Volcanic ash deposition as a selection mechanism towards woodiness

The high proportion of woody plant species on oceanic islands has hitherto been explained mainly by gradual adaptation to climatic conditions. Here, we present a novel hypothesis that such woodiness is adaptative to volcanic ash (tephra) deposition. Oceanic islands are subject to frequent eruptions with substantial and widespread ash deposition on evolutionary time scales. We postulate that this selects for woodiness through an increased ability to avoid burial of plant organs by ash, and to re-emerge above the new land surface. We sense-checked using observations of plant occurrences and distributions on La Palma (Canary Islands) in April 2022, 4 months after the end of the eruptions of the Tajogaite volcano (Cumbre Vieja ridge). In contrast to herbs and grasses, most woody plants persisted and were already in full flower in areas with 10+ cm ash deposition. Remarkably, these persisting woody plants were almost exclusively endemics.

Volcanic Eruption of Cumbre Vieja, La Palma, Spain: A First Insight to the Particulate Matter Injected in the Troposphere

The volcanic eruption of Cumbre Vieja (La Palma Island, Spain), started on 19 September 2021 and was declared terminated on 25 December 2021. A complete set of aerosol measurements were deployed around the volcano within the first month of the eruptive activity. This paper describes the results of the observations made at Tazacorte on the west bank of the island where a polarized micro-pulse lidar was deployed. The analyzed two-and-a-half months (16 October–31 December) reveal that the peak height of the lowermost and strongest volcanic plume did not exceed 3 km (the mean of the hourly values is 1.43 ± 0.45 km over the whole period) and was highly variable. The peak height of the lowermost volcanic plume steadily increased until week 11 after the eruption started (and 3 weeks before its end) and started decreasing afterward. The ash mass concentration was assessed with a method based on the polarization capability of the instrument. Two days with a high ash load were selected: The ash backscatter coefficient, aerosol optical depth, and the volume and particle depolarization ratios were, respectively, 3.6 (2.4) Mm−1sr−1, 0.52 (0.19), 0.13 (0.07) and 0.23 (0.13) on 18 October (15 November). Considering the limitation of current remote sensing techniques to detect large-to-giant particles, the ash mass concentration on the day with the highest ash load (18 October) was estimated to have peaked in the range of 800–3200 μg m−3 in the lowermost layer below 2.5 km.

Profiling of Dust and Urban Haze Mass Concentrations during the 2019 National Day Parade in Beijing by Polarization Raman Lidar

The polarization–Raman Lidar combined sun photometer is a powerful method for separating dust and urban haze backscatter, extinction, and mass concentrations. The observation was performed in Beijing during the 2019 National Day parade, the particle depolarization ratio at 532 nm and Lidar ratio at 355 nm are 0.13 ± 0.05 and 52 ± 9 sr, respectively. It is the typical value of a mixture of dust and urban haze. Here we quantify the contributions of cross-regional transported natural dust and urban haze mass concentrations to Beijing’s air quality. There is a significant correlation between urban haze mass concentrations and surface PM2.5 (R = 0.74, p < 0.01). The contributions of local emissions to air pollution during the 2019 National Day parade were insignificant, mainly affected by regional transport, including urban haze in North China plain and Guanzhong Plain (Hebei, Tianjin, Shandong, and Shanxi), and dust aerosol in Mongolia regions and Xinjiang. Moreover, the trans-regional transmission of natural dust dominated the air pollution during the 2019 National Day parade, with a relative contribution to particulate matter mass concentrations exceeding 74% below 4 km. Our results highlight that controlling anthropogenic emissions over regional scales and focusing on the effects of natural dust is crucial and effective to improve Beijing’s air quality.

Profiling Dust Mass Concentration in Northwest China Using a Joint Lidar and Sun-Photometer Setting

The satellite-based estimation of the dust mass concentration (DMC) is essential for accurately evaluating the global biogeochemical cycle of the dust aerosols. As for the uncertainties in estimating DMC caused by mixing dust and pollutants and assuming a fixed value for the mass extinction efficiency (MEE), a classic lidar-photometer method is employed to identify and separate the dust from pollutants, obtain the dust MEE, and evaluate the effect of the above uncertainties, during five dust field experiments in Northwest China. Our results show that this method is effective for continental aerosol mixtures consisting of dust and pollutants. It is also seen that the dust loading mainly occurred in the free troposphere (<6 km), with the average mass loading of 905 ± 635 µg m−2 trapped in the planetary boundary layer. The dust MEE ranges from 0.30 to 0.60 m2 g−1 and has a significantly negative relationship with the size of dust particles. With the assumption of the dust MEE of 0.37 (0.60) m2 g−1, the DMC is shown to be overestimated (underestimated) by 20–40% (15–30%). In other words, our results suggest that the change of MEE with the size of dust particles should be considered in the estimation of DMC.

