Activity Report 2010

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Activity Report 2010 International Foundation High Altitude Research Stations Jungfraujoch + Gornergrat Activity Report 2010 International Foundation High Altitude Research Stations Jungfraujoch + Gornergrat Sidlerstrasse 5 CH-3012 Bern / Switzerland Telephone +41 (0)31 631 4052 Fax +41 (0)31 631 4405 URL: http://www.hfsjg.ch February 2011 International Foundation HFSJG Annual Report 2010 Table of contents Message of the President .............................................................................................. i Report of the Director ................................................................................................. iii High Altitude Research Station Jungfraujoch Statistics on research days 2010 ......................................................................... 1 Long-term experiments and automatic measurements ....................................... 3 Activity reports: . High resolution, solar infrared Fourier Transform Spectrometry, Application to the study of the Earth atmosphere (Institut d’Astrophysique et de Géophysique, Université de Liège, Belgium) .......... 5 . Atmospheric physics and chemistry; Long-term monitoring of trace gases and aerosols at the Jungfraujoch using the MAXDOAS technique, (Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy BIRA-IASB, Belgium) .................. 15 . Validation of retrieval of atmospheric trace gases with Phaethon system using differential optical absorption spectroscopy, (Laboratory of Atmospheric Physics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece) .......... 21 . Active optical remote sensing, LIDAR (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne EPFL, Switzerland) ................................................... 23 . Assessment of high altitude cloud characteristics, CLACE 2010 campaign (Institute for Atmosphere and Climate Science, ETH Zürich, Switzerland) 25 . Global Atmosphere Watch Radiation Measurements (Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology, MeteoSwiss, Payerne, Switzerland) ........... 28 . Remote sensing of aerosol optical depth (Physikalisch-Meteorologisches Observatorium Davos, World Radiation Center, Switzerland) .................... 33 . Longwave Infrared radiative forcing trend assimiliation over Switzerland LIRAS, Cloud Climatology and Surface Radiative Forcing over Switzerland CLASS (Physikalisch-Meteorologisches Observatorium Davos, World Radiation Center, Switzerland) ............................................. 35 . National Air Pollution Monitoring Network, NABEL, (Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Switzerland) . 37 . Halogenated greenhouse gases at Jungfraujoch (Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Switzerland) .............. 45 . NOy at the interface of planetary boundary layer and the free troposphere from measurements at Jungfraujoch; Trace gas measurements at Jungfraujoch (Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, ETH Zürich IACETH, Switzerland) ................................................................................. 52 . High precision carbon dioxide and oxygen measurements (Climate and Environmental Division, Physics Institute, University of Bern, Switzerland) .................................................................................................. 58 . Flask comparison on Jungfraujoch (Max Planck Institut für Biogeochemie, Jena, Germany) ............................................................................................. 62 . Flask comparison on Jungfraujoch (Centre for Isotope Research (CIO), Groningen, The Netherlands) ....................................................................... 66 International Foundation HFSJG Annual Report 2010 . Continuous measurement of stable CO2 isotopes at Jungfraujoch (Empa - Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Switzerland) ............................................................................. 68 . The Global Atmosphere Watch Aerosol Program at the Jungfraujoch (Laboratory of Atmospheric Chemistry, Paul Scherrer Institut, Switzerland) .................................................................................................. 71 . Calibration of Sun and aureole spectrometer systems within the Cloud and Aerosol Characterization Experiment CLACE (Institut für Weltraum- wissenschaften, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany) .................................... 86 . Field measurements of atmospheric ice nuclei and properties of mixed phase clouds, (Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, ETH Zürich, Switzerland) ..................................................................................... 89 . Single particle analysis of aerosols from Saharan dust events (Department of Geosciences, University of Fribourg, Switzerland) ............ 91 . Aerosols radioactivity monitoring (RADAIR) and DIGITEL (Bundesamt für Gesundheit, Sektion Umweltradioaktivität, Switzerland)....................... 93 . Neutron Monitors – Study of solar and galactic cosmic rays (Physikalisches Institut, Universität Bern, Switzerland) .............................. 