Articles | Volume 18, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-37-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-37-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
07 Jan 2025
Research article |
| 07 Jan 2025
| 07 Jan 2025
Ground-based contrail observations: comparisons with reanalysis weather data and contrail model simulations
Jade Low
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
Roger Teoh
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
Joel Ponsonby
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
Edward Gryspeerdt
Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
Marc Shapiro
Breakthrough Energy, 4110 Carillon Point, Kirkland, WA 98033, USA
Marc E. J. Stettler
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
Related authors
No articles found.
Anna Tippett, Edward Gryspeerdt, Peter Manshausen, Philip Stier, and Tristan W. P. Smith
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13269–13283, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13269-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13269-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Ship emissions can form artificially brightened clouds, known as ship tracks, and provide us with an opportunity to investigate how aerosols interact with clouds. Previous studies that used ship tracks suggest that clouds can experience large increases in the amount of water (LWP) from aerosols. Here, we show that there is a bias in previous research and that, when we account for this bias, the LWP response to aerosols is much weaker than previously reported.
Rebecca J. Murray-Watson and Edward Gryspeerdt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 11115–11132, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11115-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11115-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The formation of mixed-phase clouds during marine cold-air outbreaks is not well understood. Our study, using satellite data and Lagrangian trajectories, reveals that the occurrence of these clouds depends on both time and temperature, influenced partly by the presence of biological ice-nucleating particles. This highlights the importance of comprehending local aerosol dynamics for precise modelling of cloud-phase transitions in the Arctic.
Audran Borella, Olivier Boucher, Keith P. Shine, Marc Stettler, Katsumasa Tanaka, Roger Teoh, and Nicolas Bellouin
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 9401–9417, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9401-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9401-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This work studies how to compare the climate impact of the CO2 emitted and contrails formed by a flight. This is applied to contrail avoidance strategies that would decrease climate impact of flights by changing the trajectory of aircraft to avoid persistent contrail formation, at the risk of increasing CO2 emissions. We find that different comparison methods lead to different quantification of the total climate impact of a flight but lead to similar decisions of whether to reroute an aircraft.
Oliver G. A. Driver, Marc E. J. Stettler, and Edward Gryspeerdt
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2198, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2198, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Contrails (clouds caused by planes) cause a large part of the climate warming due to aviation. Satellites are a good tool to validate modelled impact estimates. Many contrails are either too narrow or too disperse to detect. This work shows that only around half of contrails are observable, but the most climatically important are easier to detect. It supports the use of satellites for contrail observation, but highlights the need for observability considerations for specific applications.
Harri Kokkola, Juha Tonttila, Silvia Calderón, Sami Romakkaniemi, Antti Lipponen, Aapo Peräkorpi, Tero Mielonen, Edward Gryspeerdt, Timo H. Virtanen, Pekka Kolmonen, and Antti Arola
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1964, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1964, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Understanding how atmospheric aerosols affect clouds is a scientific challenge. One question is how aerosols affects the amount cloud water. We used a cloud-scale model to study these effects on marine clouds. The study showed that variations in cloud properties and instrument noise can cause bias in satellite derived cloud water content. However, our results suggest that for similar weather conditions with well-defined aerosol concentrations, satellite data can reliably track these effects.
Johannes Mülmenstädt, Edward Gryspeerdt, Sudhakar Dipu, Johannes Quaas, Andrew S. Ackerman, Ann M. Fridlind, Florian Tornow, Susanne E. Bauer, Andrew Gettelman, Yi Ming, Youtong Zheng, Po-Lun Ma, Hailong Wang, Kai Zhang, Matthew W. Christensen, Adam C. Varble, L. Ruby Leung, Xiaohong Liu, David Neubauer, Daniel G. Partridge, Philip Stier, and Toshihiko Takemura
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 7331–7345, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7331-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7331-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Human activities release copious amounts of small particles called aerosols into the atmosphere. These particles change how much sunlight clouds reflect to space, an important human perturbation of the climate, whose magnitude is highly uncertain. We found that the latest climate models show a negative correlation but a positive causal relationship between aerosols and cloud water. This means we need to be very careful when we interpret observational studies that can only see correlation.
Zebediah Engberg, Roger Teoh, Tristan Abbott, Thomas Dean, Marc E. J. Stettler, and Marc L. Shapiro
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1361, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1361, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
While some atmospheric regions produce strongly warming contrails, other regions may produce neutral or cooling contrails. We develop a contrail forecast model to predict contrail climate forcing for any arbitrary point in space and time and explore integration into flight planning and air traffic management. This approach enables contrail interventions to target high-probability high-climate-impact regions and reduce unintended consequences of contrail mitigation.
Roger Teoh, Zebediah Engberg, Ulrich Schumann, Christiane Voigt, Marc Shapiro, Susanne Rohs, and Marc E. J. Stettler
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 6071–6093, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6071-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6071-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The radiative forcing (RF) due to aviation contrails is comparable to that caused by CO2. We estimate that global contrail net RF in 2019 was 62.1 mW m−2. This is ~1/2 the previous best estimate for 2018. Contrail RF varies regionally due to differences in conditions required for persistent contrails. COVID-19 reduced contrail RF by 54% in 2020 relative to 2019. Globally, 2 % of all flights account for 80 % of the annual contrail energy forcing, suggesting a opportunity to mitigate contrail RF.
George Horner and Edward Gryspeerdt
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1090, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1090, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This work tracks the lifecycle of thin cirrus clouds that flow out of tropical convective storms. These cirrus clouds are found to have a warming effect on the atmosphere over their whole lifetime. Thin cirrus that originate from land origin convection warm more than those of ocean origin. Moreover, if the lifetime of these cirrus clouds increase, the warming they exert over their whole lifetime also increases. These results help us understand how these clouds might change in a future climate.
Joel Ponsonby, Leon King, Benjamin J. Murray, and Marc E. J. Stettler
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 2045–2058, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2045-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2045-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Aerosol emissions from aircraft engines contribute to the formation of contrails, which have a climate impact as important as that of aviation’s CO2 emissions. For the first time, we experimentally investigate the freezing behaviour of water droplets formed on jet lubrication oil aerosol. We show that they can activate to form water droplets and discuss their potential impact on contrail formation. Our study has implications for contrails produced by future aircraft engine and fuel technologies.
Roger Teoh, Zebediah Engberg, Marc Shapiro, Lynnette Dray, and Marc E. J. Stettler
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 725–744, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-725-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-725-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Emissions from aircraft contribute to climate change and degrade air quality. We describe an up-to-date 4D emissions inventory of global aviation from 2019 to 2021 based on actual flown trajectories. In 2019, 40.2 million flights collectively travelled 61 billion kilometres using 283 Tg of fuel. Long-haul flights were responsible for 43 % of CO2. The emissions inventory is made available for use in future studies to evaluate the negative externalities arising from global aviation.
George Horner and Edward Gryspeerdt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 14239–14253, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14239-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14239-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Tropical deep convective clouds, and the thin cirrus (ice) clouds that flow out from them, are important for modulating the energy budget of the tropical atmosphere. This work uses a new method to track the evolution of the properties of these clouds across their entire lifetimes. We find these clouds cool the atmosphere in the first 6 h before switching to a warming regime after the deep convective core has dissipated, which is sustained beyond 120 h from the initial convective event.
Rebecca J. Murray-Watson, Edward Gryspeerdt, and Tom Goren
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 9365–9383, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9365-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9365-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Clouds formed in Arctic marine cold air outbreaks undergo a distinct evolution, but the factors controlling their transition from high-coverage to broken cloud fields are poorly understood. We use satellite and reanalysis data to study how these clouds develop in time and the different influences on their evolution. The aerosol concentration is correlated with cloud break-up; more aerosol is linked to prolonged coverage and a stronger cooling effect, with implications for a more polluted Arctic.
Edward Gryspeerdt, Adam C. Povey, Roy G. Grainger, Otto Hasekamp, N. Christina Hsu, Jane P. Mulcahy, Andrew M. Sayer, and Armin Sorooshian
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 4115–4122, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-4115-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-4115-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The impact of aerosols on clouds is one of the largest uncertainties in the human forcing of the climate. Aerosol can increase the concentrations of droplets in clouds, but observational and model studies produce widely varying estimates of this effect. We show that these estimates can be reconciled if only polluted clouds are studied, but this is insufficient to constrain the climate impact of aerosol. The uncertainty in aerosol impact on clouds is currently driven by cases with little aerosol.
Edward Gryspeerdt, Franziska Glassmeier, Graham Feingold, Fabian Hoffmann, and Rebecca J. Murray-Watson
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 11727–11738, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-11727-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-11727-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The response of clouds to changes in aerosol remains a large uncertainty in our understanding of the climate. Studies typically look at aerosol and cloud processes in snapshot images, measuring all properties at the same time. Here we use multiple images to characterise how cloud temporal development responds to aerosol. We find a reduction in liquid water path with increasing aerosol, party due to feedbacks. This suggests the aerosol impact on cloud water may be weaker than in previous studies.
Roger Teoh, Ulrich Schumann, Edward Gryspeerdt, Marc Shapiro, Jarlath Molloy, George Koudis, Christiane Voigt, and Marc E. J. Stettler
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 10919–10935, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10919-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10919-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Aircraft condensation trails (contrails) contribute to over half of the climate forcing attributable to aviation. This study uses historical air traffic and weather data to simulate contrails in the North Atlantic over 5 years, from 2016 to 2021. We found large intra- and inter-year variability in contrail radiative forcing and observed a 66 % reduction due to COVID-19. Most warming contrails predominantly result from night-time flights in winter.
Edward Gryspeerdt, Daniel T. McCoy, Ewan Crosbie, Richard H. Moore, Graeme J. Nott, David Painemal, Jennifer Small-Griswold, Armin Sorooshian, and Luke Ziemba
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 3875–3892, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3875-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3875-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Droplet number concentration is a key property of clouds, influencing a variety of cloud processes. It is also used for estimating the cloud response to aerosols. The satellite retrieval depends on a number of assumptions – different sampling strategies are used to select cases where these assumptions are most likely to hold. Here we investigate the impact of these strategies on the agreement with in situ data, the droplet number climatology and estimates of the indirect radiative forcing.
