1Dept. of Signal Theory and Communications, Remote Sensing Lab. (RSLab), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
2Ciències i Tecnologies de l'Espai – Centre de Recerca de l'Aeronàutica i de l'Espai/Institut d'Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (CTE-CRAE/IEEC), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
3Istituto di Metodologie per l'Analisi Ambientale (CNR-IMAA), C. da S. Loja, 85050 Tito Scalo, Potenza, Italy
4Departamento de Física Aplicada, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
5Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research, Leipzig, Germany
6Earth Sciences Department, Barcelona Supercomputing Center – Centro Nacional de Supercomputación, Barcelona, Spain
7Environmental Modeling Laboratory, Technical University of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain
8National Institute of R&D for Optoelectronics, Magurele, Ilfov, Romania
9Laboratoire Meteorologie Dinamique (LMD), École Polytechnique, Palaiseau, France
10Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (CIEMAT), Madrid, Spain
11Observatoire de Physique du Globe, Laboratoire de Météorologie Physique (LaMP-CNRS), Clermont-Ferrand, France
12Cyprus University of Technology, Limassol, Cyprus
13Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss, Payerne, Switzerland
14CETEMPS, Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche e Chimiche, Università degli Studi, L'Aquila, Italy
15Laser Remote Sensing Unit, Physics Dept., National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece
16Deutscher Wetterdienst, Observatorium Hohenpeißenberg, Hohenpeißenberg, Germany
17Institute of Applied Physics (IAP), University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
18Évora Geophysics Center, University of Évora, Évora, Portugal
19Centre for Climate and Air Pollution Studies (C-CAPS), National University of Ireland Galway, University Road, Galway, Ireland
1Dept. of Signal Theory and Communications, Remote Sensing Lab. (RSLab), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
2Ciències i Tecnologies de l'Espai – Centre de Recerca de l'Aeronàutica i de l'Espai/Institut d'Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (CTE-CRAE/IEEC), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
3Istituto di Metodologie per l'Analisi Ambientale (CNR-IMAA), C. da S. Loja, 85050 Tito Scalo, Potenza, Italy
4Departamento de Física Aplicada, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
5Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research, Leipzig, Germany
6Earth Sciences Department, Barcelona Supercomputing Center – Centro Nacional de Supercomputación, Barcelona, Spain
7Environmental Modeling Laboratory, Technical University of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain
8National Institute of R&D for Optoelectronics, Magurele, Ilfov, Romania
9Laboratoire Meteorologie Dinamique (LMD), École Polytechnique, Palaiseau, France
10Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (CIEMAT), Madrid, Spain
11Observatoire de Physique du Globe, Laboratoire de Météorologie Physique (LaMP-CNRS), Clermont-Ferrand, France
12Cyprus University of Technology, Limassol, Cyprus
13Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss, Payerne, Switzerland
14CETEMPS, Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche e Chimiche, Università degli Studi, L'Aquila, Italy
15Laser Remote Sensing Unit, Physics Dept., National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece
16Deutscher Wetterdienst, Observatorium Hohenpeißenberg, Hohenpeißenberg, Germany
17Institute of Applied Physics (IAP), University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
18Évora Geophysics Center, University of Évora, Évora, Portugal
19Centre for Climate and Air Pollution Studies (C-CAPS), National University of Ireland Galway, University Road, Galway, Ireland
Received: 27 Apr 2015 – Discussion started: 01 Jul 2015 – Revised: 06 Oct 2015 – Accepted: 15 Oct 2015 – Published: 02 Nov 2015
Abstract. In the framework of ACTRIS (Aerosols, Clouds, and Trace Gases Research Infrastructure Network) summer 2012 measurement campaign (8 June–17 July 2012), EARLINET organized and performed a controlled exercise of feasibility to demonstrate its potential to perform operational, coordinated measurements and deliver products in near-real time. Eleven lidar stations participated in the exercise which started on 9 July 2012 at 06:00 UT and ended 72 h later on 12 July at 06:00 UT. For the first time, the single calculus chain (SCC) – the common calculus chain developed within EARLINET for the automatic evaluation of lidar data from raw signals up to the final products – was used. All stations sent in real-time measurements of a 1 h duration to the SCC server in a predefined netcdf file format. The pre-processing of the data was performed in real time by the SCC, while the optical processing was performed in near-real time after the exercise ended. 98 and 79 % of the files sent to SCC were successfully pre-processed and processed, respectively. Those percentages are quite large taking into account that no cloud screening was performed on the lidar data. The paper draws present and future SCC users' attention to the most critical parameters of the SCC product configuration and their possible optimal value but also to the limitations inherent to the raw data. The continuous use of SCC direct and derived products in heterogeneous conditions is used to demonstrate two potential applications of EARLINET infrastructure: the monitoring of a Saharan dust intrusion event and the evaluation of two dust transport models. The efforts made to define the measurements protocol and to configure properly the SCC pave the way for applying this protocol for specific applications such as the monitoring of special events, atmospheric modeling, climate research and calibration/validation activities of spaceborne observations.
In the framework of the ACTRIS summer 2012 measurement campaign (8 June–17 July 2012), EARLINET organized and performed a controlled exercise of feasibility to demonstrate its potential to perform operational, coordinated measurements and deliver products in near-real time. The paper describes the measurement protocol and discusses the delivery of real-time and near-real-time lidar-derived products.
In the framework of the ACTRIS summer 2012 measurement campaign (8 June–17 July 2012),...