100 . Cosmogenic radionuclides in precipitation (Eawag, Switzerland) ............... 104 . Altitude dependence of production rates of cosmogenic nuclides in artificial quartz targets, (Institute of Geology and Institute of Geochemistry and Petrology, ETH Zürich, Switzerland) ............................. 106 . Study of a prototype for a new concept of an EAS detector (Department of Physics, University of Rome La Sapienza, Italy) ..................................... 108 14 . Long-term observations of CO2 at Jungfraujoch (Institut für Umweltphysik, Universität Heidelberg, Germany) ................... 110 . 85Kr activity determination in tropospheric air (Bundesamt für Strahlenschutz, Freiburg i.Br., Germany / Climate and Environmental Physics, University of Bern, Switzerland) .................................................... 112 . Quantifying mountain venting of boundary layer air through 222Rn measurements (Institut für Umweltgeowissenschaften, Universität Basel, Switzerland) .................................................................... 115 . Long-term energy yield and reliability of a high alpine PV (photovoltaic) plant at 3454 m (Berner Fachhochschule BFH, Technik und Informatik TI, Photovoltaik Labor, Switzerland) ........................................................... 118 . Low-pressure test on optical devices (Helbling Technik Bern AG, Switzerland) .................................................................................................. 121 . Test-station for outdoor materials (Mammut Sports Group, Switzerland) ... 122 . Long-Term Medical Survey System LTMS-3 (University Hospital Lausanne, Department of Internal Medicine, CSEM Neuchâtel, Switzerland) .................................................................................................. 123 . Towards understanding the importance of biological ice nucleators in rising air (Institut für Umweltgeowissenschaften, Universität Basel, Switzerland) .................................................................................................. 125 . Study of plant temperature (Institute of Botany, University of Basel, Switzerland) .................................................................................................. 127 International Foundation HFSJG Annual Report 2010 . Accelerated release of persistent organic pollutants POPs from Alpine glaciers. Snow chemistry, reconstruction of palaeo atmosphere and climate from high-altitude ice cores. (Laboratory of Radiochemistry and Environmental Chemistry, Paul Scherrer Institut, Switzerland) .................. 131 . Quantitative characterization of the impact of environmental factors on the performance of passive air samplers for semi-volatile organic compounds (Institute for Chemical and Bioingeneering, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH Zürich, Switzerland) ....................................................... 134 . Glaciological investigations on the Grosser Aletschgletscher (Versuchsanstalt für Wasserbau, Hydrologie und Glaziologie, VAW, ETH Zürich, Switzerland) ............................................................................ 137 . PERMASENSE & PERMOS: Measuring permafrost in Alpine rock walls (Department of Geography, University of Zürich, Switzerland) ........ 139 . Permafrost monitoring at high Alpine sites (WSL Institut für Schnee und Lawinenforschung, Switzerland) ........................................................... 141 . Automated GPS Network Switzerland AGNES (Bundesamt für Landestopographie swisstopo, Switzerland) ........................................... 143 . Operation of a meteorological station at high altitude in the Alps (Surface Meteorological Networks, MeteoSwiss, Payerne, Switzerland) .... 145 . The weather in 2010: report for the International Foundation HFSJG (MeteoSwiss Zürich, Switzerland) ............................................................... 148 High Altitude Research Station Gornergrat Statistics on research days 2010 ......................................................................... 153 Activity reports: . KOSMA - Kölner Observatorium für Submm-Astronomie (I. Physikalisches Institut, Universität zu Köln; Radioastronomisches Institut, Universität Bonn, Germany) ........................ 154 . Linking micro-physical properties to macro features in ice sheets with geophysical techniques LIMPICS (Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven Institute for Environmental Studies, University of
Recommended publications
  • Above-Cloud Aerosol Optical Depth from Airborne Observations in the Southeast Atlantic
    Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 1565–1590, 2020 https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-1565-2020 © Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Above-cloud aerosol optical depth from airborne observations in the southeast Atlantic Samuel E. LeBlanc1,2, Jens Redemann3, Connor Flynn3, Kristina Pistone1,2, Meloë Kacenelenbogen2, Michal Segal-Rosenheimer1,4, Yohei Shinozuka5,2, Stephen Dunagan2, Robert P. Dahlgren6,2, Kerry Meyer7, James Podolske2, Steven G. Howell8, Steffen Freitag8, Jennifer Small-Griswold8, Brent Holben7, Michael Diamond9, Robert Wood9, Paola Formenti10, Stuart Piketh11, Gillian Maggs-Kölling12, Monja Gerber13, and Andreas Namwoonde13 1Bay Area Environmental Research Institute, Moffett Field, CA, USA 2NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, USA 3University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA 4Department of Geophysics and Planetary Sciences, Porter School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel 5Universities Space Research Association, Columbia, MD, USA 6California State University Monterey Bay, Seaside, CA, USA 7NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA 8University of Hawai‘i at Manoa,¯ Honolulu, HI, USA 9University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA 10LISA, UMR CNRS 7583, Université Paris-Est Créteil et Université Paris Diderot, Institut Pierre Simon Laplace, Créteil, France 11North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa 12Gobabeb Research and Training Center, Gobabeb, Namibia 13Sam Nujoma Marine and Coastal Resources Research Centre (SANUMARC), University of Namibia, Henties Bay, Namibia Correspondence: Samuel E. LeBlanc ([email protected]) Received: 17 January 2019 – Discussion started: 30 January 2019 Revised: 20 November 2019 – Accepted: 21 December 2019 – Published: 7 February 2020 Abstract. The southeast Atlantic (SEA) region is host to indicating the presence of large aerosol particles, likely ma- a climatologically significant biomass burning aerosol layer rine aerosol, in the lower atmospheric column.
    [Show full text]
  • Langley Calibration of Sunphotometer Using Perez's Clearness Index at Tropical Climate
    Aerosol and Air Quality Research, 18: 1103–1117, 2018 Copyright © Taiwan Association for Aerosol Research ISSN: 1680-8584 print / 2071-1409 online doi: 10.4209/aaqr.2016.10.0455 Langley Calibration of Sunphotometer using Perez’s Clearness Index at Tropical Climate Jackson H.W. Chang1*, Nurul H.N. Maizan2, Fuei Pien Chee2, Jedol Dayou2 1 Preparatory Center for Science and Technology, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Jalan UMS, 88400 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia 2 Energy, Vibration and Sound Research Group (e-VIBS), Faculty science and Natural Resources, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Jalan UMS, 88400 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia ABSTRACT In the tropics, Langley calibration is often complicated by abundant cloud cover. The lack of an objective and robust cloud screening algorithm in Langley calibration is often problematic, especially for tropical climate sites where short, thin cirrus clouds are regular and abundant. Errors in this case could be misleading and undetectable unless one scrutinizes the performance of the best fitted line on the Langley regression individually. In this work, we introduce a new method to improve the sun photometer calibration past the Langley uncertainty over a tropical climate. A total of 20 Langley plots were collected using a portable spectrometer over a mid-altitude (1,574 m a.s.l.) tropical site at Kinabalu Park, Sabah. Data collected were daily added to Langley plots, and the characteristics of each Langley plot were carefully examined. Our results show that a gradual evolution pattern of the calculated Perez index in a time-series was observable for a good Langley plot, but days with poor Langley data basically demonstrated the opposite behavior.
    [Show full text]
  • Atmosphere Observation by the Method of LED Sun Photometry
    Atmosphere Observation by the Method of LED Sun Photometry A Senior Project presented to the Faculty of the Physics Department California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree Bachelor of Science by Gregory Garza April 2013 1 Introduction The focus of this project is centered on the subject of sun photometry. The goal of the experiment was to use a simple self constructed sun photometer to observe how attenuation coefficients change over longer periods of time as well as the determination of the solar extraterrestrial constants for particular wavelengths of light. This was achieved by measuring changes in sun radiance at a particular location for a few hours a day and then use of the Langley extrapolation method on the resulting sun radiance data set. Sun photometry itself is generally involved in the practice of measuring atmospheric aerosols and water vapor. Roughly a century ago, the Smithsonian Institutes Astrophysical Observatory developed a method of measuring solar radiance using spectrometers; however, these were not usable in a simple hand-held setting. In the 1950’s Frederick Volz developed the first hand-held sun photometer, which he improved until coming to the use of silicon photodiodes to produce a photocurrent. These early stages of the development of sun photometry began with the use of silicon photodiodes in conjunction with light filters to measure particular wavelengths of sunlight. However, this method of sun photometry came with cost issues as well as unreliability resulting from degradation and wear on photodiodes. A more cost effective method was devised by amateur scientist Forrest Mims in 1989 that incorporated the use of light emitting diodes, or LEDs, that are responsive only to the light wavelength that they emit.
