A new method for nocturnal aerosol measurements with a lunar photometer prototype

Barreto, África; Cuevas, E.; Damiri, Bahaiddin; Guirado-Fuentes, Carmen; Berkoff, T.; Berjón, A.; Hernandéz, Y.; Almansa, Fernando; Gil, Manuel

doi:10.5194/amt-6-585-2013

Cited by 70 publications

(109 citation statements)

References 21 publications

(39 reference statements)

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“…Berkoff et al (2011) and Barreto et al (2013) present surface-based methods to estimate nighttime aerosol optical properties through measuring the attenuated moonlight using a modified version of sun photometers. Based on Berkoff et al (2011), the NASA AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET, Holben et al, 1998) team is developing an operational nighttime aerosol retrieval capability (B. Holben, personal communication, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An improved method for retrieving nighttime aerosol optical thickness from the VIIRS Day/Night Band

McHardy

Zhang

Reid³

et al. 2015

Atmos. Meas. Tech.

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Abstract. Using Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Day/Night Band (DNB) data, a method, dubbed the "variance method", is developed for retrieving nighttime aerosol optical thickness (τ ) values through the examination of the dispersion of radiance values above an artificial light source. Based on the improvement of a previous algorithm, this updated method derives a semi-quantitative indicator of nighttime τ using artificial light sources. Nighttime τ retrievals from the newly developed method are inter-compared with an interpolated value from late afternoon and early morning ground observations from four AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET) sites as well as column-integrated τ from one High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) site at Huntsville, AL, during the NASA Studies of Emissions and Atmospheric Composition, Clouds and Climate Coupling by Regional Surveys (SEAC 4 RS) campaign, providing full diel coverage. Sensitivity studies are performed to examine the effects of lunar illumination on VI-IRS τ retrievals made via the variance method, revealing that lunar contamination may have a smaller impact than previously thought; however, the small sample size of this study limits the conclusiveness thus far. VIIRS τ retrievals yield a coefficient of determination (r 2 ) of 0.60 and a root-meansquared error (RMSE) of 0.18 when compared against straddling daytime-averaged AERONET τ values. Preliminary results suggest that artificial light sources can be used for estimating regional and global nighttime aerosol distributions in the future.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An improved method for retrieving nighttime aerosol optical thickness from the VIIRS Day/Night Band

McHardy

Zhang

Reid³

et al. 2015

Atmos. Meas. Tech.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Recently, Barreto et al (2016) presented the new photometer CE318-T which combines the features of the extensively used CE318 Cimel Sun photometer standard model in the AERONET network, with the lunar photometer prototype previously presented in Barreto et al (2013a, b). The higher precision of this new instrument compared to the previous versions of Sun and Moon photometers and its ability to monitor atmospheric aerosols in a diurnal cycle have made it a suitable instrument to replace the CE318-AERONET reference instrument.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Pioneering works in lunar photometry were developed by Esposito et al (1998), Esposito et al (2003), Berkoff et al (2011) and Barreto et al (2013a, b). Recently, Barreto et al (2016) presented the new photometer CE318-T which combines the features of the extensively used CE318 Cimel Sun photometer standard model in the AERONET network, with the lunar photometer prototype previously presented in Barreto et al (2013a, b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A good example of the spatial extent of Sun photometry techniques is the widespread ground-based AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET) (Holben et al, 1998) and its federated networks, including hundreds of stations globally distributed. However, aerosols at nighttime have been studied to a much lesser extent (Barreto et al, 2013a, b;Baibakov et al, 2015). There is a growing interest in studying the diurnal dynamics and evolution of atmospheric aerosols (Pérez-Ramírez et al, 2012a) as well as understanding the nucleating role of aerosols and their net radiative effects (Baibakov et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As many authors have stated (Berkoff et al, 2011;Barreto et al, 2013aBarreto et al, , b, 2016), a precise Moon irradiance model is mandatory in Moon photometry to take the continuous change of the Moon's brightness over the cycle into account. In this respect, the Robotic Lunar Observatory (ROLO) model, developed by Kieffer and Stone (2005), is the most careful radiometric study on the Moon's brightness to date (Cramer et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessment of nocturnal aerosol optical depth from lunar photometry at the Izaña high mountain observatory

et al. 2017

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Abstract. This work is a first approach to correct the systematic errors observed in the aerosol optical depth (AOD) retrieved at nighttime using lunar photometry and calibration techniques dependent on the lunar irradiance model. To this end, nocturnal AOD measurements were performed in 2014 using the CE318-T master Sun-sky-lunar photometer (lunar Langley calibrated) at the Izaña high mountain observatory. This information has been restricted to 59 nights characterized as clean and stable according to lidar vertical profiles. A phase angle dependence as well as an asymmetry within the Moon's cycle of the Robotic Lunar Observatory (ROLO) model could be deduced from the comparison in this 59-night period of the CE318-T calibration performed by means of the lunar Langley calibration and the calibration performed every single night by means of the common Langley technique. Nocturnal AOD has also been compared in the same period with a reference AOD based on daylight AOD extracted from the AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET) at the same station. Considering stable conditions, the difference AOD fit , between AOD from lunar observations and the linearly interpolated AOD (the reference) from daylight data, has been calculated. The results show that AOD fit values are strongly affected by the Moon phase and zenith angles. This dependency has been parameterized using an empirical model with two independent variables (Moon phase and zenith angles) in order to correct the AOD for these residual dependencies. The correction of this parameterized dependency has been checked at four stations with quite different environmental conditions (Izaña, Lille, Carpentras and Dakar) showing a significant reduction of the AOD dependence on phase and zenith angles and an improved agreement with daylight reference data. After the correction, absolute AOD differences for day-night-day clean and stable transitions remain below 0.01 for all wavelengths.

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Dust detection from ground‐based observations in the summer global dust maximum: Results from Fennec 2011 and 2012 and implications for modeling and field observations

2015

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In boreal summer, the central Sahara is the dustiest place on Earth. Fennec supersite 1 is located within the dust maximum. With two field seasons completed, June 2011 (intensive observation period (IOP) 1) and June 2012 (IOP2), we now have an initial measure of their representativeness. Although the number of dust event hours in IOP2 is up to 169 h (60%) more than in IOP1, the relative importance of the different dust mechanisms is the same. In both years, emission by cold pool outflows from deep convection causes most dust, followed by dust advection, monsoon surges, low-level jet emission and lastly dry convective plumes. Given the dominance of cold pools, it is very important that they be incorporated in dust modeling efforts over the region. Because cold pools frequently occur at night and are associated with cloud cover, instruments that can monitor in these conditions are particularly valuable in this region. Sun photometer aerosol optical depth retrievals, for example, are only available for 23% (41%) of the time cold pool emission occurs at the supersite in IOP1 (IOP2). Deployment of instrumentation in remote regions being difficult and expensive, choosing the optimal instrument payload pays dividends. With this motivation, we evaluate the different dust detection instrumentation deployed at the supersite and develop an approach which can identify and characterize individual dust emission mechanisms with a high degree of success purely from routine meteorological observations and remote sensing. This identification is, however, much more challenging in the case of dust advection.

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A new method for nocturnal aerosol measurements with a lunar photometer prototype

Cited by 70 publications

References 21 publications

An improved method for retrieving nighttime aerosol optical thickness from the VIIRS Day/Night Band

An improved method for retrieving nighttime aerosol optical thickness from the VIIRS Day/Night Band

Assessment of nocturnal aerosol optical depth from lunar photometry at the Izaña high mountain observatory

Dust detection from ground‐based observations in the summer global dust maximum: Results from Fennec 2011 and 2012 and implications for modeling and field observations

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