[1] Aerosol mixtures composed of coarse mode desert dust combined with fine mode combustion generated aerosols (from fossil fuel and biomass burning sources) were investigated at three locations that are in and/or downwind of major global aerosol emission source regions. Multiyear monitoring data at Aerosol Robotic Network sites in Beijing (central eastern China), Kanpur (Indo-Gangetic Plain, northern India), and Ilorin (Nigeria, Sudanian zone of West Africa) were utilized to study the climatological characteristics of aerosol optical properties. Multiyear climatological averages of spectral single scattering albedo (SSA) versus fine mode fraction (FMF) of aerosol optical depth at 675 nm at all three sites exhibited relatively linear trends up to ∼50% FMF. This suggests the possibility that external linear mixing of both fine and coarse mode components (weighted by FMF) dominates the SSA variation, where the SSA of each component remains relatively constant for this range of FMF only. However, it is likely that a combination of other factors is also involved in determining the dynamics of SSA as a function of FMF, such as fine mode particles adhering to coarse mode dust. The spectral variation of the climatological averaged aerosol absorption optical depth (AAOD) was nearly linear in logarithmic coordinates over the wavelength range of 440-870 nm for both the Kanpur and Ilorin sites. However, at two sites in China (Beijing and Xianghe), a distinct nonlinearity in spectral AAOD in logarithmic space was observed, suggesting the possibility of anomalously strong absorption in coarse mode aerosols increasing the 870 nm AAOD.Citation: Eck, T. F., et al. (2010), Climatological aspects of the optical properties of fine/coarse mode aerosol mixtures,

[1] The column-integrated optical properties of aerosol in the central eastern region of Asia and midtropical Pacific were investigated based on Sun/sky radiometer measurements made at Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) sites in these regions. Characterization of aerosol properties in the Asian region is important due to the rapid growth of both population and economic activity, with associated increases in fossil fuel combustion, and the possible regional and global climatic impacts of related aerosol emissions. Multiyear monitoring over the complete annual cycle at sites in China, Mongolia, South Korea, and Japan suggest spring and/or summer maximum in aerosol optical depth (t a ) and a winter minimum; however, more monitoring is needed to establish accurate climatologies. The annual cycle of Angstrom wavelength exponent (a) showed a springtime minimum associated with dust storm activity; however, the monthly mean a 440 -870 was >0.8 even for the peak dust season at eastern Asian sites suggesting that fine mode pollution aerosol emitted from population centers in eastern Asia dominates the monthly aerosol optical influence even in spring as pollution aerosol mixes with coarse mode dust originating in western source regions. Aerosol optical depth peaks in spring in the tropical mid-Pacific Ocean associated with seasonal shifts in atmospheric transport from Asia, and $35% of the springtime t a500 enhancement occurs at altitudes above 3.4 km. For predominately fine mode aerosol pollution cases, the average midvisible ($550 nm) single scattering albedo (w 0 ) at two continental urban sites in China averaged $0.89, while it was significantly higher, $0.93, at two relatively rural coastal sites in South Korea and Japan. Differences in fine mode absorption between these regions may result from a combination of factors including aerosol aging during transport, relative humidity differences, sea salt at coastal sites, and fuel type and combustion differences in the two regions. For cases where t a was predominately coarse mode dust aerosol in the spring of 2001, the absorption was greater in eastern Asia compared to the source regions, with w 0 at Dunhuang, China (near to the major Taklamakan dust source), $0.04 higher than at Beijing at all wavelengths, and Anmyon, South Korea, showing an intermediate level of absorption. Possible reasons for differences in dust absorption magnitude include interactions between dust and fine mode pollution aerosol and also variability of dust optical properties from different source regions in China and Mongolia.

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[1] The paper presents the current status of the Maritime Aerosol Network (MAN), which has been developed as a component of the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET). MAN deploys Microtops handheld Sun photometers and utilizes the calibration procedure and data processing (Version 2) traceable to AERONET. A web site dedicated to the MAN activity is described. A brief historical perspective is given to aerosol optical depth (AOD) measurements over the oceans. A short summary of the existing data, collected on board ships of opportunity during the NASA Sensor Intercomparison and Merger for Biological and Interdisciplinary Oceanic Studies (SIMBIOS) Project is presented. Globally averaged oceanic aerosol optical depth (derived from island-based AERONET measurements) at 500 nm is $0.11 and Angstrom parameter (computed within spectral range 440-870 nm) is calculated to be $0.6. First results from the cruises contributing to the Maritime Aerosol Network are shown. MAN ship-based aerosol optical depth compares well to simultaneous island and near-coastal AERONET site AOD.