    [Show full text]
  • Ground-Based Aerosol Optical Depth Measurement Using Sunphotometers
    SPRINGER BRIEFS IN APPLIED SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY Jedol Dayou Jackson Hian Wui Chang Justin Sentian Ground-Based Aerosol Optical Depth Measurement Using Sunphotometers 123 SpringerBriefs in Applied Sciences and Technology For further volumes: http://www.springer.com/series/8884 Jedol Dayou • Jackson Hian Wui Chang Justin Sentian Ground-Based Aerosol Optical Depth Measurement Using Sunphotometers 123 Jedol Dayou Jackson Hian Wui Chang Justin Sentian School of Science and Technology Universiti Malaysia Sabah Kota Kinabalu Sabah Malaysia ISSN 2191-530X ISSN 2191-5318 (electronic) ISBN 978-981-287-100-8 ISBN 978-981-287-101-5 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-981-287-101-5 Springer Singapore Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London Library of Congress Control Number: 2014940151 Ó The Author(s) 2014 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. Exempted from this legal reservation are brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis or material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the Copyright Law of the Publisher’s location, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer.
    [Show full text]
  • Diurnal Variability of Total Column NO2 Measured Using Direct Solar and Lunar Spectra Over Table Mountain, California (34.38°N) King-Fai Li1, Ryan Khoury1, Thomas J
    https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2020-173 Preprint. Discussion started: 23 June 2020 c Author(s) 2020. CC BY 4.0 License. Diurnal variability of total column NO2 measured using direct solar and lunar spectra over Table Mountain, California (34.38°N) King-Fai Li1, Ryan Khoury1, Thomas J. Pongetti2, Stanley P. Sander2, Yuk L. Yung2,3 1Department of Environmental Science, University of California, Riverside, California, USA 5 2Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA 3Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA Correspondence to: King-Fai Li ([email protected]) Abstract. A full diurnal measurement of total column NO2 has been made over the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Table Mountain Facility (TMF) located in the mountains above Los Angeles, California, USA (2.286 km above mean sea level, 34.38°N, 10 117.68°W). During a representative week in October 2018, a grating spectrometer measured the telluric NO2 absorptions in direct solar and lunar spectra. The total column NO2 is retrieved using a model-based minimum-amount Langley extrapolation, which enables us to accurately treat the non-constant NO2 diurnal cycle abundance and the effects of pollution near the measurement site. The measured 24-hour cycle of total column NO2 on clean days agrees with a 1-D photochemical model calculation, including the monotonic changes during daytime and nighttime due to the exchange with the N2O5 reservoir and 15 the abrupt changes at sunrise and sunset due to the activation or deactivation of the NO2 photodissociation. The observed –2 –1 daytime NO2 increasing rate is (1.29 ± 0.30) × 10 cm h .
