Aerosol Optical Properties Measurement using the Orbiting High Spectral Resolution Lidar onboard DQ-1 Satellite: Retrieval and Validation

Abstract. The atmospheric environment monitoring satellite DQ-1 was launched in April 2022, which consists of a spaceborne High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) system. This new system enables the accurate measurements of global aerosol optical properties, which can be used in Geo-scientific community after the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) retirement. Developing a suitable retrieval algorithm and validating retrieved results are prominently needed. This research demonstrates a retrieval algorithm for aerosol optical properties using the DQ-1 HSRL system. This method has retrieved the aerosol depolarization ratio, backscatter coefficient, extinction coefficient, and optical depth. For validation purposes, we compared retrieved results with those obtained through CALIPSO. The results have shown a continuous profile alignment between the two datasets, with DQ-1 describing an improved signal-to-noise ratio of approximately 10 dB. Optical property profiles from NASA Micro Pulse Lidar NETwork (MPLNET) stations were selected for validation with the DQ-1 measurements, resulting in a relative error of 25 %. Between June 2022 and December 2022, aerosol optical depth measurements using the DQ-1 satellite and the AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET) were correlated and yielded a value of R² 0.803. We use the DQ-1 dataset to initially investigate the transport processes of the Saharan dust and the South Atlantic volcanic ash. These validations and applications show that the DQ-1 HSRL system can accurately measure global aerosols and holds significant prospects for earth science applications.