Hailing Jia, Johannes Quaas, Edward Gryspeerdt, Christoph Böhm, and Odran Sourdeval
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 7353–7372, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7353-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7353-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Aerosol–cloud interaction is the most uncertain component of the anthropogenic forcing of the climate. By combining satellite and reanalysis data, we show that the strength of the Twomey effect (S) increases remarkably with vertical velocity. Both the confounding effect of aerosol–precipitation interaction and the lack of vertical co-location between aerosol and cloud are found to overestimate S, whereas the retrieval biases in aerosol and cloud appear to underestimate S.
Rebecca J. Murray-Watson and Edward Gryspeerdt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 5743–5756, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5743-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5743-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Clouds are important to the Arctic surface energy budget, but the impact of aerosols on their properties is largely uncertain. This work shows that the response of liquid water path to cloud droplet number increases is strongly dependent on lower tropospheric stability (LTS), with weaker cooling effects in polluted clouds and at high LTS. LTS is projected to decrease in a warmer Arctic, reducing the cooling effect of aerosols and producing a positive, aerosol-dependent cloud feedback.
Matthew W. Christensen, Andrew Gettelman, Jan Cermak, Guy Dagan, Michael Diamond, Alyson Douglas, Graham Feingold, Franziska Glassmeier, Tom Goren, Daniel P. Grosvenor, Edward Gryspeerdt, Ralph Kahn, Zhanqing Li, Po-Lun Ma, Florent Malavelle, Isabel L. McCoy, Daniel T. McCoy, Greg McFarquhar, Johannes Mülmenstädt, Sandip Pal, Anna Possner, Adam Povey, Johannes Quaas, Daniel Rosenfeld, Anja Schmidt, Roland Schrödner, Armin Sorooshian, Philip Stier, Velle Toll, Duncan Watson-Parris, Robert Wood, Mingxi Yang, and Tianle Yuan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 641–674, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-641-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-641-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Trace gases and aerosols (tiny airborne particles) are released from a variety of point sources around the globe. Examples include volcanoes, industrial chimneys, forest fires, and ship stacks. These sources provide opportunistic experiments with which to quantify the role of aerosols in modifying cloud properties. We review the current state of understanding on the influence of aerosol on climate built from the wide range of natural and anthropogenic laboratories investigated in recent decades.
Ulrich Schumann, Ian Poll, Roger Teoh, Rainer Koelle, Enrico Spinielli, Jarlath Molloy, George S. Koudis, Robert Baumann, Luca Bugliaro, Marc Stettler, and Christiane Voigt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 7429–7450, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-7429-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-7429-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The roughly 70 % reduction of air traffic during the COVID-19 pandemic from March–August 2020 compared to 2019 provides a test case for the relationship between air traffic density, contrails, and their radiative forcing of climate change. This paper investigates the induced traffic and contrail changes in a model study. Besides strong weather changes, the model results indicate aviation-induced cirrus and top-of-the-atmosphere irradiance changes, which can be tested with observations.
Edward Gryspeerdt, Tom Goren, and Tristan W. P. Smith
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 6093–6109, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6093-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6093-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Cloud responses to aerosol are time-sensitive, but this development is rarely observed. This study uses isolated aerosol perturbations from ships to measure this development and shows that macrophysical (width, cloud fraction, detectability) and microphysical (droplet number) properties of ship tracks vary strongly with time since emission, background cloud and meteorological state. This temporal development should be considered when constraining aerosol–cloud interactions with observations.
Johannes Quaas, Antti Arola, Brian Cairns, Matthew Christensen, Hartwig Deneke, Annica M. L. Ekman, Graham Feingold, Ann Fridlind, Edward Gryspeerdt, Otto Hasekamp, Zhanqing Li, Antti Lipponen, Po-Lun Ma, Johannes Mülmenstädt, Athanasios Nenes, Joyce E. Penner, Daniel Rosenfeld, Roland Schrödner, Kenneth Sinclair, Odran Sourdeval, Philip Stier, Matthias Tesche, Bastiaan van Diedenhoven, and Manfred Wendisch
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 15079–15099, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-15079-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-15079-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Anthropogenic pollution particles – aerosols – serve as cloud condensation nuclei and thus increase cloud droplet concentration and the clouds' reflection of sunlight (a cooling effect on climate). This Twomey effect is poorly constrained by models and requires satellite data for better quantification. The review summarizes the challenges in properly doing so and outlines avenues for progress towards a better use of aerosol retrievals and better retrievals of droplet concentrations.
Edward Gryspeerdt, Johannes Mülmenstädt, Andrew Gettelman, Florent F. Malavelle, Hugh Morrison, David Neubauer, Daniel G. Partridge, Philip Stier, Toshihiko Takemura, Hailong Wang, Minghuai Wang, and Kai Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 613–623, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-613-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-613-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Aerosol radiative forcing is a key uncertainty in our understanding of the human forcing of the climate, with much of this uncertainty coming from aerosol impacts on clouds. Observation-based estimates of the radiative forcing are typically smaller than those from global models, but it is not clear if they are more reliable. This work shows how the forcing components in global climate models can be identified, highlighting similarities between the two methods and areas for future investigation.
Johannes Mülmenstädt, Edward Gryspeerdt, Marc Salzmann, Po-Lun Ma, Sudhakar Dipu, and Johannes Quaas
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 15415–15429, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-15415-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-15415-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
The effect of aerosol–cloud interactions (ACIs) on Earth's energy budget continues to be highly uncertain. We decompose the effective radiative forcing by ACIs (ERFaci) into the instantaneous forcing due to anthropogenic increases in the number of cloud droplets and fast responses of cloud properties to the droplet number perturbation in the ECHAM–HAMMOZ aerosol–climate model. This decomposition maps onto the IPCC's Fifth Assessment Report analysis of ERFaci more directly than previous work.
Edward Gryspeerdt, Tom Goren, Odran Sourdeval, Johannes Quaas, Johannes Mülmenstädt, Sudhakar Dipu, Claudia Unglaub, Andrew Gettelman, and Matthew Christensen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 5331–5347, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-5331-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-5331-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
The liquid water path (LWP) is the strongest control on cloud albedo, such that a small change in LWP can have a large radiative impact. By changing the droplet number concentration (Nd) aerosols may be able to change the LWP, but the sign and magnitude of the effect is unclear. This work uses satellite data to investigate the relationship between Nd and LWP at a global scale and in response to large aerosol perturbations, suggesting that a strong decrease in LWP at high Nd may be overestimated.
Odran Sourdeval, Edward Gryspeerdt, Martina Krämer, Tom Goren, Julien Delanoë, Armin Afchine, Friederike Hemmer, and Johannes Quaas
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 14327–14350, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-14327-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-14327-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
The number concentration of ice crystals (Ni) is a key cloud property that remains very uncertain due to difficulties in determining it using satellites. This lack of global observational constraints limits our ability to constrain this property in models responsible for predicting future climate. This pair of papers fills this gap by showing and analyzing the first rigorously evaluated global climatology of Ni, leading to new information shedding light on the processes that control high clouds.
Edward Gryspeerdt, Odran Sourdeval, Johannes Quaas, Julien Delanoë, Martina Krämer, and Philipp Kühne
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 14351–14370, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-14351-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-14351-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
The concentration of ice crystals in a cloud affects both the properties and the life cycle of the cloud. This work uses a new satellite retrieval to investigate controls on the ice crystal concentration at a global scale. Both temperature and vertical wind speed in a cloud have a strong impact on the concentration of ice crystals. The ice crystal number is also related to the aerosol environment; defining this relation opens up new ways to investigate human impacts on clouds and the climate.
Edward Gryspeerdt, Johannes Quaas, Tom Goren, Daniel Klocke, and Matthias Brueck
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 6157–6169, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-6157-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-6157-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Cirrus clouds can form by a variety of mechanisms, such as orographic uplift, through convective systems or through large-scale rising motions. In this work, an automated classification of cirrus clouds based on satellite and reanalysis data is presented to separate cirrus by these different formation mechanisms. The classification provides information on the ice origin and cloud-scale updraughts that could not be determined using satellite or reanalysis data alone.
Bethan White, Edward Gryspeerdt, Philip Stier, Hugh Morrison, Gregory Thompson, and Zak Kipling
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 12145–12175, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-12145-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-12145-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
Aerosols influence cloud and precipitation by modifying cloud droplet number concentrations (CDNCs). We simulate three different types of convective cloud using two different cloud microphysics parameterisations. The simulated cloud and precipitation depends much more strongly on the choice of microphysics scheme than on CDNC. The uncertainty differs between types of convection. Our results highlight a large uncertainty in cloud and precipitation responses to aerosol in current models.
Nick Schutgens, Svetlana Tsyro, Edward Gryspeerdt, Daisuke Goto, Natalie Weigum, Michael Schulz, and Philip Stier
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 9761–9780, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-9761-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-9761-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
We estimate representativeness errors in observations due to mismatching spatio-temporal sampling, on timescales of hours to a year and length scales of 50 to 200 km, for a variety of observing systems (in situ or remote sensing ground sites, satellites with imagers or lidar, etc.) and develop strategies to reduce them. This study is relevant to the use of observations in constructing satellite L3 products, observational intercomparison and model evaluation.
Duncan Watson-Parris, Nick Schutgens, Nicholas Cook, Zak Kipling, Philip Kershaw, Edward Gryspeerdt, Bryan Lawrence, and Philip Stier
Geosci. Model Dev., 9, 3093–3110, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-9-3093-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-9-3093-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
In this paper we describe CIS, a new command line tool for the easy visualization, analysis and comparison of a wide variety of gridded and ungridded data sets used in Earth sciences. Users can now use a single tool to not only view plots of satellite, aircraft, station or model data, but also bring them onto the same spatio-temporal sampling. This allows robust, quantitative comparisons to be made easily. CIS is an open-source project and welcomes input from the community.
Nick A. J. Schutgens, Edward Gryspeerdt, Natalie Weigum, Svetlana Tsyro, Daisuke Goto, Michael Schulz, and Philip Stier
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 6335–6353, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-6335-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-6335-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
We show that evaluating global aerosol model data with observations of very different spatial scales (200 vs. 10 km) can lead to large discrepancies, solely due to different spatial sampling. Strategies for reducing these sampling errors are developed and tested using a set of high-resolution model simulations.
