Aerosol optical depth in the European Brewer Network

Javier Lopez-Solano, Alberto Redondas, Thomas Carlund, Juan J. Rodriguez-Franco, Henri Diemoz, Sergio F. Leon-Luis, Bentorey Hernandez-Cruz, Carmen Guirado-Fuentes, Natalia Kouremeti, Julian Grobner, Stelios Kazadzis, Virgilio Carreno, Alberto Berjon, Daniel Santana-Diaz, Manuel Rodriguez-Valido, Veerle De Bock, Juan R. Moreta, John Rimmer, Andrew R. D. Smedley, Lamine BoulkeliaNis Jepsen, Paul Eriksen, Alkiviadis F. Bais, Vadim Shirotov, Jose M. Vilaplana, Keith M. Wilson, Tomi Karppinen

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    208 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    Aerosols play an important role in key atmospheric
    processes and feature high spatial and temporal variabilities.
    This has motivated scientific interest in the development
    of networks capable of measuring aerosol properties
    over large geographical areas in near-real time. In this
    work we present and discuss results of an aerosol optical
    depth (AOD) algorithm applied to instruments of the European
    Brewer Network. This network is comprised of close
    to 50 Brewer spectrophotometers, mostly located in Europe
    and adjacent areas, although instruments operating at, for example,
    South America and Australia are also members. Although
    we only show results for instruments calibrated by
    the Regional Brewer Calibration Center for Europe, the implementation
    of the AOD algorithm described is intended to
    be used by the whole network in the future. Using data from
    the Brewer intercomparison campaigns in the years 2013
    and 2015, and the period in between, plus comparisons with
    Cimel sun photometers and UVPFR instruments, we check
    the precision, stability, and uncertainty of the Brewer AOD
    in the ultraviolet range from 300 to 320 nm. Our results show
    a precision better than 0.01, an uncertainty of less than 0.05,
    and, for well-maintained instruments, a stability similar to
    that of the ozone measurements. We also discuss future improvements
    to our algorithm with respect to the input data,
    their processing, and the characterization of the Brewer instruments
    for the measurement of AOD.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)3885-3902
    JournalAtmospheric Chemistry and Physics
    Volume18
    Issue number6
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 20 Mar 2018

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Aerosol optical depth in the European Brewer Network'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this