Profiling of fine and coarse particle mass: Case studies of Saharan dust and Eyjafjallajökull/Grimsvötn volcanic plumes

A. Ansmann, P. Seifert, Matthias Tesche, U. Wandinger

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    Abstract

    The polarization lidar photometer networking (POLIPHON) method introduced to separate coarse-mode and fine-mode particle properties of Eyjafjallajokull volcanic aerosols in 2010 is extended to cover Saharan dust events as well. Furthermore, new volcanic dust observations performed after the Grimsvotn volcanic eruptions in 2011 are presented. The retrieval of particle mass concentrations requires mass-specific extinction coefficients. Therefore, a review of recently published mass-specific extinction coefficients for Saharan dust and volcanic dust is given. Case studies of four different scenarios corroborate the applicability of the profiling technique: (a) Saharan dust outbreak to central Europe, (b) Saharan dust plume mixed with biomass-burning smoke over Cape Verde, and volcanic aerosol layers originating from (c) the Eyjafjallajokull eruptions in 2010 and (d) the Grimsvotn eruptions in 2011. Strong differences in the vertical aerosol layering, aerosol mixing, and optical properties are observed for the different volcanic events

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)9399-9415
    Number of pages17
    JournalAtmospheric Chemistry and Physics
    Volume12
    Issue number20
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 22 Oct 2012

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