Abstract. This study investigates aerosol optical properties during the extreme Saharan dust event detected from 3 to 7 September 2007 over Granada, southern Iberian Peninsula, with both active and passive remote sensing instrumentation from surface and satellite. The intensity of the event was visualized on the aerosol optical depth series obtained by the sun-photometer Cimel CE 318-4 operated at Granada in the framework of AERONET from August 2004 until December 2008 (level 2 data). A combination of large aerosol optical depth (0.86-1.50) at 500 nm, and reduced Angström exponent (0.1-0.25) in the range 440-870 nm, was detected on 6 September during daytime. This Saharan dust event also affected other Iberian Peninsula stations included in AERONET (El Arenosillo andÉvora stations), and it was monitored by MODIS instrument on board Aqua satellite. Vertically resolved measurements were performed by a ground-based Raman Lidar and by CALIPSO satellite. During the most intense stage, on 6 September, maximum aerosol backscatter values were a factor of 8 higher than other maxima during this Saharan dust event. Values up to 1.5×10 −2 km −1 sr −1 at 355 and 532 nm were detected in the layer with the greatest aerosol load between 3-4 km a.s.l., although aerosol particles were also detected up to 5.5 km a.s.l. In this stage of the event, dust particles at these altitudes showed a backscatter-related Angström exponent between −0.44 and 0.53 for the two spectral intervals considered. The results from different measurements (active/passive and Correspondence to: L. Alados Arboledas (alados@ugr.es) ground-based/satellite) reveal the importance of performing multi-instrumental measurements to properly characterize the contribution of different aerosol types from different sources during extreme events. The atmospheric stabilization effect of the aerosol particles has been characterized by computing the solar heating rates using SBDART code.

Six months of stratospheric aerosol observations with the European Aerosol Research Lidar Network (EAR-LINET)

[1] Multi-wavelength Raman light detection and ranging (lidar) observations were analyzed, which were performed in Évora, Portugal, during more than 2 years on a regular basis in the framework of the European Aerosol Research Lidar Network (EARLINET). An aerosol characterization in terms of the lidar ratios at 355 and 532 nm and the extinction and backscatter related Ångström exponents is presented. Aerosol layers in the free troposphere were classified according to their origin. Clear differences in the intensive optical properties were found for layers of mineral dust from the Sahara and from Asia, of anthropogenic aerosol from Europe and from North America, as well as of biomass burning smoke from the Iberian Peninsula and from North America, respectively. In general, the mean Ångström exponents of aerosol layers of the same type, but from closer source regions, were smaller than those from aerosol layers transported over a longer distance. This hints at the deposition of large particles along the transportation path, especially for anthropogenic aerosol and mineral dust. Besides, the seasonal behavior of aerosol in the free troposphere over Évora was studied. Seventy-three percent of the detected layers were observed during spring and summer. On average, the layers were highest in summer with an overall mean layer height of (3.8˙1.9) km above sea level (asl), and lowest in winter with (2.3˙0.9) km asl.

Abstract. This study focuses on the analysis of aerosol hygroscopic growth during the Sierra Nevada Lidar AerOsol Profiling Experiment (SLOPE I) campaign by using the synergy of active and passive remote sensors at the ACTRIS Granada station and in situ instrumentation at a mountain station (Sierra Nevada, SNS). To this end, a methodology based on simultaneous measurements of aerosol profiles from an EARLINET multi-wavelength Raman lidar (RL) and relative humidity (RH) profiles obtained from a multi-instrumental approach is used. This approach is based on the combination of calibrated water vapor mixing ratio (r) profiles from RL and continuous temperature profiles from a microwave radiometer (MWR) for obtaining RH profiles with a reasonable vertical and temporal resolution. This methodology is validated against the traditional one that uses RH from colocated radiosounding (RS) measurements, obtaining differences in the hygroscopic growth parameter (γ ) lower than 5 % between the methodology based on RS and the one presented here. Additionally, during the SLOPE I campaign the remote sensing methodology used for aerosol hygroscopic growth studies has been checked against Mie calculations of aerosol hygroscopic growth using in situ measurements of particle number size distribution and submicron chemical composition measured at SNS. The hygroscopic case observed during SLOPE I showed an increase in the particle backscatter coefficient at 355 and 532 nm with relative humidity (RH ranged between 78 and 98 %), but also a decrease in the backscatter-related Ångström exponent (AE) and particle linear depolarization ratio (PLDR), indicating that the particles became larger and more spherical due to hygroscopic processes. Vertical and horizontal wind analysis is performed by means of a co-located Doppler lidar system, in order to evaluate the horizontal and vertical dynamics of the air masses. Finally, the Hänel parameterizaPublished by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. 7002A. E. Bedoya-Velásquez et al.: Hygroscopic growth study in the framework of the SLOPE I campaign tion is applied to experimental data for both stations, and we found good agreement on γ measured with remote sensing (γ 532 = 0.48 ± 0.01 and γ 355 = 0.40 ± 0.01) with respect to the values calculated using Mie theory (γ 532 = 0.53 ± 0.02 and γ 355 = 0.45 ± 0.02), with relative differences between measurements and simulations lower than 9 % at 532 nm and 11 % at 355 nm.