    [Show full text]
  • Above Cloud Aerosol Optical Depth from Airborne Observations in the South- East Atlantic Samuel E
    Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2019-43 Manuscript under review for journal Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discussion started: 30 January 2019 c Author(s) 2019. CC BY 4.0 License. Above Cloud Aerosol Optical Depth from airborne observations in the South- East Atlantic Samuel E. LeBlanc1,2, Jens Redemann3, Connor Flynn4, Kristina Pistone1,2, Meloë Kacenelenbogen1,2, 5 Michal Segal-Rosenheimer1,2 ,Yohei Shinozuka1,2, Stephen Dunagan2, Robert P. Dahlgren5,2, Kerry Meyer6, James Podolske2, Steven G. Howell7, Steffen Freitag7, Jennifer Small-Griswold7, Brent Holben6, Michael Diamond8, Paola Formenti9, Stuart Piketh10, Gillian Maggs-Kölling11, Monja Gerber11, Andreas Namwoonde12 10 1Bay Area Environmental Research Institute, Moffett Field, CA 2NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 3University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 4Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 5California State University Monterey Bay, Seaside, CA 15 6NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 7University of Hawai`i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI 8University of Washington, Seattle, WA 9LISA, UMR CNRS 7583, Université Paris Est Créteil et Université Paris Diderot, Institut Pierre Simon Laplace, Créteil, France 20 10NorthWest University, South Africa 11Gobabeb Research and Training Center, Gobabeb, Namibia 12Sam Nujoma Marine and Coastal Resources Research Centre (SANUMARC), University of Namibia, Henties Bay, Namibia 25 Correspondence to: Samuel E. LeBlanc ([email protected]) Abstract The South-East Atlantic (SEA) is host to a climatologically significant biomass burning aerosol layer overlying marine stratocumulus. We present directly measured Above Cloud Aerosol 30 Optical Depth (ACAOD) from the recent ObseRvations of Aerosols above CLouds and their intEractionS (ORACLES) airborne field campaign during August and September 2016.
    [Show full text]
  • Development of a Near-Sea-Level Calibration Algorithm for Aerosol Optical Depth Measurement Using a Ground-Based Spectrometer
    Aerosol and Air Quality Research, 14: 386–395, 2014 Copyright © Taiwan Association for Aerosol Research ISSN: 1680-8584 print / 2071-1409 online doi: 10.4209/aaqr.2013.04.0117 Development of a Near-Sea-Level Calibration Algorithm for Aerosol Optical Depth Measurement Using a Ground-Based Spectrometer Jackson Hian Wui Chang1, Jedol Dayou1*, Justin Sentian2 1 Energy, Vibration and Sound Research Group (e-VIBS), School of Science and Technology, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Jalan UMS, 88400 Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia 2 Climate Change Research Group (CCRG), School of Science and Technology, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Jalan UMS, 88400 Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia ABSTRACT Aerosol optical depth (AOD) is a measurement that represents the total attenuation of solar terrestrial radiation caused by aerosols. Measurement of AOD is often performed using ground-based spectrometers, because this approach has the highest accuracy, as well as high spectral and temporal resolutions. However, frequent calibration of a ground-based spectrometer is often difficult for both absolute laboratories and the conventional Langley method. This is because the former are usually not readily available for most users, whereas the latter is always complicated by possible temporal drifts in the atmosphere. In this paper, a new Langley calibration algorithm was developed to allow frequent calibration, even at near-sea-level sites. The proposed algorithm uses a combination of clear-sky detection, the Perez-Du Mortier (PDM) model and a statistical filter to constrain the extrapolation to get the closest possible extraterrestrial constant over a wide range of the light spectrum. A high degree of linearity was observed between the near-sea-level irradiance predicted by the proposed algorithm and the reference value simulated by the SMARTS model.
    [Show full text]
  • New Methodology for Deriving Total Ozone and Other Atmospheric Variables from Brewer Spectrophotometer Direct Sun Spectra J
    JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 107, NO. D23, 4731, doi:10.1029/2001JD001227, 2002 New methodology for deriving total ozone and other atmospheric variables from Brewer spectrophotometer direct sun spectra J. B. Kerr Meteorological Service of Canada, Environment Canada, Downsview, Ontario, Canada Received 17 August 2001; revised 28 December 2001; accepted 8 January 2002; published 14 December 2002. [1] A new method has been developed for taking high-quality spectral measurements of ultraviolet radiation with the Brewer spectrophotometer. Spectral measurements of direct solar radiation made routinely with the new method at Toronto between 1996 and 2001 were used to determine total ozone, aerosol optical depth, sulfur dioxide and ozone temperature. Corrections to laboratory-based ozone absorption coefficients have been derived from the data set of these new measurements as have the temperature dependencies of standard Brewer and Dobson total ozone measurements. It was found that the temperature of atmospheric ozone has little effect on the total ozone derived from the standard algorithm used for the Brewer instrument. The new measurement method and the calibration information required to derive the atmospheric variables from the spectra are described. Results of calibrations carried out at Mauna Loa Observatory in 1997 and 2000 are presented. The records of atmospheric variables measured at Toronto between 1996 and 2001 are given. INDEX TERMS: 0305 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Aerosols and particles (0345, 4801); 0360 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Transmission and scattering of radiation; 0394 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Instruments and techniques; 3360 Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics: Remote sensing; KEYWORDS: total ozone, ozone temperature, aerosol optical depth, spectral measurements, solar radiation Citation: Kerr, J.
