A backscattering lidar system, the first of this kind in Brazil, has been used to provide the vertical profile of the aerosol backscatter coefficient at 532 nm up to an altitude of 4-6 km above sea level (ASL), in a suburban area in the city of São Paulo. The lidar system has been operational since September 2001. The lidar data products were obtained in a 4-yr period (2001-04) and concerned the aerosol optical thickness (AOT), the aerosol backscattering and extinction coefficients at 532 nm, cloud properties (cloud base, thickness), planetary boundary layer (PBL) heights, aerosol layering, and the structure and dynamics of the lower troposphere. The lidar data are presented and analyzed in synergy with AOT measurements obtained by a Cimel sun-tracking photometer in the visible spectral region, not only to validate the lidar data but also to provide an input value of the so-called extinction-to-backscatter ratio [lidar ratio (LR)]. A correlation between the lidar data and the data obtained by a Cimel sun-tracking photometer [belonging to the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET)] is being made to set a temporal database of those data that were collected concomitantly and to cross correlate the information gathered by each instrument. The sun photometer data are used to provide AOT values at selected wavelengths and thus to derive the Ångström exponent (AE) values, single scattering albedo (SSA) and phase function values, and LR values. The analysis of these data showed an important trend in the seasonal signature of the LR indicating a change of the predominant type of aerosol between the dry and wet seasons. Thus, during the wet season the LR lidar values are greater (50-60 sr), which indicates that larger absorption by the aerosols takes place during this period. The corresponding AE values range between 1.3 and 2 for both periods.
Abstract. We describe a comparison study of aerosol optical thickness (AOT) from numerical simulations using a regional atmospheric model with an elastic backscattering lidar operating at 532 nm and a sunphotometer belonging to the AERONET network at São Paulo (23° S 46° W) city, Brazil, a very populated urban area. The atmospheric model includes an aerosol emission, transport and deposition module coupled to a radiative transfer parameterization, which takes the interaction between aerosol particles and short and long wave radiation into account. A period of one week was taken as case study during the dry season (late August) when intense biomass burning activities occur in remote areas in South America, and meteorological conditions disfavor the pollution dispersion in the city of São Paulo. The situation showed points out how smoke from biomass burning in remote areas is transported to the Southeast part of Brazil and affects the optical atmospheric conditions in São Paulo. The numerical simulations are corroborated by in-situ measurements of Aerosol Optical Thickness.
Abstract. We describe a comparison study of Aerosol Optical Thickness (AOT) from numerical simulations using a regional atmospheric model with an elastic backscattering lidar operating at 532 nm and a sunphotometer belonging to the AERONET network at São Paulo (23 • S 46 • W) city, Brazil, a very populated urban area. The atmospheric model includes an aerosol emission, transport and deposition module coupled to a radiative transfer parameterization, which takes the interaction between aerosol particles and short and long wave radiation into account. A period of one week was taken as case study during the dry season (late August) when intense biomass burning activities occur at remote areas in South America, and meteorological conditions disfavor the pollution dispersion in the city of São Paulo. The situation presented here showed how smoke from biomass burning in remote areas is transported to the south-east part of Brazil and affects the optical atmospheric conditions in São Paulo. The numerical simulations are corroborated by in situ measurements of AOT obtained by lidar and sun photometry.
A lidar system has been operational at São Paulo, Brazil (23 o S, 46 o W) since 2001 and colocated is a sunphotometer belonging to AERONET . During this last years aerosol properties has been extracted from both systems and seasonal trends have been observed specially when long range transport takes place bringing plumes with biomass burning aerosol which can distinctively be extracted from a heavy loaded atmosphere as São Paulo. These events trigger poor air quality conditions which can be easily correlated. The parameters for studying these patterns are Aerosol Optical Depth, Angström Exponent and Lidar Ratio. We show here some case studies belonging to years 2003, 2004 and 2005.
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