Ground-based remote sensing of aerosol properties using high-resolution infrared emission and lidar observations in the High Arctic

Abstract

Abstract. Arctic amplification, the phenomenon that the Arctic is warming faster than the global mean, is still not fully understood. The Transregional Collaborative Research Centre “TRR 172: ArctiC Amplification: Climate Relevant Atmospheric and SurfaCe Processes, and Feedback Mechanisms (AC)3” program, funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation), contributes towards this research topic. For the purpose of measuring aerosol components, a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR), for measuring downwelling emission (in operation since 2019), and a Raman lidar are operated at the joint Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research and Paul Emile Victor Institute (AWIPEV) research base in Ny-Ålesund, Spitsbergen (79∘ N, 12∘ E). To carry out aerosol retrieval using measurements from the FTS, the LBLDIS retrieval algorithm, based on a combination of the Line-by-Line Radiative Transfer Model (LBLRTM) and the DIScrete Ordinate Radiative Transfer (DISORT) algorithm, is modified for different aerosol types (dust, sea salt, black carbon, and sulfate), aerosol optical depth (AOD), and effective radius (Reff). Using lidar measurement, an aerosol and cloud classification method is developed to provide basic information about the distribution of aerosols or clouds in the atmosphere and is used as an indicator to perform aerosol or cloud retrievals with the FTS. Therefore, a two-instrument joint-observation scheme is designed and subsequently used on the data measured from 2019 to the present. In order to introduce this measurement technique in detail, an aerosol-only case study is presented using data from 10 June 2020. In the aerosol-only case, the retrieval results show that sulfate is the dominant aerosol throughout the day (τ900cm-1 = 0.007 ± 0.0027), followed by dust (τ900cm-1 = 0.0039 ± 0.0029) and black carbon (τ900cm-1 = 0.0017 ± 0.0007). Sea salt (τ900cm-1 = 0.0012 ± 0.0002), which has the weakest emission ability in the infrared wave band, shows the lowest AOD value. Such proportions of sulfate, dust, and BC also show good agreement with Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications version 2 (MERRA-2) reanalysis data. Additionally, comparison with a Sun photometer (AErosol RObotic NETwork – AERONET) shows the daily variation in the AOD retrieved from FTS to be similar to that retrieved by Sun photometer. Using this method, long-term observations (from April to August 2020) are retrieved and presented. We find that sulfate is often present in the Arctic; it is higher in spring and lower in summer. Similarly, BC is also frequently observed in the Arctic, with less obvious seasonal variation than sulfate. A BC outburst event is observed each spring and summer. In spring, sulfate and BC are dominant, whereas sea salt and dust are relatively low. In addition, a sea salt enhancement event is observed in summertime, which might be due to the melting of sea ice and emissions from nearby open water. From the retrieved results over a long time period, no clear correlations are found; thus, the aforementioned species can be retrieved independently of one another.