    [Show full text]
  • Aerosol Optical Depth Variability in an Urban Environment
    Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., 7, 537–567, 2007 Atmospheric www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/7/537/2007/ Chemistry ACPD © Author(s) 2007. This work is licensed and Physics 7, 537–567, 2007 under a Creative Commons License. Discussions Aerosol optical depth variability in an urban environment Nine years of UV aerosol optical depth S. Kazadzis et al. measurements at Thessaloniki, Greece Title Page S. Kazadzis1, A. Bais1, V. Amiridis2, D. Balis1, C. Meleti1, N. Kouremeti1, C. S. Zerefos3, S. Rapsomanikis4, M. Petrakakis5, A. Kelesis5, P. Tzoumaka5, and Abstract Introduction 4 K. Kelektsoglou Conclusions References 1 Laboratory of Atmospheric Physics, Physics Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Tables Figures University Campus Box 149, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece 2Institute for Space Applications and Remote Sensing, National Observatory of Athens, Athen, Greece J I 3University Athens, Fac. Geol Geoenvironment, Climatology Lab., Athen, Greece J I 4Democritus University Thrace, Department of Environmental Engnineering, Xanthi, Greece 5 Municipal Thessaloniki, Department of Environment, Thessaloniki, Greece Back Close Received: 31 October 2006 – Accepted: 8 January 2007 – Published: 15 January 2007 Full Screen / Esc Correspondence to: S. Kazadzis ([email protected]) Printer-friendly Version Interactive Discussion EGU 537 Abstract ACPD Spectral measurements of the aerosol optical depth (AOD) and the Angstrom coeffi- cient were conducted at Thessaloniki, Greece (40.5◦ N, 22.9◦ E) between January 1997 7, 537–567, 2007 and December 2005 with a Brewer MKIII double-monochromator spectroradiometer. 5 The dataset was compared with collocated measurements of a second spectrora- Aerosol optical depth diometer (Brewer MKII) and a CIMEL sun-photometer, showing correlations of 0.93 variability in an urban and 0.98 respectively.
    [Show full text]
  • Accurate Observations of Near-Infrared Solar Spectral Irradiance and Water Vapour Continuum
    Accurate observations of near-infrared solar spectral irradiance and water vapour continuum Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Meteorology University of Reading Jonathan David Charles Elsey September 2018 Declaration I confirm that this is my own work and the use of all material from other sources has been properly and fully acknowledged. - Jonathan Elsey i Abstract This thesis contains analyses of the solar spectral irradiance (SSI) and near-infrared water vapour continuum from high-resolution observations by a ground-based, sun-pointing Fourier transform spectrometer in the wavenumber region 2000-10000 cm-1 (1-5 µm). This was performed primarily using the Langley method on observations during 18 September 2008. Particular focus was placed on a detailed assessment of the uncertainty budget for each of these analyses. The solar spectral irradiance was found to be ~8% lower than the commonly-used satellite-based ATLAS3 SSI in the region 4000-7000 cm-1 (where ATLAS3 is most uncertain). This disagreement with ATLAS3 is in line with several other modern analyses. There is good agreement with ATLAS3 and other spectra in the 7000-10000 cm-1 region (where these spectra are considered more accurate). This thesis contains the first published results of water vapour continuum absorption in the atmosphere in the 1.6 and 2.1 µm atmospheric windows (in which laboratory measurements show some significant disagreement) with robust uncertainties. The derived water vapour continuum in these windows is stronger than the widely-used MT_CKD model (v3.2) by a factor of ~100 and ~5 respectively. These results also show that MT_CKD is a reasonably accurate representation of the continuum in the 4 µm window.