E. Gryspeerdt, P. Stier, B. A. White, and Z. Kipling
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 7557–7570, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-7557-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-7557-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
Wet scavenging generates differences between the aerosol properties in clear-sky scenes (observed by satellites) and cloudy scenes, leading to different
aerosol-precipitation relationships in satellite data and global models. Convective systems usually draw in air from clear-sky regions, but global models have difficulty separating this aerosol from the aerosol in cloudy scenes within a model gridbox. This may prevent models from reproducing the observed aerosol-precipitation relationships.
E. Gryspeerdt, P. Stier, and D. G. Partridge
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 9677–9694, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-9677-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-9677-2014, 2014
E. Gryspeerdt, P. Stier, and D. G. Partridge
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 1141–1158, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-1141-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-1141-2014, 2014
Related subject area
Subject: Aerosols | Technique: Remote Sensing | Topic: Data Processing and Information Retrieval
Retrieval of stratospheric aerosol extinction coefficients from sun-normalized Ozone Mapper and Profiler Suite Limb Profiler (OMPS-LP) measurements
Total column optical depths retrieved from CALIPSO lidar ocean surface backscatter
ALICENET – an Italian network of automated lidar ceilometers for four-dimensional aerosol monitoring: infrastructure, data processing, and applications
Post-process correction improves the accuracy of satellite PM2.5 retrievals
Increasing aerosol optical depth spatial and temporal availability by merging datasets from geostationary and sun-synchronous satellites
Multi-angle aerosol optical depth retrieval method based on improved surface reflectance
Comparison of diurnal aerosol products retrieved from combinations of micro-pulse lidar and sun photometer observations over the KAUST observation site
First atmospheric aerosol-monitoring results from the Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS) over Asia
Aerosol optical depth data fusion with Geostationary Korea Multi-Purpose Satellite (GEO-KOMPSAT-2) instruments GEMS, AMI, and GOCI-II: statistical and deep neural network methods
Stratospheric aerosol characteristics from SCIAMACHY limb observations: two-parameter retrieval
Retrieval and analysis of the composition of an aerosol mixture through Mie–Raman–fluorescence lidar observations
Transport of the Hunga volcanic aerosols inferred from Himawari-8/9 limb measurements
A near-global multiyear climate data record of the fine-mode and coarse-mode components of atmospheric pure dust
Innovative aerosol hygroscopic growth study from Mie–Raman–fluorescence lidar and microwave radiometer synergy
Evaluation of calibration performance of a low-cost particulate matter sensor using collocated and distant NO2
Geostationary aerosol retrievals of extreme biomass burning plumes during the 2019–2020 Australian bushfires
Multi-wavelength dataset of aerosol extinction profiles retrieved from GOMOS stellar occultation measurements
Deep-Pathfinder: a boundary layer height detection algorithm based on image segmentation
An iterative algorithm to simultaneously retrieve aerosol extinction and effective radius profiles using CALIOP
Cloud detection from multi-angular polarimetric satellite measurements using a neural network ensemble approach
Retrieving UV–Vis spectral single-scattering albedo of absorbing aerosols above clouds from synergy of ORACLES airborne and A-train sensors
Characterization of stratospheric particle size distribution uncertainties using SAGE II and SAGE III/ISS extinction spectra
Parameterizing spectral surface reflectance relationships for the Dark Target aerosol algorithm applied to a geostationary imager
Aerosol and cloud data processing and optical property retrieval algorithms for the spaceborne ACDL/DQ-1
Derivation of depolarization ratios of aerosol fluorescence and water vapor Raman backscatters from lidar measurements
Long-term aerosol particle depolarization ratio measurements with HALO Photonics Doppler lidar
HETEAC-Flex: an optimal estimation method for aerosol typing based on lidar-derived intensive optical properties
MAGARA: a Multi-Angle Geostationary Aerosol Retrieval Algorithm
Multi-section reference value for the analysis of horizontally scanning aerosol lidar observations
Retrieval of aerosol optical depth over the Arctic cryosphere during spring and summer using satellite observations
Quantifying particulate matter optical properties and flow rate in industrial stack plumes from the PRISMA hyperspectral imager
Aerosol retrieval over snow using the RemoTAP algorithm
Combined sun-photometer–lidar inversion: lessons learned during the EARLINET/ACTRIS COVID-19 campaign
Simultaneous retrieval of aerosol and ocean properties from PACE HARP2 with uncertainty assessment using cascading neural network radiative transfer models
Linear polarization signatures of atmospheric dust with the SolPol direct-sun polarimeter
Retrieval of aerosol properties from zenith sky radiance measurements
An ensemble method for improving the estimation of planetary boundary layer height from radiosonde data
Detection and analysis of Lhù'ààn Mân' (Kluane Lake) dust plumes using passive and active ground-based remote sensing supported by physical surface measurements
Cloud top heights and aerosol layer properties from EarthCARE lidar observations: the A-CTH and A-ALD products
Influence of electromagnetic interference on the evaluation of lidar-derived aerosol properties from Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard
Global 3-D distribution of aerosol composition by synergistic use of CALIOP and MODIS observations
Aerosol optical depth retrieval from the EarthCARE Multi-Spectral Imager: the M-AOT product
Evaluating the effects of columnar NO2 on the accuracy of aerosol optical properties retrievals
An explicit formulation for the retrieval of the overlap function in an elastic and Raman aerosol lidar
The classification of atmospheric hydrometeors and aerosols from the EarthCARE radar and lidar: the A-TC, C-TC and AC-TC products
SAGE III/ISS aerosol/cloud categorization and its impact on GloSSAC
Exploring geometrical stereoscopic aerosol top height retrieval from geostationary satellite imagery in East Asia
Sensitivity studies of nighttime top-of-atmosphere radiances from artificial light sources using a 3-D radiative transfer model for nighttime aerosol retrievals
Instantaneous aerosol and surface retrieval using satellites in geostationary orbit (iAERUS-GEO) – estimation of 15 min aerosol optical depth from MSG/SEVIRI and evaluation with reference data
HETEAC – the Hybrid End-To-End Aerosol Classification model for EarthCARE
Alexei Rozanov, Christine Pohl, Carlo Arosio, Adam Bourassa, Klaus Bramstedt, Elizaveta Malinina, Landon Rieger, and John P. Burrows
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6677–6695, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6677-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6677-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We developed a new algorithm to retrieve vertical distributions of aerosol extinction coefficients in the stratosphere. The algorithm is applied to measurements of scattered solar light from the spaceborne OMPS-LP (Ozone Mapper and Profiler Suite Limb Profiler) instrument. The retrieval results are compared to data from other spaceborne instruments and used to investigate the evolution of the aerosol plume following the eruption of the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha'apai volcano in January 2022.
Robert A. Ryan, Mark A. Vaughan, Sharon D. Rodier, Jason L. Tackett, John A. Reagan, Richard A. Ferrare, Johnathan W. Hair, John A. Smith, and Brian J. Getzewich
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6517–6545, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6517-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6517-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We introduce Ocean Derived Column Optical Depth (ODCOD), a new way to estimate column optical depths using Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) measurements from the ocean surface. ODCOD estimates include contributions from particulates in the full column, which CALIOP estimates do not, making it a complement measurement to CALIOP’s standard estimates. We find that ODCOD compares well with other established data sets in the daytime but tends to estimate higher at night.
Annachiara Bellini, Henri Diémoz, Luca Di Liberto, Gian Paolo Gobbi, Alessandro Bracci, Ferdinando Pasqualini, and Francesca Barnaba
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6119–6144, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6119-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6119-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We provide a comprehensive overview of the Italian Automated LIdar-CEilometer network, ALICENET, describing its infrastructure, aerosol retrievals, and main applications. The supplement covers data-processing details. We include examples of output products, comparisons with independent data, and examples of the network capability to provide near-real-time aerosol fields over Italy. ALICENET is expected to benefit the sectors of air quality, radiative budget/solar energy, and aviation safety.
Andrea Porcheddu, Ville Kolehmainen, Timo Lähivaara, and Antti Lipponen
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 5747–5764, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5747-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5747-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study focuses on improving the accuracy of satellite-based PM2.5 retrieval, crucial for monitoring air quality and its impact on health. It employs machine learning to correct the AOD-to-PM2.5 conversion ratio using various data sources. The approach produces high-resolution PM2.5 estimates with improved accuracy. The method is flexible and can incorporate additional training data from different sources, making it a valuable tool for air quality monitoring and epidemiological studies.
Pawan Gupta, Robert C. Levy, Shana Mattoo, Lorraine A. Remer, Zhaohui Zhang, Virginia Sawyer, Jennifer Wei, Sally Zhao, Min Oo, V. Praju Kiliyanpilakkil, and Xiaohua Pan
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 5455–5476, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5455-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5455-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, for the first time, we combined aerosol data from six satellites using a unified algorithm. The global datasets are generated at a high spatial resolution of about 25 km with an interval of 30 min. The new datasets are compared against ground truth and verified. They will be useful for various applications such as air quality monitoring, climate research, pollution diurnal variability, long-range smoke and dust transport, and evaluation of regional and global models.
Lijuan Chen, Ren Wang, Ying Fei, Peng Fang, Yong Zha, and Haishan Chen
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4411–4424, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4411-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4411-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study explores the problems of surface reflectance estimation from previous MISR satellite remote sensing images and develops an error correction model to obtain a higher-precision aerosol optical depth (AOD) product. High-accuracy AOD is important not only for the daily monitoring of air pollution but also for the study of energy exchange between land and atmosphere. This will help further improve the retrieval accuracy of multi-angle AOD on large spatial scales and for long time series.
Anton Lopatin, Oleg Dubovik, Georgiy Stenchikov, Ellsworth J. Welton, Illia Shevchenko, David Fuertes, Marcos Herreras-Giralda, Tatsiana Lapyonok, and Alexander Smirnov
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4445–4470, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4445-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4445-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We compare aerosol properties over the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology campus using Generalized Retrieval of Aerosol and Surface Properties (GRASP) and the Micro-Pulse Lidar Network (MPLNET). We focus on the impact of different aerosol retrieval assumptions on daytime and nighttime retrievals and analyze seasonal variability in aerosol properties, aiding in understanding aerosol behavior and improving retrieval. Our work has implications for climate and public health.