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Abstract. This study evaluates the potential of the GRASP algorithm (Generalized Retrieval of Aerosol and Surface Properties) to retrieve continuous day-to-night aerosol properties, both column-integrated and vertically resolved. The study is focused on the evaluation of GRASP retrievals during an intense Saharan dust event that occurred during the Sierra Nevada Lidar aerOsol Profiling Experiment I (SLOPE I) field campaign. For daytime aerosol retrievals, we combined the measurements of the ground-based lidar from EARLINET (European Aerosol Research Lidar Network) station and sun–sky photometer from AERONET (Aerosol Robotic Network), both instruments co-located in Granada (Spain). However, for night-time retrievals three different combinations of active and passive remote-sensing measurements are proposed. The first scheme (N0) uses lidar night-time measurements in combination with the interpolation of sun–sky daytime measurements. The other two schemes combine lidar night-time measurements with night-time aerosol optical depth obtained by lunar photometry either using intensive properties of the aerosol retrieved during sun–sky daytime measurements (N1) or using the Moon aureole radiance obtained by sky camera images (N2). Evaluations of the columnar aerosol properties retrieved by GRASP are done versus standard AERONET retrievals. The coherence of day-to-night evolutions of the different aerosol properties retrieved by GRASP is also studied. The extinction coefficient vertical profiles retrieved by GRASP are compared with the profiles calculated by the Raman technique at night-time with differences below 30 % for all schemes at 355, 532 and 1064 nm. Finally, the volume concentration and scattering coefficient retrieved by GRASP at 2500 m a.s.l. are evaluated by in situ measurements at this height at Sierra Nevada Station. The differences between GRASP and in situ measurements are similar for the different schemes, with differences below 30 % for both volume concentration and scattering coefficient. In general, for the scattering coefficient, the GRASP N0 and N1 show better results than the GRASP N2 schemes, while for volume concentration, GRASP N2 shows the lowest differences against in situ measurements (around 10 %) for high aerosol optical depth values.

The Planetary Boundary Layer () is an important part of the atmosphere that is relevant in different atmospheric fields like pollutant dispersion, and weather forecasting. In this study, we analyze four and five-year datasets of measurements gathered with a ceilometer and a microwave radiometer to study the PBL structure respectively, in the mid-latitude urban area of Granada (Spain). The methodologies applied for the Height ( ) detection (gradient method for ceilometer and the combination of parcel method and temperature gradient method for microwave radiometer) provided a description in agreement with the literature about the structure under simple scenarios. Then, the behavior is characterized by a statistical study of the convective and stable situations, so that the was obtained from microwave radiometer measurements. The analysis of the statistical study shows some agreement with other studies such as daily pattern and yearly cycle, and the discrepancies were explained in terms of distinct latitudes, topography and climate conditions. Finally, it was performed a joint long-term analysis of the residual layer (RL) provided by ceilometer and the stable and convective layer heights determined by microwave radiometer, offering a complete picture of the evolution by synergetic combination of remote sensing techniques. The PBL behavior has been used for explaining the daily cycle of Black Carbon (BC) concentration, used as tracer of the pollutants emissions associated to traffic.The measurement campaign was carried out at the Andalusian Institute of Earth System Research (IISTA-CEAMA). This station is part of European Aerosol Research Lidar Network -EARLINET (Pappalardo et al., 2014) since 2004 and at present is an active station of ACTRIS (http://actris2.nilu.no/). This station is located at Granada, a medium sized (population of around 238 000 inhabitants over an area of 88 km²) nonindustrialized city in the Southeastern Spain at about 50 km away from the Mediterranean coast (Granada, 37.16°N, 3.61°W, 680 m a.s.l.) (INE, 2017). Granada is surrounded by mountains and dominated by Mediterranean-continental conditions, which are responsible for large seasonal temperature differences, providing cool winters and hot summers. The most humid period goes from late autumn to early spring.The rest of the year is characterized by rain scarcity. It is worthy to note that the Southeastern Spain is usually affected by mineral dust outbreaks from the Saharan Desert (North Africa) (e.g. Lyamani et al.,

Abstract. The automatic and non-supervised detection of the planetary boundary layer height (z PBL ) by means of lidar measurements was widely investigated during the last several years. Despite considerable advances, the experimental detection still presents difficulties such as advected aerosol layers coupled to the planetary boundary layer (PBL) which usually produces an overestimation of the z PBL . To improve the detection of the z PBL in these complex atmospheric situations, we present a new algorithm, called POLARIS (PBL height estimation based on lidar depolarisation). PO-LARIS applies the wavelet covariance transform (WCT) to the range-corrected signal (RCS) and to the perpendicularto-parallel signal ratio (δ) profiles. Different candidates for z PBL are chosen and the selection is done based on the WCT applied to the RCS and δ. We use two ChArMEx (Chemistry-Aerosol Mediterranean Experiment) campaigns with lidar and microwave radiometer (MWR) measurements, conducted in 2012 and 2013, for the POLARIS' adjustment and validation. POLARIS improves the z PBL detection compared to previous methods based on lidar measurements, especially when an aerosol layer is coupled to the PBL. We also compare the z PBL provided by the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) numerical weather prediction (NWP) model with respect to the z PBL determined with POLARIS and the MWR under Saharan dust events. WRF underestimates the z PBL during daytime but agrees with the MWR during night-time. The z PBL provided by WRF shows a better temporal evolution compared to the MWR during daytime than during night-time.