The European Aerosol Research Lidar Network, EARLINET, was founded in 2000 as a research project for establishing a quantitative, comprehensive, and statistically significant database for the horizontal, vertical, and tempo- ral distribution of aerosols on a continental scale. Since then EARLINET has continued to provide the most extensive col- lection of ground-based data for the aerosol vertical distribu- tion over Europe. This paper gives an overview of the network's main de- velopments since 2000 and introduces the dedicated EAR- LINET special issue, which reports on the present innova- tive and comprehensive technical solutions and scientific re- sults related to the use of advanced lidar remote sensing tech- niques for the study of aerosol properties as developed within the network in the last 13 years. Since 2000, EARLINET has developed greatly in terms of number of stations and spatial distribution: from 17 sta- tions in 10 countries in 2000 to 27 stations in 16 countries in 2013. EARLINET has developed greatly also in terms of technological advances with the spread of advanced multi- wavelength Raman lidar stations in Europe. The develop- ments for the quality assurance strategy, the optimization of instruments and data processing, and the dissemination of data have contributed to a significant improvement of the net- work towards a more sustainable observing system, with an increase in the observing capability and a reduction of oper- ational costs. Consequently, EARLINET data have already been ex- tensively used for many climatological studies, long-range transport events, Saharan dust outbreaks, plumes from vol- canic eruptions, and for model evaluation and satellite data validation and integration. Future plans are aimed at continuous measurements and near-real-time data delivery in close cooperation with other ground-based networks, such as in the ACTRIS (Aerosols, Clouds, and Trace gases Research InfraStructure Network) www.actris.net, and with the modeling and satellite commu- nity, linking the research community with the operational world, with the aim of establishing of the atmospheric part of the European component of the integrated global observ- ing system.

https://www.dwd.de/DWD/forschung/projekte/ceilomap/files/amt-7-2389-2014.pdf

EARLINET: towards an advanced sustainable European aerosol lidar network

[1] Inclusion of mineral dust radiative effects could lead to a significant improvement in the radiation balance of numerical weather prediction models with subsequent improvements in the weather forecast itself. In this study the radiative effects of mineral dust have been fully incorporated into a regional atmospheric dust model. Dust affects the radiative fluxes at the surface and the top of the atmosphere and the temperature profiles at every model time step when the radiation module is processed. These changes influence the atmospheric dynamics, moisture physics, and near-surface conditions. Furthermore, dust emission is modified by changes in friction velocity and turbulent exchange coefficients; dust turbulent mixing, transport, and deposition are altered by changes in atmospheric stability, precipitation conditions, and free-atmosphere winds. A major dust outbreak with dust optical depths reaching 3.5 at 550 nm over the Mediterranean region on April 2002 is selected to assess the radiative dust effects on the atmosphere at a regional level. A strong dust negative feedback upon dust emission (35–45% reduction of the AOD) resulted from the smaller outgoing sensible turbulent heat flux decreasing the turbulent momentum transfer from the atmosphere and consequently dust emission. Significant improvements of the atmospheric temperature and mean sea-level pressure forecasts are obtained over dust-affected areas by considerably reducing both warm and cold temperature biases existing in the model without dust-radiation interactions. This study demonstrates that the use of the proposed model with integrated dust and atmospheric radiation represents a promising approach for further improvements in numerical weather prediction practice and radiative impact assessment over dust-affected areas.

Interactive dust‐radiation modeling: A step to improve weather forecasts

[1] More than 130 observation days of the horizontal and vertical extent of Saharan dust intrusions over Europe during the period May 2000 to December 2002 were studied by means of a coordinated lidar network in the frame of the European Aerosol Research Lidar Network (EARLINET). The number of dust events was greatest in late spring, summer, and early autumn periods, mainly in southern (S) and southeastern (SE) Europe. Multiple aerosol dust layers of variable thickness (300–7500 m) were observed. The center of mass of these layers was located in altitudes between 850 and 8000 m. However, the mean thickness of the dust layer typically stayed around 1500–3400 m and the corresponding mean center of mass ranged from 2500 to 6000 m. In exceptional cases, dust aerosols reached northwestern (NW), northern (N), or northeastern (NE) Europe, penetrating the geographical area located between 4°W–28°E (longitude) and 38°N–58°N (latitude). Mean aerosol optical depths (AOD), extinction-to-backscatter ratios (lidar ratios, LR), and linear depolarization ratios of desert aerosols ranged from 0.1 to 0.25 at the wavelength of 355 or 351 nm, 30 to 80 sr at 355 or 351 nm, and 10 to 25% at 532 nm, respectively, within the lofted dust plumes. In these plumes typical Saharan dust backscatter coefficients ranged from 0.5 to 2 Mm−1sr−1. Southern European stations presented higher variability of the LR values and the backscatter-related Angstrom exponent values (BRAE) (LR: 20–100 sr; BRAE: −0.5 to 3) than northern ones (LR: 30–80 sr; BRAE: −0.5 to 1).

