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Special Issue "High Resolution Active Optical Remote Sensing Observations of Aerosols, Clouds and Aerosol-Cloud Interactions and Their Implication to Climate II"

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A special issue of Remote Sensing (ISSN 2072-4292). This special issue belongs to the section "Atmospheric Remote Sensing".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2022) | Viewed by 16189

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Prof. Dr. Simone Lolli

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Guest Editor

CNR-IMAA, Contrada S. Loja, 85050 Tito Scalo (PZ), Italy
Interests: radiative transfer; aerosols; LiDAR; image fusion
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Prof. Dr. Kai Qin

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Guest Editor

School of Environment and Spatial Informatics, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China
Interests: aerosol; trace gases; remote sensing; lidar
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Prof. Dr. Jason Blake Cohen

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Guest Editor

School of Environment and Spatial Informatics, China Univesity of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China
Interests: integration of data across multiple satellites; remote sensing and modeling of aerosols; inverse modeling of atmospheric composition and emissions sources; remote sensing of air quality extremes; remote sensing of short lived climate forcers
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Dr. Davide Dionisi

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Guest Editor

Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Institute of Marine Sciences (ISMAR), 00133 Rome, Italy
Interests: remote sensing; Lidar; climate change; aerosol; atmospheric water vapor cycle
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This special issue seeks contributions on new observations of aerosols and clouds properties and, eventually, their mute interaction at all different scales by active optical remote sensing (LiDAR) methodologies. Contributions describing original research results from ground-based, airborne, and space-based observational vantage points are solicited. In particular, geometrical and optical properties of aerosol layers are important in climate, radiation budget, and cloud formation research (aerosol–cloud interaction). One of the goals of this Special Issue is, therefore, to survey the state of the art of active optical remote sensing instruments for determining the vertical and horizontal distribution of clouds and aerosols throughout the atmospheric column. Another topic that benefits greatly from active optical remote sensing instruments is the elucidation of chemical and physical processes that occur in moderately and heavily dust-polluted environments. For this application, it is necessary to accurately describe planetary boundary layer dynamics and depth evolution (a field in which LiDAR techniques excel). Other topics of interest for this Special Issue include process studies related to atmospheric composition, pollution, transport, and dynamics, and convective storm development.

Prof. Dr. Simone Lolli
Prof. Dr. Kai Qin
Dr. Jason Blake Cohen
Dr. Davide Dionisi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Remote Sensing is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Lidar
Aerosol–cloud interaction
Cirrus clouds
Aerosols
Boundary layer
Air pollution
Radiative transfer
Climate

Published Papers (8 papers)

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20 pages, 8666 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Study on the Parameters of Ice Clouds Based on 1.5 µm Micropulse Polarization Lidar

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Remote Sens. 2022, 14(20), 5162; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14205162 - 15 Oct 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1075

Abstract

Dust aerosols can participate in the heterogeneous nucleation process as effective ice nucleation particles, thus changing the physical properties of clouds. In this paper, we used an eye-safe 1550 nm micropulse polarization single photon lidar combined with meteorological stations, HYSPLIT backward trajectory analysis, ERA5 reanalysis data, CALIPSO, Himawari-8 and Terra-MODIS satellite data to compare the difference in cloud characteristics between dust and clean cirrus cases in Jinan from 26–29 March 2022. The study found that the aerosol affected the cloud effective radius, and the cloud top temperature impacted the properties of depolarization of dust ice clouds. According to the statistical results of the upper and lower quartiles, the depolarization ratio (DPR) range of dust cirrus on 26 March was 0.46–0.49, a similar range to the clean cirrus, while that of dust cirrus on 27 March was 0.54–0.59, which seemed much larger. Different height and temperature conditions lead to differences in the habits of ice crystals in clouds, thus changing the DPR. However, the range of the DPR between clean cirrus and dust cirrus showed no obvious difference, as the former was 0.43–0.53 and the latter was 0.46–0.59. Under the condition of higher aerosol loading, the lidar range-corrected signal (RCS) of cirrus clouds was stronger, and the cloud effective radius was 48 μm, larger than that of clean cirrus (32 μm). This may be the effect of dust on the microphysical properties of clouds. This study discusses the indirect effects of dust aerosols on cirrus clouds and the underlying mechanisms from the perspectives of microphysics and optics, which can provide more references for urban air pollution processes and aerosol-cloud interactions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue High Resolution Active Optical Remote Sensing Observations of Aerosols, Clouds and Aerosol-Cloud Interactions and Their Implication to Climate II)