    [Show full text]
  • The NIST STARS Program – Update 2017
    The NIST STARS Program – Update 2017 Introduction Vega and Sirius, are currently considered as fundamental standards. However, there are two main problems in applying these standards to WFIRST. The first is that they lack the requisite accuracy. An ongoing program at NIST aims to improve the accuracy of Vega and Sirius, and will be described in the paragraphs below. The second problem is that, with apparent brightnesses of V= 0 mag (Vega) and V=-1.2 mag (Sirius), they are 1 000 000 times brighter than the V=14-19 mag stars suitable for large (8+ meter-diameter) telescopes and similarly, they are much too bright for the surveys planned for WFIRST. This problem has been reviewed separately (Bohlin et al 2014). Vega (Alpha Lyrae) is an A-type, main sequence star (A0V) whose SI pedigree originates in experiments carried out almost 45 years ago relying on thermal standards (black-body furnaces) to set the scale in the infrared between 1 and 5 micrometers (Mountain et al 1985, Blackwell et al 1983, Selby et al 1983), and in the visible between 300 nm and 900 nm (Hayes & Latham 1975, Hayes, Latham & Hayes 1975, Oke & Schild 1970). However, the uncertainties in the IR measurements were larger than the uncertainties in models of Vega, and the systematic uncertainties in the visible are on the order of 5%. Sirius (Alpha Canis Majoris) is an A1V star. Its spectral energy distribution was calibrated with MSX (Midcourse Space Experiment) using emissive reference spheres that were ejected at various times during the mission (Price et al.
    [Show full text]
  • Aerosol Remote Sensing from Ground–Based Polarized Sky–Radiance Under Cloudy Conditions
    Aerosol remote sensing from ground–based polarized sky–radiance under cloudy conditions Hans Christian Grob Munchen¨ 2019 Aerosol remote sensing from ground–based polarized sky–radiance under cloudy conditions Hans Christian Grob Dissertation an der Fakult¨atder Physik der Ludwig–Maximilians–Universit¨at M¨unchen vorgelegt von Hans Christian Grob geboren in Ebersberg/Obb. M¨unchen, den 4.7.2019 Erstgutachter: Prof. Dr. Bernhard Mayer Zweitgutachter: Dr. Martin Weissmann Tag der m¨undlichen Pr¨ufung:20.9.2019 Contents Contentsi Zusammenfassung iii Abstractv 1. Introduction1 2. Theoretical background5 2.1. Vector radiative transfer . .5 2.1.1. Radiometry . .5 2.1.2. Stokes–M¨ullerformalism . .6 2.1.3. Radiative transfer equation . .9 2.2. Atmospheric scattering processes . 13 2.2.1. Rayleigh scattering . 13 2.2.2. Aerosol scattering . 14 2.3. Aerosol properties . 14 3. Methods and Instrument characterization 17 3.1. Radiative transfer models . 17 3.1.1. LIRA-V . 17 3.1.2. MYSTIC . 17 3.2. Aerosol retrieval . 17 3.2.1. Retrieval method . 17 3.2.2. Cloud screening . 19 3.2.3. Modified aerosol retrieval algorithm . 20 3.3. The polarized sun and sky radiometer SSARA . 22 3.3.1. Design overview . 22 3.3.2. Readout electronics . 24 3.3.3. Alt–azimuthal Mount . 28 3.3.4. Straylight baffle . 28 3.3.5. Software . 28 3.4. Calibration . 32 3.4.1. Polarimetric calibration . 32 ii Contents 3.4.2. Mount calibration . 38 3.4.3. Langley calibration . 42 4. Results 45 4.1. Numerical sensitivity studies studies . 45 4.1.1.
    [Show full text]