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Infrared limb emission measurements of aerosol in the troposphere and stratosphere

Atmospheric Measurement Techniques (2016) 9(9) 4399-4423
DOI: 10.5194/amt-9-4399-2016
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Abstract

Altitude-resolved aerosol detection in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) is a challenging task for remote sensing instruments. Infrared limb emission measurements provide vertically resolved global measurements at day- and nighttime in the UTLS. For high-spectral-resolution infrared limb instruments we present here a new method to detect aerosol and separate between ice and non-ice particles. The method is based on an improved aerosol-cloud index that identifies infrared limb emission spectra affected by non-ice aerosol or ice clouds. For the discrimination between non-ice aerosol and ice clouds we employed brightness temperature difference correlations. The discrimination thresholds for this method were derived from radiative transfer simulations (including scattering) and Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS)/Envisat measurements obtained in 2011. We demonstrate the value of this approach for observations of volcanic ash and sulfate aerosol originating from the Grímsvötn (Iceland, 64°N), Puyehue-Cordón Caulle (Chile, 40°S), and Nabro (Eritrea, 13°N) eruptions in May and June 2011 by comparing the MIPAS volcanic aerosol detections with Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) volcanic ash and SO2 measurements.

Figures

  • Figure 1. MIPAS radiances measured in profile 89 of orbit 48509 (around 48◦ S). This clear air case shows low radiances in the broad window region around 830 cm−1 and multiple narrow windows between 950 and 970 cm−1.
  • Figure 2. MIPAS profiles of orbit 49508 (a) measured on 18 August 2011 for (b) cloud index, (c) aerosol index, and (d) aerosol–cloud index, (e) aerosol–cloud index. Black crosses denote cloud/aerosol detections using a fixed CI threshold of 2 below 10 km and the variable threshold definition following (Sembhi et al., 2012) above 10 km. White curves denote the thermal tropopause according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) definition along the orbit track derived from ERA-Interim data (Dee et al., 2011). In polar winter the thermal tropopause is often not present (Zängl and Hoinka, 2001). Ice and optically thick clouds (grey body radiators) are shown in grey. The IR nadir measurements of MTSAT, IODC, and GOES-East (f) are shown temporally closest to the MIPAS measurements. The IR nadir images were obtained from NERC Satellite Receiving Station, Dundee University, Scotland, http://www.sat.dundee.ac.uk/.
  • Figure 3. Microphysical properties of sulfate aerosol, ice, and two types of volcanic ash. (a, b) Complex refractive indices and their optical properties. (c) Extinction coefficient. (d) Single scattering albedo. The vertical lines indicate atmospheric window regions.
  • Figure 4. Simulated brightness temperature difference correlations for (a) ice clouds, (b) sulfate aerosol, (c) volcanic ash (here basalt from Pollack et al. (1973) is shown), and (d) clear air. The ice cloud simulations are shown for mode radii ranging from 0.3 to 96 µm. In the small inset ice simulations are only shown for mode radii ranging from 12 to 96 µm. For the clear air simulations the atmosphere type is indicated by the following symbols: polar winter – crosses; polar summer – diamonds; midlatitudes – squares; equatorial – circles. The black lines are the ice separation thresholds, where the solid part of each line denotes the relevant part for the discrimination between aerosol and ice.
  • Figure 5. MIPAS brightness temperature difference correlations for selected scenarios: (a) ice clouds (0–60◦ S), (b) Nabro sulfate aerosol (0–90◦ N) and ice clouds, (c) Puyehue–Cordón Caulle volcanic ash (0–60◦ S) and ice clouds, and (d) PSCs (0–90◦ N) and tropospheric ice clouds. All figures comprise all orbits (about 14) measured on the day given on top of each plot. The black lines are the ice separation thresholds derived from the observations, where the solid part of each line denotes the relevant part for the discrimination between aerosol and ice.
  • Figure 6. AIRS volcanic emission contours and MIPAS aerosol detections (coloured circles). (a) AIRS SO2 index for Grímsvötn (27 May 2011, a.m.); (b) AIRS SO2 index for Nabro (17 June 2011, a.m.); (c) AIRS SO2 index for Puyehue–Cordón Caulle (9 June 2011, p.m.); (d) AIRS ash index for Puyehue–Cordón Caulle (9 June 2011, p.m.). Non-ice PSCs in the Antarctic at altitudes above 18 km are coloured in black. The red triangles indicate the location of the respective volcanoes. Please note the different altitude scales.

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APA

Griessbach, S., Hoffmann, L., Spang, R., Von Hobe, M., Müller, R., & Riese, M. (2016). Infrared limb emission measurements of aerosol in the troposphere and stratosphere. Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 9(9), 4399–4423. https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-4399-2016

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