Multi-Sensor Analysis of a Weak and Long-Lasting Volcanic Plume Emission

Volcanic emissions are a well-known hazard that can have serious impacts on local populations and aviation operations. Whereas several remote sensing observations detect high-intensity explosive eruptions, few studies focus on low intensity and long-lasting volcanic emissions. In this work, we have managed to fully characterize those events by analyzing the volcanic plume produced on the last day of the 2018 Christmas eruption at Mt. Etna, in Italy. We combined data from a visible calibrated camera, a multi-wavelength elastic/Raman Lidar system, from SEVIRI (EUMETSAT-MSG) and MODIS (NASA-Terra/Aqua) satellites and, for the first time, data from an automatic sun-photometer of the aerosol robotic network (AERONET). Results show that the volcanic plume height, ranging between 4.5 and 6 km at the source, decreased by about 0.5 km after 25 km. Moreover, the volcanic plume was detectable by the satellites up to a distance of about 400 km and contained very fine particles with a mean effective radius of about 7 µm. In some time intervals, volcanic ash mass concentration values were around the aviation safety thresholds of 2 × 10−3 g m−3. Of note, Lidar observations show two main stratifications of about 0.25 km, which were not observed at the volcanic source. The presence of the double stratification could have important implications on satellite retrievals, which usually consider only one plume layer. This work gives new details on the main features of volcanic plumes produced during low intensity and long-lasting volcanic plume emissions.

Atmospheric Dispersion Modelling at the London VAAC: A Review of Developments since the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull Volcano Ash Cloud

It has been 10 years since the ash cloud from the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull caused unprecedented disruption to air traffic across Europe. During this event, the London Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre (VAAC) provided advice and guidance on the expected location of volcanic ash in the atmosphere using observations and the atmospheric dispersion model NAME (Numerical Atmospheric-Dispersion Modelling Environment). Rapid changes in regulatory response and procedures during the eruption introduced the requirement to also provide forecasts of ash concentrations, representing a step-change in the level of interrogation of the dispersion model output. Although disruptive, the longevity of the event afforded the scientific community the opportunity to observe and extensively study the transport and dispersion of a volcanic ash cloud. We present the development of the NAME atmospheric dispersion model and modifications to its application in the London VAAC forecasting system since 2010, based on the lessons learned. Our ability to represent both the vertical and horizontal transport of ash in the atmosphere and its removal have been improved through the introduction of new schemes to represent the sedimentation and wet deposition of volcanic ash, and updated schemes to represent deep moist atmospheric convection and parametrizations for plume spread due to unresolved mesoscale motions. A good simulation of the transport and dispersion of a volcanic ash cloud requires an accurate representation of the source and we have introduced more sophisticated approaches to representing the eruption source parameters, and their uncertainties, used to initialize NAME. Finally, upper air wind field data used by the dispersion model is now more accurate than it was in 2010. These developments have resulted in a more robust modelling system at the London VAAC, ready to provide forecasts and guidance during the next volcanic ash event.

Advances in Lidar Observations for Airborne Hazards for Aviation in the Framework of the EUNADICS-AV Project

The vulnerability of the (European) aviation system to the airborne hazards was evident during the Eyjafjallajökull volcanic eruption in 2010. For support of Air Traffic Control (ATC) many observations of the event were available from satellites, ground based instruments and airborne platforms, at pan-European scale. However, efficient use of the data for ATC proved difficult mainly due to sub-optimal aggregation and integrated assessment of the available information in near-real-time.

The project EUNADICS-AV (European Natural Disaster Coordination and Information System for Aviation) aims to close this gap. The observational component of the project will make existing data products for airborne hazards more accessible, visible and used, and to foster tailored product development. Once assimilated into models and integrated in the EUNADICS-AV Data Portal these data can be the base to efficiently improve European airspace resilience to airborne hazards.