Yeseul Cho, Jhoon Kim, Sujung Go, Mijin Kim, Seoyoung Lee, Minseok Kim, Heesung Chong, Won-Jin Lee, Dong-Won Lee, Omar Torres, and Sang Seo Park
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4369–4390, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4369-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4369-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Aerosol optical properties have been provided by the Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS), the world’s first geostationary-Earth-orbit (GEO) satellite instrument designed for atmospheric environmental monitoring. This study describes improvements made to the GEMS aerosol retrieval algorithm (AERAOD) and presents its validation results. These enhancements aim to provide more accurate and reliable aerosol-monitoring results for Asia.
Minseok Kim, Jhoon Kim, Hyunkwang Lim, Seoyoung Lee, Yeseul Cho, Yun-Gon Lee, Sujung Go, and Kyunghwa Lee
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4317–4335, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4317-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4317-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Information about aerosol loading in the atmosphere can be collected from various satellite instruments. Aerosol products from various satellite instruments have their own error characteristics. This study statistically merged aerosol optical depth datasets from multiple instruments aboard geostationary satellites considering uncertainties. Also, a deep neural network technique is adopted for aerosol data merging.
Christine Pohl, Felix Wrana, Alexei Rozanov, Terry Deshler, Elizaveta Malinina, Christian von Savigny, Landon A. Rieger, Adam E. Bourassa, and John P. Burrows
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4153–4181, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4153-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4153-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Knowledge of stratospheric aerosol characteristics is important for understanding chemical and climate aerosol feedbacks. Two particle size distribution parameters, the aerosol extinction coefficient and the effective radius, are obtained from SCIAMACHY limb observations. The aerosol characteristics show good agreement with independent data sets from balloon-borne and satellite observations. This data set expands the limited knowledge of stratospheric aerosol characteristics.
Igor Veselovskii, Boris Barchunov, Qiaoyun Hu, Philippe Goloub, Thierry Podvin, Mikhail Korenskii, Gaël Dubois, William Boissiere, and Nikita Kasianik
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4137–4152, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4137-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4137-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The paper presents a new method that categorizes atmospheric aerosols by analyzing their optical properties with a Mie–Raman–fluorescence lidar. The research specifically looks into understanding the presence of smoke, urban, and dust aerosols in the mixtures identified by this lidar. The reliability of the results is evaluated using the Monte Carlo technique. The effectiveness of this approach is successfully demonstrated through testing in ATOLL, an observatory influenced by diverse aerosols.
Fred Prata
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3751–3764, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3751-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3751-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Geostationary satellite data have been used to measure the stratospheric aerosols from the explosive Hunga volcanic eruption by using the data in a novel way. The onboard imager views part of the Earth's limb and data from this region were analysed to generate vertical cross-sections of aerosols high in the atmosphere. The analyses show the hemispheric spread of the aerosols and their vertical structure in layers from 22–28 km in the stratosphere.
Emmanouil Proestakis, Antonis Gkikas, Thanasis Georgiou, Anna Kampouri, Eleni Drakaki, Claire L. Ryder, Franco Marenco, Eleni Marinou, and Vassilis Amiridis
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3625–3667, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3625-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3625-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
A new four-dimensional, multiyear, and near-global climate data record of the fine-mode (submicrometer diameter) and coarse-mode (supermicrometer diameter) components of atmospheric pure dust is presented. The dataset is considered unique with respect to a wide range of potential applications, including climatological, time series, and trend analysis over extensive geographical domains and temporal periods, validation of atmospheric dust models and datasets, and air quality.
Robin Miri, Olivier Pujol, Qiaoyun Hu, Philippe Goloub, Igor Veselovskii, Thierry Podvin, and Fabrice Ducos
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3367–3375, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3367-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3367-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This paper focuses on the use of fluorescence to study aerosols with lidar. An innovative method for aerosol hygroscopic growth study using fluorescence is presented. The paper presents case studies to showcase the effectiveness and potential of the proposed approach. These advancements will contribute to better understanding the interactions between aerosols and water vapor, with future work expected to be dedicated to aerosol–cloud interaction.
Kabseok Ko, Seokheon Cho, and Ramesh R. Rao
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3303–3322, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3303-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3303-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
In our study, we examined how NO2, temperature, and relative humidity influence the calibration of PurpleAir PA-II sensors. We found that incorporating NO2 data from collocated reliable instruments enhances PM2.5 calibration performance. Due to the impracticality of collocating reliable NO2 instruments with sensors, we suggest using distant NO2 data for calibration. We demonstrated that performance improves when distant NO2 correlates highly with collocated NO2 measurements.
Daniel J. V. Robbins, Caroline A. Poulsen, Steven T. Siems, Simon R. Proud, Andrew T. Prata, Roy G. Grainger, and Adam C. Povey
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3279–3302, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3279-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3279-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Extreme wildfire events are becoming more common with climate change. The smoke plumes associated with these wildfires are not captured by current operational satellite products due to their high optical thickness. We have developed a novel aerosol retrieval for the Advanced Himawari Imager to study these plumes. We find very high values of optical thickness not observed in other operational satellite products, suggesting these plumes have been missed in previous studies.
Viktoria F. Sofieva, Monika Szelag, Johanna Tamminen, Didier Fussen, Christine Bingen, Filip Vanhellemont, Nina Mateshvili, Alexei Rozanov, and Christine Pohl
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3085–3101, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3085-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3085-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We have developed the new multi-wavelength dataset of aerosol extinction profiles, which are retrieved from the averaged transmittance spectra by the Global Ozone Monitoring by Occultation of Stars instrument aboard Envisat. The retrieved aerosol extinction profiles are provided in the altitude range 10–40 km at 400, 440, 452, 470, 500, 525, 550, 672 and 750 nm for the period 2002–2012. FMI-GOMOSaero aerosol profiles have improved quality; they are in good agreement with other datasets.
Jasper S. Wijnands, Arnoud Apituley, Diego Alves Gouveia, and Jan Willem Noteboom
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3029–3045, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3029-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3029-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The mixing of air in the lower atmosphere influences the concentration of air pollutants and greenhouse gases. Our study developed a new method, Deep-Pathfinder, to estimate mixing layer height. Deep-Pathfinder analyses imagery with aerosol observations using artificial intelligence techniques for computer vision. Compared to existing methods, it improves temporal consistency and resolution and can be used in real time, which is valuable for aviation, forecasting, and air quality monitoring.
Liang Chang, Jing Li, Jingjing Ren, Changrui Xiong, and Lu Zhang
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2637–2648, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2637-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2637-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We described a modified lidar inversion algorithm to retrieve aerosol extinction and size distribution simultaneously from two-wavelength elastic lidar measurements. Its major advantage is that the lidar ratio of each layer is determined iteratively by a lidar ratio–Ångström exponent lookup table. The algorithm was applied to the Raman lidar and CALIOP measurements. The retrieved results by our method are in good agreement with those achieved by Raman method.
Zihao Yuan, Guangliang Fu, Bastiaan van Diedenhoven, Hai Xiang Lin, Jan Willem Erisman, and Otto P. Hasekamp
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2595–2610, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2595-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2595-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Currently, aerosol properties from spaceborne multi-angle polarimeter (MAP) instruments can only be retrieved in cloud-free areas or in areas where an aerosol layer is located above a cloud. Therefore, it is important to be able to identify cloud-free pixels for which an aerosol retrieval algorithm can provide meaningful output. The developed neural network cloud screening demonstrates that cloud masking for MAP aerosol retrieval can be based on the MAP measurements themselves.
Hiren T. Jethva, Omar Torres, Richard A. Ferrare, Sharon P. Burton, Anthony L. Cook, David B. Harper, Chris A. Hostetler, Jens Redemann, Vinay Kayetha, Samuel LeBlanc, Kristina Pistone, Logan Mitchell, and Connor J. Flynn
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2335–2366, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2335-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2335-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We introduce a novel synergy algorithm applied to ORALCES airborne measurements of above-cloud aerosol optical depth and UV–Vis satellite observations from OMI and MODIS to retrieve spectral aerosol single-scattering albedo of lofted layers of carbonaceous smoke aerosols over clouds. The development of the proposed aerosol–cloud algorithm implies a possible synergy of CALIOP and OMI–MODIS passive sensors to deduce a global product of AOD and SSA of absorbing aerosols above clouds.
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
Short summary
An algorithm is presented to derive a new SAGE III/ISS (Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment III on the International Space Station) Level-2 product: the size distribution of stratospheric particles. This is a significant improvement over previous techniques in that we now provide uncertainty estimates for all inferred parameters. We also evaluated the stability of this method in retrieving bimodal distribution parameters. We present a special application to the 2022 eruption of Hunga Tonga.
Mijin Kim, Robert C. Levy, Lorraine A. Remer, Shana Mattoo, and Pawan Gupta
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 1913–1939, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1913-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1913-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The study focused on evaluating and modifying the surface reflectance parameterization (SRP) of the Dark Target (DT) algorithm for geostationary observation. When using the DT SRP with the ABIs sensor on GOES-R, artificial diurnal signatures were present in AOD retrieval. To overcome this issue, a new SRP was developed, incorporating solar zenith angle and land cover type. The revised SRP resulted in improved AOD retrieval, demonstrating reduced bias around local noon.
Guangyao Dai, Songhua Wu, Wenrui Long, Jiqiao Liu, Yuan Xie, Kangwen Sun, Fanqian Meng, Xiaoquan Song, Zhongwei Huang, and Weibiao Chen
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 1879–1890, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1879-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1879-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
An overview is given of the main algorithms applied to derive the aerosol and cloud optical property product of the Aerosol and Carbon Detection Lidar (ACDL), which is capable of globally profiling aerosol and cloud optical properties with high accuracy. The paper demonstrates the observational capabilities of ACDL for aerosol and cloud vertical structure and global distribution through two optical property product measurement cases and global aerosol optical depth profile observations.