https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00283360/document

Systematic lidar observations of Saharan dust over Europe in the frame of EARLINET (2000-2002)

[1] A long Saharan dust event affected the western Mediterranean in the period 12–28 June 2002. Dust was present mainly between 1- and 5-km height affecting most parts of the Iberian Peninsula and reaching western/central Europe. Intensive backscatter lidar observations over Barcelona (Spain) and Sun photometer data from two stations (El Arenosillo, Spain, and Avignon, France) are used to evaluate different configurations the Dust Regional Atmospheric Modeling (DREAM) system. DREAM currently operates dust forecasts over the Mediterranean region (http://www.bsc.es/projects/earthscience/DREAM/) considering four particle size bins while only the first two are relevant for long-range transport analysis since their life time is larger than 12 hours. A more detailed bin method is implemented, and two different dust distributions at sources are compared to the operational version. Evaluations are performed at two wavelengths (532 and 1064 nm). The dust horizontal and vertical structure simulated by DREAM shows very good qualitative agreement when compared to SeaWIFS satellite images and lidar height-time displays over Barcelona. When evaluating the modeled aerosol optical depth (AOD) against Sun photometer data, significant improvements are achieved with the use of the new detailed bin method. In general, the model underpredicts the AOD for increasing Angstrom exponents because of the influence of anthropogenic pollution in the boundary layer. In fact, the modeled AOD is highly anticorrelated with the observed Angstrom exponents. Avignon shows higher influence of small anthropogenic aerosols which explains the better results of the model at the wavelength of 1064 nm over this location. The uncertainties of backscatter lidar inversions (20–30%) are in the same order of magnitude as the differences between the model experiments. Better model results are obtained when comparing to lidar because most of the anthropogenic effect is removed.

/pdf/a-long-saharan-dust-event-over-the-western-mediterranean-1z6cbism5l.pdf

A long Saharan dust event over the western Mediterranean: Lidar, Sun photometer observations, and regional dust modeling

Ground-based remote sensing observatories have a crucial role to play in providing data to improve our understanding of atmospheric processes, to test the performance of atmospheric models, and to develop new methods for future space-borne observations. Institut Pierre Simon Laplace, a French research institute in environmental sciences, created the Site Instrumental de Recherche par Teledetection Atmospherique (SIRTA), an atmospheric observatory with these goals in mind. Today SIRTA, located 20km south of Paris, operates a suite a state-of-the-art active and passive remote sensing instruments dedicated to routine monitoring of cloud and aerosol properties, and key atmospheric parameters. Detailed description of the state of the atmospheric column is progressively archived and made accessible to the scientific community. This paper describes the SIRTA infrastructure and database, and provides an overview of the scientific research associated with the observatory. Researchers using SIRTA data conduct research on atmospheric processes involving complex interactions between clouds, aerosols and radiative and dynamic processes in the atmospheric column. Atmospheric modellers working with SIRTA observations develop new methods to test their models and innovative analyses to improve parametric representations of sub-grid processes that must be accounted for in the model. SIRTA provides the means to develop data interpretation tools for future active remote sensing missions in space (e.g. CloudSat and CALIPSO). SIRTA observation and research activities take place in networks of atmospheric observatories that allow scientists to access consistent data sets from diverse regions on the globe.

/pdf/sirta-a-ground-based-atmospheric-observatory-for-cloud-and-fx290zrhlf.pdf

SIRTA, a ground-based atmospheric observatory for cloud and aerosol research

In the framework of the European Aerosol Research Lidar Network to Establish
				an Aerosol Climatology (EARLINET), 19 aerosol lidar systems from 11 European
				countries were compared. Aerosol extinction or backscatter coefficient profiles were
				measured by at least two systems for each comparison. Aerosol extinction
				coefficients were derived from Raman lidar measurements in the UV (351 or 355 nm),
				and aerosol backscatter profiles were calculated from pure elastic backscatter
				measurements at 351 or 355, 532, or 1064 nm. The results were compared for height
				ranges with high and low aerosol content. Some systems were additionally compared
				with sunphotometers and starphotometers. Predefined maximum deviations were used for
				quality control of the results. Lidar systems with results outside those limits
				could not meet the quality assurance criterion. The algorithms for deriving aerosol
				backscatter profiles from elastic lidar measurements were tested separately, and the
				results are described in Part 2 of this series of papers [Appl. Opt.43, 977–989
				(2004)]. In the end, all systems were quality assured, although some had to be
				modified to improve their performance. Typical deviations between aerosol
				backscatter profiles were 10% in the planetary boundary layer and 0.1 ×
					10-6 m-1 sr-1 in the free
				troposphere.

V. Matthais

Papers

Aerosol lidar intercomparison in the framework of the EARLINET project. 1. Instruments.