used in deriving the aerosol extinction coefficient from the lidar data, while the SSA values are retrieved using an aethalometer. Also, a visibility-meter is used to examine the aerosol loading inside the atmospheric boundary layer. It is found that the aerosol growth during the deliquescence phase is more readily observed than the contraction in the efflorescence phase. The decrease of SSA before the deliquescence RH is found for approximately 46% of the deliquescence cases, presumably representing the particle shrinkage of soot particles.