Igor Veselovskii, Qiaoyun Hu, Philippe Goloub, Thierry Podvin, William Boissiere, Mikhail Korenskiy, Nikita Kasianik, Sergey Khaykyn, and Robin Miri
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 1023–1036, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1023-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1023-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Measurements of transported smoke layers were performed with a lidar in Lille and a five-channel fluorescence lidar in Moscow. Results show the peak of fluorescence in the boundary layer is at 438 nm, while in the smoke layer it shifts to longer wavelengths. The fluorescence depolarization is 45 % to 55 %. The depolarization ratio of the water vapor channel is low (2 ± 0.5 %) in the absence of fluorescence and can be used to evaluate the contribution of fluorescence to water vapor signal.
Viet Le, Hannah Lobo, Ewan J. O'Connor, and Ville Vakkari
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 921–941, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-921-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-921-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study offers a long-term overview of aerosol particle depolarization ratio at the wavelength of 1565 nm obtained from vertical profiling measurements by Halo Doppler lidars during 4 years at four different locations across Finland. Our observations support the long-term usage of Halo Doppler lidar depolarization ratio such as the detection of aerosols that may pose a safety risk for aviation. Long-range Saharan dust transport and pollen transport are also showcased here.
Athena Augusta Floutsi, Holger Baars, and Ulla Wandinger
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 693–714, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-693-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-693-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We introduce an aerosol-typing scheme (HETEAC-Flex) based on lidar-derived intensive optical properties and applicable to ground-based and spaceborne lidars. HETEAC-Flex utilizes the optimal estimation method and enables the identification of up to four different aerosol components, as well as the determination of their contribution to the aerosol mixture in terms of relative volume. The aerosol components represent common aerosol types such as dust, sea salt, smoke and pollution.
James A. Limbacher, Ralph A. Kahn, Mariel D. Friberg, Jaehwa Lee, Tyler Summers, and Hai Zhang
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 471–498, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-471-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-471-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We present the new Multi-Angle Geostationary Aerosol Retrieval Algorithm (MAGARA) that fuses observations from GOES-16 and GOES-17 to retrieve information about aerosol loading (at 10–15 min cadence) and aerosol particle properties (daily), all at pixel-level resolution. We present MAGARA results for three case studies: the 2018 California Camp Fire, the 2019 Williams Flats Fire, and the 2019 Kincade Fire. We also compare MAGARA aerosol loading and particle properties with AERONET.
Juseon Shin, Gahyeong Kim, Dukhyeon Kim, Matthias Tesche, Gahyeon Park, and Youngmin Noh
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 397–406, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-397-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-397-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We introduce the multi-section method, a novel approach for stable extinction coefficient retrievals in horizontally scanning aerosol lidar measurements, in this study. Our method effectively removes signal–noise-induced irregular peaks and derives a reference extinction coefficient, αref, from multiple scans, resulting in a strong correlation (>0.74) with PM2.5 mass concentrations. Case studies demonstrate its utility in retrieving spatio-temporal aerosol distributions and PM2.5 concentrations.
Basudev Swain, Marco Vountas, Adrien Deroubaix, Luca Lelli, Yanick Ziegler, Soheila Jafariserajehlou, Sachin S. Gunthe, Andreas Herber, Christoph Ritter, Hartmut Bösch, and John P. Burrows
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 359–375, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-359-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-359-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Aerosols are suspensions of particles dispersed in the air. In this study, we use a novel retrieval of satellite data to investigate an optical property of aerosols, the aerosol optical depth, in the high Arctic to assess their direct and indirect roles in climate change. This study demonstrates that the presented approach shows good quality and very promising potential.
Gabriel Calassou, Pierre-Yves Foucher, and Jean-François Léon
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 57–71, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-57-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-57-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We propose analyzing the aerosol composition of plumes emitted by different industrial stacks using PRISMA satellite hyperspectral observations. Three industrial sites have been observed: a coal-fired power plant in South Africa, a steel plant in China, and gas flaring at an oil extraction site in Algeria. Aerosol optical thickness and particle radius are retrieved within the plumes. The mass flow rate of particulate matter is estimated in the plume using the integrated mass enhancement method.
Zihan Zhang, Guangliang Fu, and Otto Hasekamp
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 6051–6063, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-6051-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-6051-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
In order to conduct accurate aerosol retrieval over snow, the Remote Sensing of Trace Gases and Aerosol Products (RemoTAP) algorithm is extended with a bi-directional reflection distribution function for snow surfaces. The experiments with both synthetic and real data show that the extended RemoTAP maintains capability for snow-free pixels and has obvious advantages in accuracy and the fraction of successful retrievals for retrieval over snow, especially over surfaces with snow cover > 75 %.
Alexandra Tsekeri, Anna Gialitaki, Marco Di Paolantonio, Davide Dionisi, Gian Luigi Liberti, Alnilam Fernandes, Artur Szkop, Aleksander Pietruczuk, Daniel Pérez-Ramírez, Maria J. Granados Muñoz, Juan Luis Guerrero-Rascado, Lucas Alados-Arboledas, Diego Bermejo Pantaleón, Juan Antonio Bravo-Aranda, Anna Kampouri, Eleni Marinou, Vassilis Amiridis, Michael Sicard, Adolfo Comerón, Constantino Muñoz-Porcar, Alejandro Rodríguez-Gómez, Salvatore Romano, Maria Rita Perrone, Xiaoxia Shang, Mika Komppula, Rodanthi-Elisavet Mamouri, Argyro Nisantzi, Diofantos Hadjimitsis, Francisco Navas-Guzmán, Alexander Haefele, Dominika Szczepanik, Artur Tomczak, Iwona S. Stachlewska, Livio Belegante, Doina Nicolae, Kalliopi Artemis Voudouri, Dimitris Balis, Athena A. Floutsi, Holger Baars, Linda Miladi, Nicolas Pascal, Oleg Dubovik, and Anton Lopatin
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 6025–6050, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-6025-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-6025-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
EARLINET/ACTRIS organized an intensive observational campaign in May 2020, with the objective of monitoring the atmospheric state over Europe during the COVID-19 lockdown and relaxation period. The work presented herein focuses on deriving a common methodology for applying a synergistic retrieval that utilizes the network's ground-based passive and active remote sensing measurements and deriving the aerosols from anthropogenic activities over Europe.
Meng Gao, Bryan A. Franz, Peng-Wang Zhai, Kirk Knobelspiesse, Andrew M. Sayer, Xiaoguang Xu, J. Vanderlei Martins, Brian Cairns, Patricia Castellanos, Guangliang Fu, Neranga Hannadige, Otto Hasekamp, Yongxiang Hu, Amir Ibrahim, Frederick Patt, Anin Puthukkudy, and P. Jeremy Werdell
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5863–5881, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5863-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5863-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This study evaluated the retrievability and uncertainty of aerosol and ocean properties from PACE's HARP2 instrument using enhanced neural network models with the FastMAPOL algorithm. A cascading retrieval method is developed to improve retrieval performance. A global set of simulated HARP2 data is generated and used for uncertainty evaluations. The performance assessment demonstrates that the FastMAPOL algorithm is a viable approach for operational application to HARP2 data after PACE launch.
Vasiliki Daskalopoulou, Panagiotis I. Raptis, Alexandra Tsekeri, Vassilis Amiridis, Stelios Kazadzis, Zbigniew Ulanowski, Vassilis Charmandaris, Konstantinos Tassis, and William Martin
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4529–4550, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4529-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4529-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Atmospheric dust particles may present a preferential alignment due to their shape on long range transport. Since dust is abundant and plays a key role to global climate, the elusive observation of orientation will be a game changer to existing measurement techniques and the representation of particles in climate models. We utilize a specifically designed instrument, SolPol, and target the Sun from the ground for large polarization values under dusty conditions, a clear sign of orientation.
Sara Herrero-Anta, Roberto Román, David Mateos, Ramiro González, Juan Carlos Antuña-Sánchez, Marcos Herreras-Giralda, Antonio Fernando Almansa, Daniel González-Fernández, Celia Herrero del Barrio, Carlos Toledano, Victoria E. Cachorro, and Ángel M. de Frutos
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4423–4443, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4423-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4423-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This paper shows the potential of a simple radiometer like the ZEN-R52 as a possible alternative for aerosol property retrieval in remote areas. A calibration method based on radiative transfer simulations together with an inversion methodology using the GRASP code is proposed here. The results demonstrate that this methodology is useful for the retrieval of aerosol extensive properties like aerosol optical depth (AOD) and aerosol volume concentration for total, fine and coarse modes.
Xi Chen, Ting Yang, Zifa Wang, Futing Wang, and Haibo Wang
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4289–4302, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4289-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4289-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Uncertainties remain great in the planetary boundary layer height (PBLH) determination from radiosonde, especially during the transition period of different PBL regimes. We combine seven existing methods along with statistical modification on gradient-based methods. We find that the ensemble method can eliminate the overestimation of PBLH and reduce the inconsistency between individual methods. The ensemble method improves the effectiveness of PBLH determination to 62.6 %.
Seyed Ali Sayedain, Norman T. O'Neill, James King, Patrick L. Hayes, Daniel Bellamy, Richard Washington, Sebastian Engelstaedter, Andy Vicente-Luis, Jill Bachelder, and Malo Bernhard
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4115–4135, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4115-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4115-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We used (columnar) ground-based remote sensing (RS) tools and surface measurements to characterize local (drainage-basin) dust plumes at a site in the Yukon. Plume height, particle size, and column-to-surface ratios enabled insights into how satellite RS could be used to analyze Arctic-wide dust transport. This helps modelers refine dust impacts in their climate change simulations. It is an important step since local dust is a key source of dust deposition on snow in the sensitive Arctic region.
Ulla Wandinger, Moritz Haarig, Holger Baars, David Donovan, and Gerd-Jan van Zadelhoff
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4031–4052, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4031-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4031-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We introduce the algorithms that have been developed to derive cloud top height and aerosol layer products from observations with the Atmospheric Lidar (ATLID) onboard the Earth Cloud, Aerosol and Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE). The products provide information on the uppermost cloud and geometrical and optical properties of aerosol layers in an atmospheric column. They can be used individually but also serve as input for algorithms that combine observations with EarthCARE’s lidar and imager.