Since 2010 new data products have become available specifically for for airborne hazard alerting and monitoring together with specific tailored products designed for replying to user needs and recommendations.

This paper describes the EUNADICS-AV approach and will focus on the role of operational and research grade ground based lidars.

Synergetic Aerosol Layer Observation After the 2015 Calbuco Volcanic Eruption Event

On 22 April 2015, the Calbuco volcano in Chile (Lat: 41.33 ∘ S, Long: 72.62 ∘ W) erupted after 43 years of inactivity followed by a great amount of aerosol injection into the atmosphere. The pyroclastic material dispersed into the atmosphere posed a potential threat to aviation traffic and air quality over affected a large area. The plumes and debris spread from its location to Patagonian and Pampean regions, reaching the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and neighboring countries, such as Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, driven by the westerly winds at these latitudes. The presence of volcanic aerosol layers could be identified promptly at the proximities of Calbuco and afterwards by remote sensing using satellites and lidars in the path of the dispersed aerosols. The Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO), Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board of AQUA/TERRA satellites and Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) on board of Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite were the space platforms used to track the injected layers and a multi-channel lidar system from Latin America Lidar Network (LALINET) SPU Lidar station in South America allowed us to get the spatial and temporal distribution of Calbuco ashes after its occurrence. The SPU lidar stations co-located Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) sunphotometers to help in the optical characterization. Here, we present the volcanic layer transported over São Paulo area and the detection of aerosol plume between 18 and 20 km. The path traveled by the volcanic aerosol to reach the Metropolitan Area of São Paulo (MASP) was tracked by CALIPSO and the aerosol optical and geometrical properties were retrieved at some points to monitor the plume evolution. Total attenuated backscatter profile at 532 nm obtained by CALIPSO revealed the height range extension of the aerosol plume between 18 and 20 km and are in agreement with SPU lidar range corrected signal at 532 nm. The daily evolution of Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) at 532 and 355 nm, retrieved from AERONET sunphotometer, showed a substantial increasing on 27 April, the day of the volcanic plume detection at Metropolitan Area of São Paulo (MASP), achieving values of 0 . 33 ± 0 . 16 and 0 . 22 ± 0 . 09 at 355 and 532 nm, respectively. AERONET aerosol size distribution was dominated by fine mode aerosol over coarse mode, especially on 27 and 28 April. The space and time coincident aerosol extinction profiles from SPU lidar station and OMPS LP from the Calbuco eruption conducted on 27 April agreed on the double layer structure. The main objective of this study was the application of the transmittance method, using the Platt formalism, to calculate the optical and physical properties of volcanic plume, i.e., aerosol bottom and top altitude, the aerosol optical depth and lidar ratio. The aerosol plume was detected between 18 and 19.3 km, with AOD value of 0.159 at 532 nm and Ånsgtröm exponent of 0 . 61 ± 0 . 58 . The lidar ratio retrieved was 76 ± 27 sr and 63 ± 21 sr at 532 and 355 nm, respectively. Considering the values of these parameters, the Calbuco volcanic aerosol layers could be classified as sulfates with some ash type.

Plankton Aerosol, Cloud, Ocean Ecosystem Mission: atmosphere measurements for air quality applications

We present the instrumentation and products of the NASA Plankton Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission relevant to air quality management. Since PACE will launch in the 2022 to 2023 timeframe, this paper discusses several activities in anticipation of a robust air quality applications program using PACE products. Products from the PACE ocean color imager and two multiangle polarimeters will be used synergistically to retrieve properties relevant to air quality applications. These instruments provide high spectral and spatial resolution measurements used to derive key properties of aerosols and clouds including effective particle radii, particle shapes, aerosol and cloud optical depths, refractive indices and single scattering albedos all of which are critical for characterizing airmasses for managing air quality, hazardous episodes of wildfire and volcanic emissions, and long range transport of pollution. Because of the number of products with potential societal benefits, the PACE mission is highly pertinent to NASA's Applied Sciences Program's efforts to promote, discover, and demonstrate innovative, practical, and sustainable uses of the Earth observations. We discuss plans to support these efforts by establishing a prelaunch early adopter program and outline communication strategies to engage the air quality user community.