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22 pages, 5986 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Climatic–Environmental Effects of Aerosols and Their Sensitivity to Aerosol Mixing States in East Asia in Winter

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Remote Sens. 2022, 14(15), 3539; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14153539 - 23 Jul 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1309

Abstract

To establish the direct climatic and environmental effect of anthropogenic aerosols in East Asia in winter under external, internal, and partial internal mixing (EM, IM and PIM) states, a well-developed regional climate–chemical model RegCCMS is used by carrying out sensitive numerical simulations. Different aerosol mixing states yield different aerosol optical and radiative properties. The regional averaged EM aerosol single scattering albedo is approximately 1.4 times that of IM. The average aerosol effective radiative forcing in the atmosphere ranges from −0.35 to +1.40 W/m² with increasing internal mixed aerosols. Due to the absorption of black carbon aerosol, lower air temperatures are increased, which likely weakens the EAWM circulations and makes the atmospheric boundary more stable. Consequently, substantial accumulations of aerosols further appear in most regions of China. This type of interaction will be intensified when more aerosols are internally mixed. Overall, the aerosol mixing states may be important for regional air pollution and climate change assessments. The different aerosol mixing states in East Asia in winter will result in a variation from 0.04 to 0.11 K for the averaged lower air temperature anomaly and from approximately 0.45 to 2.98 μg/m³ for the aerosol loading anomaly, respectively, due to the different mixing aerosols. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue High Resolution Active Optical Remote Sensing Observations of Aerosols, Clouds and Aerosol-Cloud Interactions and Their Implication to Climate II)

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33 pages, 23848 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Design and Verification of a Double-Grating Spectrometer System (DGSS) for Simultaneous Observation of Aerosols, Water Vapor and Clouds

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Remote Sens. 2022, 14(10), 2492; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14102492 - 23 May 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1403

Abstract

Simultaneous observation of aerosols, water vapor, and clouds is conducive to the analysis of their interactions, and the consistency of observation equipment, instrument performance, and observation time is crucial. Molecular oxygen A-band (758–778 nm) and water vapor absorption band (758–880 nm) are two bands with similar wavelengths, and the hyperspectral remote sensing information of these two bands can be exploited to invert the vertical profile of aerosol and water vapor. In this paper, a double-grating spectrometer system (DGSS) was developed. DGSS uses a telescope system and fiber to introduce multi-angle, double-band sunlight, and it splits light synchronously (non-sequentially) to different positions of the detector through a slit plate and two gratings. The DGSS was calibrated in the laboratory and observed in the external field. The results indicated that the spectral resolution reached 0.06 nm (molecular oxygen A-band, 758–778 nm) and 0.24 nm (water vapor absorption band, 758–880 nm). Meanwhile, the spectra of the two bands (three angles in each band) are not aliased on the detector. Besides, the multi-angle simultaneous observation of the high-resolution spectra of the two bands is realized, which proves the effectiveness of this method. This study will provide a scientific basis for the observation of aerosol, water vapor, and cloud ground-based networks. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue High Resolution Active Optical Remote Sensing Observations of Aerosols, Clouds and Aerosol-Cloud Interactions and Their Implication to Climate II)

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15 pages, 5130 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Vertical Structure of Dust Aerosols Observed by a Ground-Based Raman Lidar with Polarization Capabilities in the Center of the Taklimakan Desert

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Remote Sens. 2022, 14(10), 2461; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14102461 - 20 May 2022

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 1665

Abstract

The vertical structure of dust properties in desert sources is crucial for evaluating their long-range transportation and radiative forcing. To investigate vertical profiles of dust optical properties in the Taklimakan Desert, we conducted ground-based polarization Raman lidar measurements in Tazhong (83.39°E, 38.58°N, 1103 m above sea level), located at the center of the Taklimakan Desert in the summer of 2019. The lidar system developed by Lanzhou University for continuous network observation is capable of measuring polarization at 532 and 355 nm and detecting Raman signals at 387, 407, and 607 nm. The results indicate that dust aerosols in the central Taklimakan Desert were regularly lifted over 6 km during the summer with a mass concentration of 400–1000 µg m⁻³, while the majority of the dust remained restricted within 2 km. Moreover, the height of the boundary layer can reach 5–6 km in the afternoon under the strong convention. Above 3 km, dust is composed of finer particles with an effective radius (Reff.) less than 3 μm and a Ångström exponent (AE) related to the extinction coefficient (AEE)_532,355 greater than 4; below 3 km, however, dust is dominated by coarser particles. In addition, the particle depolarization ratios (PDR) of Taklimakan dust are 0.32 ± 0.06 at 532 nm and 0.27 ± 0.04 at 355 nm, while the lidar ratios (LRs) are 49 ± 19 sr at 532 nm and 43 ± 12 sr at 355 nm. This study firstly provides information on dust vertical structure and its optical properties in the center of the desert, which may aid in further evaluating their associated impacts on the climate and ecosystem. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue High Resolution Active Optical Remote Sensing Observations of Aerosols, Clouds and Aerosol-Cloud Interactions and Their Implication to Climate II)