Tim Poguntke and Christoph Ritter
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4009–4014, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4009-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4009-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
In this work we analyze the impact of electromagnetic interference on an aerosol lidar. We found that aging transient recorders may produce a noise with fixed frequency that can be removed a posteriori.
Rei Kudo, Akiko Higurashi, Eiji Oikawa, Masahiro Fujikawa, Hiroshi Ishimoto, and Tomoaki Nishizawa
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 3835–3863, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3835-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3835-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
A synergistic retrieval method of aerosol components (water-soluble, light-absorbing, dust, and sea salt particles) from CALIOP and MODIS observations was developed. The total global 3-D distributions and those for each component showed good consistency with the CALIOP and MODIS official products and previous studies. The shortwave direct radiative effects of each component at the top and bottom of the atmosphere and for the heating rate were also consistent with previous studies.
Nicole Docter, Rene Preusker, Florian Filipitsch, Lena Kritten, Franziska Schmidt, and Jürgen Fischer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 3437–3457, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3437-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3437-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We describe the stand-alone retrieval algorithm used to derive aerosol properties relying on measurements of the Multi-Spectral Imager (MSI) aboard the upcoming Earth Clouds, Aerosols and Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE) satellite. This aerosol data product will be available as M-AOT after the launch of EarthCARE. Additionally, we applied the algorithm to simulated EarthCARE MSI and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data for prelaunch algorithm verification.
Theano Drosoglou, Ioannis-Panagiotis Raptis, Massimo Valeri, Stefano Casadio, Francesca Barnaba, Marcos Herreras-Giralda, Anton Lopatin, Oleg Dubovik, Gabriele Brizzi, Fabrizio Niro, Monica Campanelli, and Stelios Kazadzis
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 2989–3014, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2989-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2989-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Aerosol optical properties derived from sun photometers depend on the optical depth of trace gases absorbing solar radiation at specific spectral ranges. Various networks use satellite-based climatologies to account for this or neglect their effect. In this work, we evaluate the effect of NO2 absorption in aerosol retrievals from AERONET and SKYNET over two stations in Rome, Italy, with relatively high NO2 spatiotemporal variations, using NO2 data from the Pandora network and the TROPOMI sensor.
Adolfo Comerón, Constantino Muñoz-Porcar, Alejandro Rodríguez-Gómez, Michaël Sicard, Federico Dios, Cristina Gil-Díaz, Daniel Camilo Fortunato dos Santos Oliveira, and Francesc Rocadenbosch
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 3015–3025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3015-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3015-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We derive an explicit (i.e., non-iterative) formula for the retrieval of the overlap function in an aerosol lidar with both elastic and Raman N2 and/or O2 channels used for independent measurements of aerosol backscatter and extinction coefficients. The formula requires only the measured, range-corrected elastic and the corresponding Raman signals, plus an assumed lidar ratio. We assess the influence of the lidar ratio error in the overlap function retrieval and present retrieval examples.
Abdanour Irbah, Julien Delanoë, Gerd-Jan van Zadelhoff, David P. Donovan, Pavlos Kollias, Bernat Puigdomènech Treserras, Shannon Mason, Robin J. Hogan, and Aleksandra Tatarevic
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 2795–2820, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2795-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2795-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR) and ATmospheric LIDar (ATLID) aboard the EarthCARE satellite are used to probe the Earth's atmosphere by measuring cloud and aerosol profiles. ATLID is sensitive to aerosols and small cloud particles and CPR to large ice particles, snowflakes and raindrops. It is the synergy of the measurements of these two instruments that allows a better classification of the atmospheric targets and the description of the associated products, which are the subject of this paper.
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
Short summary
The paper describes SAGE III/ISS aerosol/cloud categorization and its implications on Global Space-based Stratospheric Aerosol Climatology (GloSSAC). The presence of data from the SAGE type of multi-wavelength measurements is important in GloSSAC. The new aerosol/cloud categorization method described in this paper will help retain more measurements, particularly in the lower stratosphere during and following a volcanic event and other processes.
Minseok Kim, Jhoon Kim, Hyunkwang Lim, Seoyoung Lee, Yeseul Cho, Huidong Yeo, and Sang-Woo Kim
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 2673–2690, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2673-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2673-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Aerosol height information is important when seeking an understanding of the vertical structure of the aerosol layer and long-range transport. In this study, a geometrical aerosol top height (ATH) retrieval using a parallax of two geostationary satellites is investigated. With sufficient longitudinal separation between the two satellites, a decent ATH product could be retrieved.
Jianglong Zhang, Jeffrey S. Reid, Steven D. Miller, Miguel Román, Zhuosen Wang, Robert J. D. Spurr, and Shawn Jaker
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 2531–2546, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2531-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2531-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We adapted the spherical harmonics discrete ordinate method 3-dimentional radiative transfer model (3-D RTM) and developed a nighttime 3-D RTM capability for simulating top-of-atmosphere radiances from artificial light sources for aerosol retrievals. Our study suggests that both aerosol optical depth and aerosol plume height can be effectively retrieved using nighttime observations over artificial light sources, through the newly developed radiative transfer modeling capability.
Xavier Ceamanos, Bruno Six, Suman Moparthy, Dominique Carrer, Adèle Georgeot, Josef Gasteiger, Jérôme Riedi, Jean-Luc Attié, Alexei Lyapustin, and Iosif Katsev
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 2575–2599, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2575-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2575-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
A new algorithm to retrieve the diurnal evolution of aerosol optical depth over land and ocean from geostationary meteorological satellites is proposed and successfully evaluated with reference ground-based and satellite data. The high-temporal-resolution aerosol observations that are obtained from the EUMETSAT Meteosat Second Generation mission are unprecedented and open the door to studies that cannot be conducted with the once-a-day observations available from low-Earth-orbit satellites.
Ulla Wandinger, Athena Augusta Floutsi, Holger Baars, Moritz Haarig, Albert Ansmann, Anja Hünerbein, Nicole Docter, David Donovan, Gerd-Jan van Zadelhoff, Shannon Mason, and Jason Cole
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 2485–2510, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2485-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2485-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We introduce an aerosol classification model that has been developed for the Earth Clouds, Aerosols and Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE). The model provides a consistent description of microphysical, optical, and radiative properties of common aerosol types such as dust, sea salt, pollution, and smoke. It is used for aerosol classification and assessment of radiation effects based on the synergy of active and passive observations with lidar, imager, and radiometer of the multi-instrument platform.
Cited articles
Agarwal, A., Meijer, V. R., Eastham, S. D., Speth, R. L., and Barrett, S. R. H.: Reanalysis-driven simulations may overestimate persistent contrail formation by 100–250 %, Environ. Res. Lett., 17, 1–14, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/AC38D9, 2022.
Bedka, S. T., Minnis, P., Duda, D. P., Chee, T. L., and Palikonda, R.: Properties of linear contrails in the Northern Hemisphere derived from 2006 Aqua MODIS observations, Geophys. Res. Lett., 40, 772–777, https://doi.org/10.1029/2012GL054363, 2013.
Bier, A. and Burkhardt, U.: Impact of Parametrizing Microphysical Processes in the Jet and Vortex Phase on Contrail Cirrus Properties and Radiative Forcing, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 127, e2022JD036677, https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JD036677, 2022.
Bier, A., Unterstrasser, S., and Vancassel, X.: Box model trajectory studies of contrail formation using a particle-based cloud microphysics scheme, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 823–845, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-823-2022, 2022.
Boulanger, D., Bundke, U., Gallagher, M., Gerbig, C., Hermann, M., Nédélec, P., Rohs, S., Sauvage, B., Ziereis, H., Thouret, V., and Petzold, A.: IAGOS Time series, AERIS, https://doi.org/10.25326/06, 2022.
Bradski, G.: The OpenCV Library: Dr. Dobb's Journal of Software Tools, UBM Technology Group, 25, 120–125, https://www.proquest.com/docview/202684726?sourcetype=Trade Journals (last access: 17 December 2023), 2000.
Bräuer, T., Voigt, C., Sauer, D., Kaufmann, S., Hahn, V., Scheibe, M., Schlager, H., Diskin, G. S., Nowak, J. B., DiGangi, J. P., Huber, F., Moore, R. H., and Anderson, B. E.: Airborne Measurements of Contrail Ice Properties—Dependence on Temperature and Humidity, Geophys. Res. Lett., 48, e2020GL092166, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL092166, 2021.
Bresenham, J. E.: Algorithm for computer control of a digital plotter, IBM Syst. J., 4, 25–30, https://doi.org/10.1147/SJ.41.0025, 2010.
Burkhardt, U., Bock, L., and Bier, A.: Mitigating the contrail cirrus climate impact by reducing aircraft soot number emissions, npj Clim. Atmos. Sci., 1, 1–7, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-018-0046-4, 2018.
Caiazzo, F., Agarwal, A., Speth, R. L., and Barrett, S. R. H.: Impact of biofuels on contrail warming, Environ. Res. Lett., 12, 114013, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa893b, 2017.
Chen, C.-C. and Gettelman, A.: Simulated radiative forcing from contrails and contrail cirrus, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 12525–12536, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-12525-2013, 2013.
Dietmüller, S., Matthes, S., Dahlmann, K., Yamashita, H., Simorgh, A., Soler, M., Linke, F., Lührs, B., Meuser, M. M., Weder, C., Grewe, V., Yin, F., and Castino, F.: A Python library for computing individual and merged non−CO2 algorithmic climate change functions: CLIMaCCF V1.0, Geosci. Model Dev., 16, 4405–4425, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-4405-2023, 2023.
Driver, O. G. A., Stettler, M. E. J., and Gryspeerdt, E.: Factors limiting contrail detection in satellite imagery, EGUsphere [preprint], https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2198, 2024.
Duda, D. P., Bedka, S. T., Minnis, P., Spangenberg, D., Khlopenkov, K., Chee, T., and Smith Jr., W. L.: Northern Hemisphere contrail properties derived from Terra and Aqua MODIS data for 2006 and 2012, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 5313–5330, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-5313-2019, 2019.
