Assessment of column aerosol optical properties using ground-based sun-photometer at urban Harbin, Northeast China

Aerosol plays a key role in determining radiative balance, regional climate and human health. Severe air pollution over Northeast China in recent years urges more comprehensive studies to figure out the adverse effects caused by excessive aerosols. In this study, column aerosol measurements over urban Harbin, a metropolis located at the highest latitude in Northeast China, during May 2016 to March 2017 were conducted using a CIMEL sun-photometer to analyze local aerosol properties and its variation from different aspects. According to the observations, aerosol optical depth at 440nm (AOD₄₄₀) ranges from 0.07 up to 1.54, and the large variability in both AOD₄₄₀ and Angstrom Exponent (AE_440-870) indicates the frequent change of aerosol types due of different emission sources. Coarse mode particles dominated Harbin during the studying period because of the long-range transported dust and probably the suspended snow crystals in winter. As the wavelength increases, relatively consistent decrease trends of single scattering albedo (SSA) and asymmetry factor (ASY) were observed in spring, autumn, and winter, indicating the presence of absorbing polluted aerosols. Mixed type (MIX) aerosol dominated the study region with a total percentage of 34%, and biomass burning and urban industry (BB/UI), clean continental (CC), and desert dust (DD) aerosols were found to be 31%, 27%, and 8%, respectively. The current work fills up the optical characteristics of aerosols in Harbin, and will contribute to the in-depth understanding of local aerosol variation and regional climate change over Northeast China.

Empirical correction of multifilter rotating shadowband radiometer (MFRSR) aerosol optical depths for the aerosol forward scattering and development of a long-term integrated MFRSR-Cimel dataset at Lampedusa

Aerosol optical properties have been measured on the island of Lampedusa (35.5°N, 12.6°E) with seven-band multifilter rotating shadowband radiometers (MFRSRs) and a CE 318 Cimel sunphotometer (part of the AERONET network) since 1999. Four different MFRSRs have operated since 1999. The Cimel sunphotometer has been operational for a short period in 2000 and in 2003-2006 and 2010-present. Simultaneous determinations of the aerosol optical depth (AOD) from the two instruments were compared over a period of almost 4 years at several wavelengths between 415 and 870 nm. This is the first long-term comparison at a site strongly influenced by desert dust and marine aerosols and characterized by frequent cases of elevated AOD. The datasets show a good agreement, with MFRSR underestimating the Cimel AOD in cases with low Ångström exponent; the underestimate decreases for increasing wavelength and increases with AOD. This underestimate is attributed to the effect of aerosol forward scattering on the relatively wide field of view of the MFRSR. An empirical correction of the MFRSR data was implemented. After correction, the mean bias (MB) between MFRSR and Cimel simultaneous AOD determinations is always smaller than 0.004, and the root mean square difference is ≤0.031 at all wavelengths. The MB between MFRSR and Cimel monthly averages (for months with at least 20 days with AOD determinations) is 0.0052. Thus, by combining the MFRSR and Cimel observations, an integrated long-term series is obtained, covering the period 1999-present, with almost continuous measurements since early 2002. The long-term data show a small (nonstatistically significant) decreasing trend over the period 2002-2013, in agreement with independent observations in the Mediterranean. The integrated Lampedusa dataset will be used for aerosol climatological studies and for verification of satellite observations and model analyses.