Aerosol retrieval from two-wavelength backscatter and one-wavelength polarization lidar measurement taken during the MR01K02 cruise of the R/V Mirai and evaluation of a global aerosol transport model

Abstract

Using two-wavelength lidar with one-wavelength depolarization measurement installed on the research vessel Mirai, we retrieved vertical distributions of extinction coefficients of water-soluble, sea-salt, and dust particles at 532 nm. In the retrieval, the mode radii, standard deviations, and refractive indexes for each aerosol component are prescribed; the retrieval uncertainties due to spherical assumption in our dust model are estimated to be 30-50%. The ship-based measurements were conducted in the western Pacific Ocean near Japan from 14 to 27 May 2001. For the analysis, we applied two-wavelength lidar algorithms to the three-channel lidar data, i.e., for signal strengths at 532 and 1064 nm and the total depolarization ratio at 532 nm. Water-soluble and sea-salt particles occurred below 1 km, whereas air masses dominated by water-soluble and dust particles were sometimes found above 1 km. We also investigated the correlation of sea-salt extinction coefficient with surface wind velocity for various altitudes. A positive correlation was found at low altitude, but no correlation was indicated at high altitude. We also compared the extinction coefficients of water-soluble and sea-salt particles directly under cloud bottom with those in clear-sky. Below clouds, the extinction coefficients of water-soluble and sea-salt particles were 1.6 and 1.4 times larger, respectively, than those in clear sky; this could be explained by hygroscopic growth using Hänel theory. Finally, we evaluated the global aerosol transport model SPRINTARS using the retrieved aerosol properties and measured lidar signals. The model underestimated sea salt and overestimated dust, although the general patterns agreed with the observed patterns. Copyright 2008 by the American Geophysical Union.