EASA: ICAO Aircraft Engine Emissions Databank (07/2021), EASA, https://www.easa.europa.eu/domains/environment/icao-aircraft-engine-emissions-databank (last access: 17 August 2021), 2021.
ECMWF: The Copernicus Programme: Climate Data Store, ECMWF, https://cds.climate.copernicus.eu/#!/home (last access: 15 February 2022), 2021.
EUROCONTROL: User Manual for the Base of Aircraft Data (BADA) Family 4, EEC Technical/Scientific Report No. 12/11/22-58, EUROCONTROL Experimental Centre (EEC), https://www.eurocontrol.int/model/bada (last access: 17 August 2021), 2016.
Feister, U., Möller, H., Sattler, T., Shields, J., Görsdorf, U., and Güldner, J.: Comparison of macroscopic cloud data from ground-based measurements using VIS/NIR and IR instruments at Lindenberg, Germany, Atmos. Res., 96, 395–407, https://doi.org/10.1016/J.ATMOSRES.2010.01.012, 2010.
Fuglestvedt, J. S., Shine, K. P., Berntsen, T., Cook, J., Lee, D. S., Stenke, A., Skeie, R. B., Velders, G. J. M., and Waitz, I. A.: Transport impacts on atmosphere and climate: Metrics, Atmos. Environ., 44, 4648–4677, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2009.04.044, 2010.
Gierens, K., Braun-Unkhoff, M., Le Clercq, P., Plohr, M., Schlager, H., and Wolters, F.: Condensation trails from biofuels/kerosene blends scoping study, ENER/C2/2013-627, European Commission, 2016.
Gierens, K., Matthes, S., and Rohs, S.: How Well Can Persistent Contrails Be Predicted?, Aerospace, 7, 169, https://doi.org/10.3390/AEROSPACE7120169, 2020.
Grewe, V., Frömming, C., Matthes, S., Brinkop, S., Ponater, M., Dietmüller, S., Jöckel, P., Garny, H., Tsati, E., Dahlmann, K., Søvde, O. A., Fuglestvedt, J., Berntsen, T. K., Shine, K. P., Irvine, E. A., Champougny, T., and Hullah, P.: Aircraft routing with minimal climate impact: the REACT4C climate cost function modelling approach (V1.0), Geosci. Model Dev., 7, 175–201, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-7-175-2014, 2014.
Grewe, V., Matthes, S., Frömming, C., Brinkop, S., Jöckel, P., Gierens, K., Champougny, T., Fuglestvedt, J., Haslerud, A., and Irvine, E.: Feasibility of climate-optimized air traffic routing for trans-Atlantic flights, Environ. Res. Lett., 12, 34003, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa5ba0, 2017.
Gryspeerdt, E., Stettler, M. E. J., Teoh, R., Burkhardt, U., Delovski, T., Driver, O. G. A., and Painemal, D.: Operational differences lead to longer lifetimes of satellite detectable contrails from more fuel efficient aircraft, Environ. Res. Lett., 19, 084059, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/AD5B78, 2024.
Haywood, J. M., Allan, R. P., Bornemann, J., Forster, P. M., Francis, P. N., Milton, S., Rädel, G., Rap, A., Shine, K. P., and Thorpe, R.: A case study of the radiative forcing of persistent contrails evolving into contrail-induced cirrus, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 114, D24201, https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JD012650, 2009.
Hersbach, H., Bell, B., Berrisford, P., Hirahara, S., Horányi, A., Muñoz-Sabater, J., Nicolas, J., Peubey, C., Radu, R., Schepers, D., Simmons, A., Soci, C., Abdalla, S., Abellan, X., Balsamo, G., Bechtold, P., Biavati, G., Bidlot, J., Bonavita, M., De Chiara, G., Dahlgren, P., Dee, D., Diamantakis, M., Dragani, R., Flemming, J., Forbes, R., Fuentes, M., Geer, A., Haimberger, L., Healy, S., Hogan, R. J., Hólm, E., Janisková, M., Keeley, S., Laloyaux, P., Lopez, P., Lupu, C., Radnoti, G., de Rosnay, P., Rozum, I., Vamborg, F., Villaume, S., and Thépaut, J. N.: The ERA5 global reanalysis, Q. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 146, 1999–2049, https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.3803, 2020.
Hoffmann, L., Günther, G., Li, D., Stein, O., Wu, X., Griessbach, S., Heng, Y., Konopka, P., Müller, R., Vogel, B., and Wright, J. S.: From ERA-Interim to ERA5: the considerable impact of ECMWF's next-generation reanalysis on Lagrangian transport simulations, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 3097–3124, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-3097-2019, 2019.
Holzapfel, F.: Probabilistic Two-Phase Wake Vortex Decay and Transport Model, J. Aircraft, 40, 323–331, https://doi.org/10.2514/2.3096, 2003.
Imperial College London: Breakthrough Energy, Low, J., Teoh, R., Gryspeerdt, E., Stettler, M., Ponsonby, J., and Shapiro, M.: Flight matched contrails in ground based camera imagery over London between November 2021 and April 2022, NERC EDS Centre for Environmental Data Analysis [data set], https://doi.org/10.5285/f45a1a95ddcc480784640da6f3001904, 2024.
Iwabuchi, H., Yang, P., Liou, K. N., and Minnis, P.: Physical and optical properties of persistent contrails: Climatology and interpretation, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 117, D06215, https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JD017020, 2012.
Jensen, E. J., Toon, O. B., Kinne, S., Sachse, G. W., Anderson, B. E., Chan, K. R., Twohy, C. H., Gandrud, B., Heymsfield, A., and Miake-Lye, R. C.: Environmental conditions required for contrail formation and persistence, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 103, 3929–3936, https://doi.org/10.1029/97JD02808, 1998a.
Jensen, E. J., Ackérman, A. S., Stevens, D. E., Toon, O. B., and Minnis, P.: Spreading and growth of contrails in a sheared environment, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 103, 31557–31567, https://doi.org/10.1029/98JD02594, 1998b.
Jeßberger, P., Voigt, C., Schumann, U., Sölch, I., Schlager, H., Kaufmann, S., Petzold, A., Schäuble, D., and Gayet, J.-F.: Aircraft type influence on contrail properties, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 11965–11984, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-11965-2013, 2013.
Kärcher, B., Burkhardt, U., Unterstrasser, S., and Minnis, P.: Factors controlling contrail cirrus optical depth, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 9, 6229–6254, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-9-6229-2009, 2009.
Kärcher, B., Burkhardt, U., Ponater, M., and Fromming, C.: Importance of representing optical depth variability for estimates of global line-shaped contrail radiative forcing, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 107, 19181–19184, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1005555107, 2010.
Lee, D. S., Fahey, D. W., Skowron, A., Allen, M. R., Burkhardt, U., Chen, Q., Doherty, S. J., Freeman, S., Forster, P. M., Fuglestvedt, J., Gettelman, A., De León, R. R., Lim, L. L., Lund, M. T., Millar, R. J., Owen, B., Penner, J. E., Pitari, G., Prather, M. J., Sausen, R., and Wilcox, L. J.: The contribution of global aviation to anthropogenic climate forcing for 2000 to 2018, Atmos. Environ., 244, 117834, https://doi.org/10.1016/J.ATMOSENV.2020.117834, 2021.
Lewellen, D. C.: Persistent contrails and contrail cirrus. Part II: Full lifetime behavior, J. Atmos. Sci., 71, 4420–4438, https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-13-0317.1, 2014.
Lewellen, D. C. and Lewellen, W. S.: The Effects of Aircraft Wake Dynamics on Contrail Development, J. Atmos. Sci., 58, 390–406, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(2001)058<0390:TEOAWD>2.0.CO;2, 2001.
Lewellen, D. C., Meza, O., Huebsch, W. W., Lewellen, D. C., Meza, O., and Huebsch, W. W.: Persistent Contrails and Contrail Cirrus. Part I: Large-Eddy Simulations from Inception to Demise, J. Atmos. Sci., 71, 4399–4419, https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-13-0316.1, 2014.
Long, C. N., Sabburg, J. M., Calbó, J., and Pagès, D.: Retrieving Cloud Characteristics from Ground-Based Daytime Color All-Sky Images, J. Atmos. Ocean. Tech., 23, 633–652, https://doi.org/10.1175/JTECH1875.1, 2006.
Mannstein, H., Brömser, A., and Bugliaro, L.: Ground-based observations for the validation of contrails and cirrus detection in satellite imagery, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 3, 655–669, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-3-655-2010, 2010.
Marjani, S., Tesche, M., Bräuer, P., Sourdeval, O., and Quaas, J.: Satellite Observations of the Impact of Individual Aircraft on Ice Crystal Number in Thin Cirrus Clouds, Geophys. Res. Lett., 49, e2021GL096173, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL096173, 2022.
Märkl, R. S., Voigt, C., Sauer, D., Dischl, R. K., Kaufmann, S., Harlaß, T., Hahn, V., Roiger, A., Weiß-Rehm, C., Burkhardt, U., Schumann, U., Marsing, A., Scheibe, M., Dörnbrack, A., Renard, C., Gauthier, M., Swann, P., Madden, P., Luff, D., Sallinen, R., Schripp, T., and Le Clercq, P.: Powering aircraft with 100 % sustainable aviation fuel reduces ice crystals in contrails, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 3813–3837, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3813-2024, 2024.
Martin Frias, A., Shapiro, M., Engberg, Z., Zopp, R., Soler, M., and Stettler, M. E. J.: Feasibility of contrail avoidance in a commercial flight planning system: an operational analysis, Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability, 4, 015013, https://doi.org/10.1088/2634-4505/ad310c, 2024.
Meerkötter, R., Schumann, U., Doelling, D. R., Minnis, P., Nakajima, T., and Tsushima, Y.: Radiative forcing by contrails, Ann. Geophys., 17, 1080–1094, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00585-999-1080-7, 1999.
Meijer, V. R., Kulik, L., Eastham, S. D., Allroggen, F., Speth, R. L., Karaman, S., and Barrett, S. R. H.: Contrail coverage over the United States before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, Environ. Res. Lett., 17, 034039, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/AC26F0, 2022.
