Articles | Volume 13, issue 8
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-4261-2020
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-4261-2020
Research article
 | 
13 Aug 2020
Research article |  | 13 Aug 2020

Evaluation of a method for converting Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) extinction coefficients to backscatter coefficients for intercomparison with lidar observations

Travis N. Knepp, Larry Thomason, Marilee Roell, Robert Damadeo, Kevin Leavor, Thierry Leblanc, Fernando Chouza, Sergey Khaykin, Sophie Godin-Beekmann, and David Flittner

Related authors

OMPS-LP aerosol extinction coefficients and their applicability in GloSSAC
Mahesh Kovilakam, Larry W. Thomason, Magali Verkerk, Thomas Aubry, and Travis N. Knepp
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 535–553, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-535-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-535-2025, 2025
Short summary
Characterization of stratospheric particle size distribution uncertainties using SAGE II and SAGE III/ISS extinction spectra
Travis N. Knepp, Mahesh Kovilakam, Larry Thomason, and Stephen J. Miller
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2025–2054, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2025-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2025-2024, 2024
Short summary
Quantifying SAGE II (1984–2005) and SAGE III/ISS (2017–2022) observations of smoke in the stratosphere
Larry W. Thomason and Travis Knepp
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 10361–10381, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10361-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10361-2023, 2023
Short summary
SAGE III/ISS aerosol/cloud categorization and its impact on GloSSAC
Mahesh Kovilakam, Larry Thomason, and Travis Knepp
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 2709–2731, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2709-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2709-2023, 2023
Short summary
Identification of smoke and sulfuric acid aerosol in SAGE III/ISS extinction spectra
Travis N. Knepp, Larry Thomason, Mahesh Kovilakam, Jason Tackett, Jayanta Kar, Robert Damadeo, and David Flittner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 5235–5260, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-5235-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-5235-2022, 2022
Short summary

Related subject area

Subject: Aerosols | Technique: Remote Sensing | Topic: Data Processing and Information Retrieval
Producing aerosol size distributions consistent with optical particle counter measurements using space-based measurements of aerosol extinction coefficient
Nicholas Ernest, Larry W. Thomason, and Terry Deshler
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 2957–2968, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-2957-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-2957-2025, 2025
Short summary
Star photometry with all-sky cameras to retrieve aerosol optical depth at nighttime
Roberto Román, Daniel González-Fernández, Juan Carlos Antuña-Sánchez, Celia Herrero del Barrio, Sara Herrero-Anta, África Barreto, Victoria E. Cachorro, Lionel Doppler, Ramiro González, Christoph Ritter, David Mateos, Natalia Kouremeti, Gustavo Copes, Abel Calle, María José Granados-Muñoz, Carlos Toledano, and Ángel M. de Frutos
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 2847–2875, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-2847-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-2847-2025, 2025
Short summary
Improvements in aerosol layer height retrievals from TROPOMI oxygen A-band measurements by surface albedo fitting in optimal estimation
Martin de Graaf, Maarten Sneep, Mark ter Linden, L. Gijsbert Tilstra, David P. Donovan, Gerd-Jan van Zadelhoff, and J. Pepijn Veefkind
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 2553–2571, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-2553-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-2553-2025, 2025
Short summary
Using neural networks for near-real-time aerosol retrievals from OMPS Limb Profiler measurements
Michael D. Himes, Ghassan Taha, Daniel Kahn, Tong Zhu, and Natalya A. Kramarova
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 2523–2536, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-2523-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-2523-2025, 2025
Short summary
Retrieval algorithm for aerosol effective height from the Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS)
Sang Seo Park, Jhoon Kim, Yeseul Cho, Hanlim Lee, Junsung Park, Dong-Won Lee, Won-Jin Lee, and Deok-Rae Kim
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 2241–2259, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-2241-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-2241-2025, 2025
Short summary

Cited articles

Ackerman, M., Brogniez, C., Diallo, B. S., Fiocco, G., Gobbi, P., Herman, M., J ager, M., Lenoble, J., Lippens, C., Mégie, G., Pelon, J., Reiter, R., and Santer, R.: European validation of SAGE II aerosol profiles, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 94, 8399–8411, https://doi.org/10.1029/JD094iD06p08399, 1989. a
Antuña, J., Robock, A., Stenchikov, G., Thomason, L., and Barnes, J.: Lidar validation of SAGE II aerosol measurements after the 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 107, 4194, https://doi.org/10.1029/2001JD001441, 2002. a, b
Antuña, J. C., Robock, A., Stenchikov, G., Zhou, J., David, C., Barnes, J., and Thomason, L.: Spatial and temporal variability of the stratospheric aerosol cloud produced by the 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 108, 4624, https://doi.org/10.1029/2003JD003722, 2003. a
Bingen, C., Fussen, D., and Vanhellemont, F.: A global climatology of stratospheric aerosol size distribution parameters derived from SAGE II data over the period 1984–2000: 1. Methodology and climatological observations, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 109, D06201, https://doi.org/10.1029/2003JD003518, 2004. a
Bingen, C., Robert, C. E., Stebel, K., Brüehl, C., Schallock, J., Vanhellemont, F., Mateshvili, N., Höpfner, M., Trickl, T., Barnes, J. E., Jumelet, J., Vernier, J.-P., Popp, T., de Leeuw, G., and Pinnock, S.: Stratospheric aerosol data records for the climate change initiative: Development, validation and application to chemistry-climate modelling, Remote Sens. Environ., 203, 296–321, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2017.06.002, 2017. a
Download
Short summary
Two common measurements that represent atmospheric aerosol loading are the backscatter and extinction coefficients. Measuring backscatter and extinction coefficients requires different viewing geometries and fundamentally different instrument systems. Further, these coefficients are not directly comparable. We present an algorithm to convert SAGE-observed extinction coefficients to backscatter coefficients for intercomparison with lidar backscatter products, followed by evaluation of the method.
Share