Articles | Volume 9, issue 12
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-5997-2016
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-5997-2016
Research article
 | 
13 Dec 2016
Research article |  | 13 Dec 2016

Aerosol absorption retrieval at ultraviolet wavelengths in a complex environment

Stelios Kazadzis, Panagiotis Raptis, Natalia Kouremeti, Vassilis Amiridis, Antti Arola, Evangelos Gerasopoulos, and Gregory L. Schuster

Abstract. We have used total and diffuse UV irradiance measurements from a multi-filter rotating shadow-band radiometer (UVMFR) in order to investigate aerosol absorption in the UV range for a 5-year period in Athens, Greece. This dataset was used as input to a radiative transfer model and the single scattering albedo (SSA) at 368 and 332 nm was calculated. Retrievals from a collocated CIMEL sun photometer were used to evaluate the products and study the absorption spectral behavior of retrieved SSA values. The UVMFR SSA, together with synchronous, CIMEL-derived retrievals of SSA at 440 nm, had a mean of 0.90, 0.87 and 0.83, with lowest values (higher absorption) encountered at the shorter wavelengths. In addition, noticeable diurnal variation of the SSA in all wavelengths is shown, with amplitudes up to 0.05. Strong SSA wavelength dependence is revealed for cases of low Ångström exponents, accompanied by a SSA decrease with decreasing extinction optical depth, suggesting varying influence under different aerosol composition. However, part of this dependence for low aerosol optical depths is masked by the enhanced SSA retrieval uncertainty. Dust and brown carbon UV absorbing properties were also investigated to explain seasonal patterns.

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Short summary
Aerosols play an important role in the Earth's climate. One of the main aerosol properties is the single scattering albedo which is a measure of the aerosol absorption. In this work we have presented a method to retrieve this aerosol property in the ultraviolet and we presented the results for measurements at the urban environment of Athens, Greece. We show that the spectral dependence of the aerosol absorption in the VIS–IR and the UV range depends on the aerosol composition and type.