Paugam, R., Paoli, R., and Cariolle, D.: Influence of vortex dynamics and atmospheric turbulence on the early evolution of a contrail, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10, 3933–3952, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-10-3933-2010, 2010.
Pedregosa, F., Varoquaux, G., Gramfort, A., Michel, V., Thirion, B., Grisel, O., Blondel, M., Prettenhofer, P., Weiss, R., Dubourg, V., Vanderplas, J., Passos, A., Cournapeau, D., Brucher, M., Perrot, M., and Duchesnay, É.: Scikit-learn: Machine Learning in Python, J. Mach. Learn. Res., 12, 2825–2830, https://arxiv.org/abs/1201.0490v4 (last access: 7 September 2023), 2012.
Petzold, A., Thouret, V., Gerbig, C., Zahn, A., Brenninkmeijer, C. A. M., Gallagher, M., Hermann, M., Pontaud, M., Ziereis, H., Boulanger, D., Marshall, J., NéDélec, P., Smit, H. G. J., Friess, U., Flaud, J. M., Wahner, A., Cammas, J. P., Volz-Thomas, A., Thomas, K., Rohs, S., Bundke, U., Neis, P., Berkes, F., Houben, N., Berg, M., Tappertzhofen, M., Blomel, T., Pätz, W., Filges, A., Boschetti, F., Verma, S., Baum, S., Athier, G., Cousin, J. M., Sauvage, B., Blot, R., Clark, H., Gaudel, A., Gressent, A., Auby, A., Fontaine, A., Gautron, B., Bennouna, Y., Petetin, H., Karcher, F., Abonnel, C., Dandin, P., Beswick, K., Wang, K. Y., Rauthe-Schöch, A., Baker, A. K., Riede, H., Gromov, S., Zimmermann, P., Thorenz, U., Scharffe, D., Koeppel, C., Slemr, F., Schuck, T. J., Umezawa, T., Ditas, J., Cheng, Y., Schneider, J., Williams, J., Neumaier, M., Christner, E., Fischbeck, G., Safadi, L., Petrelli, A., Gehrlein, T., Heger, S., Dyroff, C., Weber, S., Assmann, D., Rubach, F., Weigelt, A., Stratmann, G., Stock, P., Penth, L., Walter, D., Heue, K. P., Allouche, Y., Marizy, C., Hermira, J., Bringtown, S., Saueressig, G., Seidel, N., Huf, M., Waibel, A., Franke, H., Klaus, C., Stosius, R., Baumgardner, D., Braathen, G., Paulin, M., and Garnett, N.: Global-scale atmosphere monitoring by in-service aircraft – current achievements and future prospects of the European Research Infrastructure IAGOS, Tellus B, 67, 1–24, https://doi.org/10.3402/TELLUSB.V67.28452, 2015.
Quaas, J., Gryspeerdt, E., Vautard, R., and Boucher, O.: Climate impact of aircraft-induced cirrus assessed from satellite observations before and during COVID-19, Environ. Res. Lett., 16, 064051, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ABF686, 2021.
Raspberry Pi: Accessories: Camera, https://www.raspberrypi.com/documentation/accessories/camera.html (last access: 16 August 2023), 2023.
Reutter, P., Neis, P., Rohs, S., and Sauvage, B.: Ice supersaturated regions: properties and validation of ERA-Interim reanalysis with IAGOS in situ water vapour measurements, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 787–804, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-787-2020, 2020.
Rosenow, J., Hospodka, J., Lán, S., and Fricke, H.: Validation of a Contrail Life-Cycle Model in Central Europe, Sustainability, 15, 8669, https://doi.org/10.3390/SU15118669, 2023.
Schumann, U.: On conditions for contrail formation from aircraft exhausts, Meteorol. Z., 5, 4–23, https://doi.org/10.1127/metz/5/1996/4, 1996.
Schumann, U.: A contrail cirrus prediction model, Geosci. Model Dev., 5, 543–580, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-5-543-2012, 2012.
Schumann, U., Graf, K., and Mannstein, H.: Potential to reduce the climate impact of aviation by flight level changes, in: 3rd AIAA Atmospheric Space Environments Conference, 27 June 2011–30 June 2011, Honolulu, Hawaii, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2011-3376, 2011.
Schumann, U., Hempel, R., Flentje, H., Garhammer, M., Graf, K., Kox, S., Lösslein, H., and Mayer, B.: Contrail study with ground-based cameras, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, 3597–3612, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-3597-2013, 2013.
Schumann, U., Penner, J. E., Chen, Y., Zhou, C., and Graf, K.: Dehydration effects from contrails in a coupled contrail–climate model, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 11179–11199, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-11179-2015, 2015.
Schumann, U., Baumann, R., Baumgardner, D., Bedka, S. T., Duda, D. P., Freudenthaler, V., Gayet, J.-F., Heymsfield, A. J., Minnis, P., Quante, M., Raschke, E., Schlager, H., Vázquez-Navarro, M., Voigt, C., and Wang, Z.: Properties of individual contrails: a compilation of observations and some comparisons, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 403–438, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-403-2017, 2017.
Schumann, U., Poll, I., Teoh, R., Koelle, R., Spinielli, E., Molloy, J., Koudis, G. S., Baumann, R., Bugliaro, L., Stettler, M., and Voigt, C.: Air traffic and contrail changes over Europe during COVID-19: a model study, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 7429–7450, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-7429-2021, 2021.
Segrin, M. S., Coakley, J. A., and Tahnk, W. R.: MODIS Observations of Ship Tracks in Summertime Stratus off the West Coast of the United States, J. Atmos. Sci., 64, 4330–4345, https://doi.org/10.1175/2007JAS2308.1, 2007.
Seiz, G., Shields, J., Feister, U., Baltsavias, E. P., and Gruen, A.: Cloud mapping with ground-based photogrammetric cameras, Int. J. Remote Sens., 28, 2001–2032, https://doi.org/10.1080/01431160600641822, 2007.
Shapiro, M., Engberg, Z., Teoh, R., Stettler, M., Dean, T., and Abbott, T.: pycontrails: Python library for modeling aviation climate impacts (v0.52.2), Zenodo [code], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13151570, 2024.
Shields, J. E., Karr, M. E., Johnson, R. W., and Burden, A. R.: Day/night whole sky imagers for 24-h cloud and sky assessment: history and overview, Appl. Optics, 52, 1605–1616, https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.52.001605, 2013.
Sussmann, R. and Gierens, K. M.: Lidar and numerical studies on the different evolution of vortex pair and secondary wake in young contrails, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 104, 2131–2142, https://doi.org/10.1029/1998JD200034, 1999.
Teoh, R., Schumann, U., Majumdar, A., and Stettler, M. E. J.: Mitigating the Climate Forcing of Aircraft Contrails by Small-Scale Diversions and Technology Adoption, Environ. Sci. Technol., 54, 2941–2950, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.9b05608, 2020.
Teoh, R., Schumann, U., Gryspeerdt, E., Shapiro, M., Molloy, J., Koudis, G., Voigt, C., and Stettler, M. E. J.: Aviation contrail climate effects in the North Atlantic from 2016 to 2021, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 10919–10935, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10919-2022, 2022a.
Teoh, R., Schumann, U., Voigt, C., Schripp, T., Shapiro, M., Engberg, Z., Molloy, J., Koudis, G., and Stettler, M. E. J.: Targeted Use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel to Maximise Climate Benefits, Environ. Sci. Technol,. 56, 17246–17255, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c05781, 2022b.
Teoh, R., Engberg, Z., Schumann, U., Voigt, C., Shapiro, M., Rohs, S., and Stettler, M. E. J.: Global aviation contrail climate effects from 2019 to 2021, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 6071–6093, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6071-2024, 2024a.
Teoh, R., Engberg, Z., Shapiro, M., Dray, L., and Stettler, M. E. J.: The high-resolution Global Aviation emissions Inventory based on ADS-B (GAIA) for 2019–2021, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 725–744, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-725-2024, 2024b.
Tesche, M., Achtert, P., Glantz, P., and Noone, K. J.: Aviation effects on already-existing cirrus clouds, Nat. Commun., 7, 1–6, https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms12016, 2016.
Tsai, R. Y.: A Versatile Camera Calibration Technique for High-Accuracy 3D Machine Vision Metrology Using Off-the-Shelf TV Cameras and Lenses, IEEE Journal on Robotics and Automation, 3, 323–344, https://doi.org/10.1109/JRA.1987.1087109, 1987.
Unterstrasser, S.: Properties of young contrails – a parametrisation based on large-eddy simulations, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 2059–2082, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-2059-2016, 2016.
Unterstrasser, S. and Gierens, K.: Numerical simulations of contrail-to-cirrus transition – Part 1: An extensive parametric study, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10, 2017–2036, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-10-2017-2010, 2010.
Vázquez-Navarro, M., Mannstein, H., and Kox, S.: Contrail life cycle and properties from 1 year of MSG/SEVIRI rapid-scan images, Atmos Chem Phys, 15, 8739–8749, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-8739-2015, 2015.
Wolf, K., Bellouin, N., and Boucher, O.: Distribution and morphology of non-persistent contrail and persistent contrail formation areas in ERA5, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 5009–5024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5009-2024, 2024.
World Meteorological Organization: International Cloud Atlas: Aircraft condensation trails, WMO, https://cloudatlas.wmo.int/en/aircraft-condensation-trails.html (last access: 13 May 2023), 2017.
Wu, Y., Jiang, S., Xu, Z., Zhu, S., and Cao, D.: Lens distortion correction based on one chessboard pattern image, Frontiers of Optoelectronics, 8, 319–328, https://doi.org/10.1007/S12200-015-0453-7, 2015.
Short summary
The radiative forcing due to contrails is of the same order of magnitude as aviation CO2 emissions but has a higher uncertainty. Observations are vital to improve our understanding of the contrail lifecycle, improve models, and measure the effect of mitigation action. Here, we use ground-based cameras combined with flight telemetry to track visible contrails and measure their lifetime and width. We evaluate model predictions and demonstrate the capability of this approach.
The radiative forcing due to contrails is of the same order of magnitude as aviation CO2...