Routine aerosol measurements have been carried out at INTA-El Arenosillo (Huelva, Spain) since February 2000 with a Cimel sun photometer integrated in the global aerosol monitoring network AERONET. A 5-year aerosol database allows characterization and classification of aerosol properties, which define the local aerosol climatology. In this work two basic parameters for aerosol characterization, aerosol optical depth (AOD) andÅngström exponent, α, are used for aerosol analysis. The mean AOD is 0.18 (±0.14) and the mean α is 1.05 (±0.43). The AOD presents two peaks during the year, at the end of the winter and during the summer, which are related to the seasonal patterns of the desert dust aerosols which arrive at the south-western Iberian Peninsula from North Africa. TheÅngström exponent presents two frequency modes, related to the two main aerosol types present at El Arenosillo: coastal marine aerosols and desert dust. A main aerosol scenario (66% of data) is defined as coastal marine aerosols, with the influence of local sources of continental and polluted aerosols. Continental aerosols are present in 11% of cases, while the desert dust has a very relevant occurrence in around 20% of the data.

[1] This paper introduced the calibration of the CE-318 sunphotometer of the China Aerosol Remote Sensing Network (CARSNET) and the validation of aerosol optical depth (AOD) by AOD module of ASTPWin software compared with the simultaneous measurements of the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET)/Photométrie pour le Traitement Opérationnel de Normalization Satellitaire (PHOTONS) and PREDE skyradiometer. The results show that the CARSNET AOD measurements have the same accuracy as the AERONET/PHOTONS. On the basis of a comparison between CARSNET and AERONET, the AODs from CARSNET at 1020, 870, 670, and 440 nm are about 0.03, 0.01, 0.01, and 0.01 larger than those from AERONET, respectively. The aerosol optical properties over Beijing acquired through the CE-318 sunphotometers of one AERONET/PHOTONS site and two CARSNET sites were analyzed on the basis of 4-year measurements. It was obvious that the AOD of the Shangdianzi site (rural site) was lower than that of the two urban sites (the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP) site (north urban site) and the Beijing Meteorological Observatory (BJO) site (south urban site)). The AOD of BJO was about 0.05, 0.04, 0.05, and 0.06 larger than that of IAP at 1020, 870, 670, and 440 nm, respectively, indicating that there is more local pollution in the south part of Beijing. The highest AOD was found in summer because of the stagnation planetary boundary layer and transport of pollutants from large pollution centers south of Beijing. The high temperature and relative humidity in summer also favor the production of aerosol precursor and the hygroscopic growth of the existing particles locally, which results in high AOD. In contrast, the lowest AOD at the two urban sites and one rural site in Beijing occurred in winter as the frequent cold air masses help pollutants diffuse easily.

Abstract. Instruments dedicated to aerosol monitoring are recently available and the POLDER (POLarization and Directionality of the Earth's Reflectances) instrument on board the PARASOL (Polarization & Anisotropy of Reflectances for Atmospheric Sciences coupled with Observations from a Lidar) mission is one of them. By measuring the spectral, angular and polarization properties of the radiance at the top of the atmosphere, in coordination with the other A-Train instruments, PARASOL provides the aerosol optical depths (AOD) as well as several optical and microphysical aerosol properties. The instrument, the inversion schemes and the list of aerosol parameters are described. Examples of retrieved aerosol parameters are provided as well as innovative approaches and further inversion techniques.

Abstract. This study evaluates the potential of using aerosol optical depth (τ a ) measurements to characterise the microphysical and optical properties of atmospheric aerosols. With this aim, we used the recently developed GRASP (Generalized Retrieval of Aerosol and Surface Properties) code for numerical testing of six different aerosol models with different aerosol loads. The direct numerical simulations (selfconsistency tests) indicate that the GRASP-AOD retrieval provides modal aerosol optical depths (fine and coarse) to within 0.01 of the input values. The retrieval of the finemode radius, width and volume concentration are stable and precise if the real part of the refractive index is known. The coarse-mode properties are less accurate, but they are significantly improved when additional a priori information is available. The tests with random simulated errors show that the uncertainty in the bimodal log-normal size distribution parameters increases as the aerosol load decreases. Similarly, the reduction in the spectral range diminishes the stability of the retrieved parameters. In addition to these numerical studies, we used optical depth observations at eight AERONET locations to validate our results with the standard AERONET inversion products. We found that bimodal log-normal size distributions serve as useful input assumptions, especially when the measurements have inadequate spectral coverage and/or limited accuracy, such as moon photometry. Comparisons of the mode median radii between GRASP-AOD and AERONET indicate average differences of 0.013 µm for the fine mode and typical values of 0.2-0.3 µm for the coarse mode. The dominant mode (i.e. fine or coarse) indicates a 10 % difference in mode radii between the GRASP-AOD and AERONET inversions, and the average of the difference in volume concentration is around 17 % for both modes. The retrieved values of the fine-mode τ a (500) using GRASP-AOD are generally between those values obtained by the standard AERONET inversion and the values obtained by the AERONET spectral deconvolution algorithm (SDA), with differences typically lower than 0.02 between GRASP-AOD and both algorithms. Finally, we present some examples of application of GRASP-AOD inversion using moon photometry and the airborne PLASMA sun photometer during the ChArMEx summer 2013 campaign in the western Mediterranean.