Dust mass concentrations from the UK volcanic ash lidar network compared with in-situ aircraft measurements

The Met Office has recently established a series of 10 lidar / sun-photometer installations across the UK, consolidating their ash / aerosol remote sensing capabilities [1]. In addition to this network, the Met Office have acquired the Civil Contingency Aircraft (MOCCA) which allows airborne in-situ measurements of ash / aerosol scattering and size-distributions. Two case studies are presented in which mass concentrations of Saharan dust are obtained remotely using lidar returns, and are then compared with those obtained in-situ. A thorough analysis of the mass concentration uncertainty will be provided at the conference.

The CALIPSO Version 4 Automated Aerosol Classification and Lidar Ratio Selection Algorithm

The Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) version 4.10 (V4) level 2 aerosol data products, released in November 2016, include substantial improvements to the aerosol subtyping and lidar ratio selection algorithms. These improvements are described along with resulting changes in aerosol optical depth (AOD). The most fundamental change in V4 level 2 aerosol products is a new algorithm to identify aerosol subtypes in the stratosphere. Four aerosol subtypes are introduced for the stratospheric aerosols: polar stratospheric aerosol (PSA), volcanic ash, sulfate/other, and smoke. The tropospheric aerosol subtyping algorithm was also improved by adding the following enhancements: (1) all aerosol subtypes are now allowed over polar regions, whereas the version 3 (V3) algorithm allowed only clean continental and polluted continental aerosols; (2) a new "dusty marine" aerosol subtype is introduced, representing mixtures of dust and marine aerosols near the ocean surface; and (3) the "polluted continental" and "smoke" subtypes have been renamed "polluted continental/smoke" and "elevated smoke", respectively. V4 also revises the lidar ratios for clean marine, dust, clean continental, and elevated smoke subtypes. As a consequence of the V4 updates, the mean 532 nm AOD retrieved by CALIOP has increased by 0.044 (0.036) or 52 % (40 %) for nighttime (daytime). Lidar ratio revisions are the most influential factor for AOD changes from V3 to V4, especially for cloud-free skies. Preliminary validation studies show that the AOD discrepancies between CALIOP and AERONET/MODIS (ocean) are reduced in V4 compared to V3.

The CALIPSO Version 4 Automated Aerosol Classification and Lidar Ratio Selection Algorithm

The Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) version 4.10 (V4) level 2 aerosol data products, released in November 2016, include substantial improvements to the aerosol subtyping and lidar ratio selection algorithms. These improvements are described along with resulting changes in aerosol optical depth (AOD). The most fundamental change in V4 level 2 aerosol products is a new algorithm to identify aerosol subtypes in the stratosphere. Four aerosol subtypes are introduced for the stratospheric aerosols: polar stratospheric aerosol (PSA), volcanic ash, sulfate/other, and smoke. The tropospheric aerosol subtyping algorithm was also improved by adding the following enhancements: (1) all aerosol subtypes are now allowed over polar regions, whereas the version 3 (V3) algorithm allowed only clean continental and polluted continental aerosols; (2) a new "dusty marine" aerosol subtype is introduced, representing mixtures of dust and marine aerosols near the ocean surface; and (3) the "polluted continental" and "smoke" subtypes have been renamed "polluted continental/smoke" and "elevated smoke", respectively. V4 also revises the lidar ratios for clean marine, dust, clean continental, and elevated smoke subtypes. As a consequence of the V4 updates, the mean 532 nm AOD retrieved by CALIOP has increased by 0.044 (0.036) or 52 % (40 %) for nighttime (daytime). Lidar ratio revisions are the most influential factor for AOD changes from V3 to V4, especially for cloud-free skies. Preliminary validation studies show that the AOD discrepancies between CALIOP and AERONET/MODIS (ocean) are reduced in V4 compared to V3.

