Validation of the dust layer structure over the Taklimakan Desert, China by the CALIOP space-borne lidar using ground-based lidar

Abstract

A ground-based lidar observation was carried out in the northwest of China to validate the space-borne lidar CALIOP on 23 March 2009. Combining backscatter profiles of the groundbased lidar and CALIOP, lidar ratio (extinction to backscattering ratio) was retrieved for 532 nm and 1064 nm wavelengths by using performance function that minimizing the difference between the ground-based lidar and CALIOP for backscattering coefficient. The correlation coefficients between them were 0.98 for 532 nm and 0.95 1064 nm, respectively. Using the retrieved lidar ratio, the color ratio and aerosol optical depth (AOD) were calculated. The observed aerosols and clouds were classified into three groups (boundary layer dust, free tropospheric aerosol and cirrus cloud) according to a relationship between color ratio and 532 nm-backscattering coefficient.