1.5 μm polarization coherent lidar incorporating time-division multiplexing

Atmospheric depolarization ratio and wind velocity are measured simultaneously by a single versatile coherent Doppler lidar (CDL). Backscattering components at parallel and perpendicular polarization states are obtained by using a single balanced detector, adopting time-division multiplexing technique. Thus systematic error induced by the non-uniform response of different detectors in traditional lidars is avoided. The operation mode of the instrument can be switched from polarization CDL to traditional CDL by the user depending on atmospheric conditions and desired performance. As demonstrated, the perpendicular component of the backscattering, usually wasted, not only can be used to retrieve the ADR, but also can be used to improve the carrier to noise ratio in wind detection. In the traditional mode, given a tolerance of 0.5 m/s precision, a detection range of 6 km is achieved by using a 300 ns laser pulse with energy of 100 μJ, where the temporal and spatial resolution of 2 s and 60 m, respectively. Continuous wind detection of the atmospheric boundary layer over 26 hours is presented to demonstrate the robustness and stability of the system. Dynamic evolution and wind structure are recorded.

In situ and space-based observations of the Kelud volcanic plume: The persistence of ash in the lower stratosphere

Volcanic eruptions are important causes of natural variability in the climate system at all time scales. Assessments of the climate impact of volcanic eruptions by climate models almost universally assume that sulfate aerosol is the only radiatively active volcanic material. We report satellite observations from the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) on board the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) satellite after the eruption of Mount Kelud (Indonesia) on 13 February 2014 of volcanic materials in the lower stratosphere. Using these observations along with in situ measurements with the Compact Optical Backscatter AerosoL Detector (COBALD) backscatter sondes and optical particle counters (OPCs) made during a balloon field campaign in northern Australia, we find that fine ash particles with a radius below 0.3 µm likely represented between 20 and 28% of the total volcanic cloud aerosol optical depth 3 months after the eruption. A separation of 1.5-2 km between the ash and sulfate plumes is observed in the CALIOP extinction profiles as well as in the aerosol number concentration measurements of the OPC after 3 months. The settling velocity of fine ash with a radius of 0.3 µm in the tropical lower stratosphere is reduced by 50% due to the upward motion of the Brewer-Dobson circulation resulting a doubling of its lifetime. Three months after the eruption, we find a mean tropical clear-sky radiative forcing at the top of the atmosphere from the Kelud plume near -0.08 W/m² after including the presence of ash; a value ~20% higher than if sulfate alone is considered. Thus, surface cooling following volcanic eruptions could be affected by the persistence of ash and should be considered in climate simulations.

Vertically resolved separation of dust and other aerosol types by a new lidar depolarization method

This paper developed a new retrieval framework of external mixing of the dust and non-dust aerosol to predict the lidar ratio of the external mixing aerosols and to separate the contributions of non-spherical aerosols by using different depolarization ratios among dust, sea salt, smoke, and polluted aerosols. The detailed sensitivity tests and case study with the new method showed that reliable dust information could be retrieved even without prior information about the non-dust aerosol types. This new method is suitable for global dust retrievals with satellite observations, which is critical for better understanding global dust transportation and for model improvements.

Optical, size and mass properties of mixed type aerosols in Greece and Romania as observed by synergy of lidar and sunphotometers in combination with model simulations: a case study

A coordinated experimental campaign aiming to study the aerosol optical, size and mass properties was organized in September 2012, in selected sites in Greece and Romania. It was based on the synergy of lidar and sunphotometers. In this paper we focus on a specific campaign period (23-24 September), where mixed type aerosols (Saharan dust, biomass burning and continental) were confined from the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) up to 4-4.5 km height. Hourly mean linear depolarization and lidar ratio values were measured inside the dust layers, ranging from 13 to 29 and from 44 to 65sr, respectively, depending on their mixing status and the corresponding air mass pathways over Greece and Romania. During this event the columnar Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) values ranged from 0.13 to 0.26 at 532 nm. The Lidar/Radiometer Inversion Code (LIRIC) and the Polarization Lidar Photometer Networking (POLIPHON) codes were used and inter-compared with regards to the retrieved aerosol (fine and coarse spherical/spheroid) mass concentrations, showing that LIRIC generally overestimates the aerosol mass concentrations, in the case of spherical particles. For non-spherical particles the difference in the retrieved mass concentration profiles from these two codes remained smaller than ±20%. POLIPHON retrievals showed that the non-spherical particles reached concentrations of the order of 100-140 μg/m(3) over Romania compared to 50-75 μg/m(3) over Greece. Finally, the Dust Regional Atmospheric Model (DREAM) model was used to simulate the dust concentrations over the South-Eastern Europe.

Vertical profiles of pure dust and mixed smoke-dust plumes inferred from inversion of multiwavelength Raman/polarization lidar data and comparison to AERONET retrievals and in situ observations

We present for the first time vertical profiles of microphysical properties of pure mineral dust (largely unaffected by any other aerosol types) on the basis of the inversion of optical data collected with multiwavelength polarization Raman lidar. The data were taken during the Saharan Mineral Dust Experiment (SAMUM) in Morocco in 2006. We also investigated two cases of mixed dust-smoke plumes on the basis of data collected during the second SAMUM field campaign that took place in the Republic of Cape Verde in 2008. Following the experience of the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET), the dust is modeled as a mixture of spherical particles and randomly oriented spheroids. The retrieval is performed from the full set of lidar input data (three backscatter coefficients, two extinction coefficients, and one depolarization ratio) and from a reduced set of data in which we exclude the depolarization ratio. We find differences of the microphysical properties depending on what kind of optical data combination we use. For the case of pure mineral dust, the results from these two sets of optical data are consistent and confirm the validity of the spheroid particle model for data inversion. Our results indicate that in the case of pure mineral dust we do not need depolarization information in the inversion. For the mixture of dust and biomass burning, there seem to be more limitations in the retrieval accuracy of the various data products. The evaluation of the quality of our data products is done by comparing our lidar-derived data products (vertically resolved) to results from AERONET Sun photometer observations (column-averaged) carried out at the lidar field site. Our results for dust effective radius show agreement with the AERONET observations within the retrieval uncertainties. Regarding the complex refractive index a comparison is difficult, as AERONET provides this parameter as wavelength-dependent quantity. In contrast, our inversion algorithm provides this parameter as a wavelength-independent quantity. We also show some comparison to results from airborne in situobservation. A detailed comparison to in situ results will be left for a future contribution.

Dual-field-of-view Raman lidar measurements for the retrieval of cloud microphysical properties

Dual-field-of-view Raman lidar measurements, detecting Raman-scattered light with two fields of view simultaneously, are used for the first time to retrieve cloud microphysical properties. The measurements are performed with the Multiwavelength Atmospheric Raman Lidar for Temperature, Humidity, and Aerosol Profiling (MARTHA) at the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research in Leipzig, Germany. Light that is scattered in forward direction by cloud droplets and inelastically backscattered by N2 molecules is detected. A forward iterative algorithm uses the measured signals to derive profiles of the effective cloud droplet radius, extinction coefficient, and liquid-water content of the investigated clouds. The setup, algorithm, error analysis, and a measurement example are presented. The obtained liquid-water path is validated by observations with a microwave radiometer. With the capability to retrieve aerosol properties as well as cloud microphysical properties, the Raman lidar MARTHA is an ideal tool for studies of the aerosol indirect effect.

Practical depolarization-ratio-based inversion procedure: lidar measurements of the Eyjafjallajökull ash cloud over the Netherlands

In this paper we present a technique for estimating optical backscatter and extinction profiles using lidar, which exploits the difference between the observed linear volume depolarization ratio at 355 nm and the corresponding expected aerosol-only depolarization ratio. The technique is specific to situations where a single strongly depolarizing species is present and the associated linear particulate depolarization ratio may be presumed to be known to within a reasonable degree of accuracy (on the order of 10%). The basic principle of the technique is extended to deal with situations where a depolarizing fraction is mixed with nondepolarizing aerosol. In general, since the relative depolarization interchannel calibration is much more stable than the absolute system calibration, the depolarization-based technique is easier to implement than conventional techniques that require a profile-by-profile calibration or, equivalently, an identification of aerosol-free altitude intervals. This in particular allows for unattended data analysis and makes the technique well-suited to be part of a broader (volcanic ash) surveillance system. The technique is demonstrated by applying it to the analysis of aerosol layers resulting from the 2010 eruptions of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland. The measurements were made at the Cabauw remote-sensing site in the central Netherlands. By comparing the results of the depolarization-based inversion with a more conventional manual inversion procedure as well as Raman lidar results, it is demonstrated that the technique can be successfully applied to the particular case of 355 nm depolarization lidar volcanic ash soundings, including cases in which the ash is mixed with nondepolarizing aerosol.