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24 pages, 7490 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Aerosols over East and South Asia: Type Identification, Optical Properties, and Implications for Radiative Forcing

Yushan Liu

and

Bingqi Yi

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(9), 2058; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14092058 - 25 Apr 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1468

Abstract

Identification of aerosol types has long been a difficult problem over East and South Asia due to various limitations. In this study, we use 2-dimensional (2-D) and multi-dimensional Mahalanobis distance (MD) clustering algorithms to identify aerosol characteristics based on the data from the Aerosol Robotic Network from March 1998 to February 2018 over the South and East Asian region (10°N~50°N, 70°E~135°E). The single scattering albedo (SSA), absorption Angstrom exponent (AAE), extinction Angstrom exponent (EAE), real index of refraction (RRI), and imaginary index of refraction (IRI) are utilized for classification of aerosols. Sub-regions with similar background conditions over East and South Asia are identified by hierarchical clustering algorithm to illustrate distinctive meteorological states in different areas. The East and South Asian aerosols are found to have distinct regional and seasonal features relating to the meteorological conditions, land cover, and industrial infrastructure. It is found that the proportions of dust aerosol are the highest in spring at the SACOL site and in summer at the sites near the Northern Indo-Gangetic Plain area. In spring, biomass-burning aerosols are dominant over the central Indo-China Peninsula area. The aerosol characteristics at coastal sites are also analyzed and compared with previous results. The 2-D clustering method is useful when limited aerosol parameters are available, but the results are highly dependent on the sets of parameters used for identification. Comparatively, the MD method, which considers multiple aerosol parameters, could provide more comprehensive classification of aerosol types. It is estimated that only about 50% of the data samples that are identifiable by the MD method could be classified by the 2-D methods, and a lot of undetermined data samples could be mis-classified by the 2-D methods. The aerosol radiative forcing (ARF) and the aerosol radiative forcing efficiency (ARFE) of various aerosol types at the top and the bottom of the atmosphere (TOA and BOA) are determined based on the MD aerosol classification. The dust aerosols are found to have the largest ARF at the TOA (−36 W/m²), followed by the urban/industrial aerosols and biomass-burning aerosols. The ARFE of biomass-burning aerosols at the BOA (−165 W/m²/AOD_550nm) is the strongest among those of the other aerosol types. The comparison of the results by MD and 2-D methods shows that the differences in ARF and ARFE are generally within 10%. Our results indicate the importance of aerosol type classification in accurately attributing the radiative contributions of different aerosol components. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue High Resolution Active Optical Remote Sensing Observations of Aerosols, Clouds and Aerosol-Cloud Interactions and Their Implication to Climate II)

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18 pages, 5806 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Aloft Transport of Haze Aerosols to Xuzhou, Eastern China: Optical Properties, Sources, Type, and Components

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Remote Sens. 2022, 14(7), 1589; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14071589 - 25 Mar 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2488

Abstract

Rapid industrialization and urbanization have caused frequent haze pollution episodes during winter in eastern China. Considering that the vertical profile of the aerosol properties changes significantly with altitude, investigating aerosol aloft information via satellite remote sensing is essential for studying regional transport, climate radiative effects, and air quality. Through a synergic approach between lidar, the AErosol RObotic NETwork sunphotometer observations, and WRF-Chem simulations, several transboundary aloft transport events of haze aerosols to Xuzhou, eastern China, are investigated in terms of source, type, and composition and the impact on optical properties. Upper-air aerosol layers are short-lived tiny particles that increase the total aerosol optical depth (AOD). The aloft aerosols not only play a critical role during the haze event, enhancing the scattering of aerosol particles significantly but also cause a rise in the AOD and the Ångström exponent (AE), which increases the proportion of fine particles, exacerbating the pollution level near the surface. Based on the model simulation results, our study highlights that the transported aloft aerosols lead to the rapid formation of secondary inorganic substances, such as secondary sulfates, nitrates, and ammonium salts, which strongly contribute to haze event formation. Moreover, the results provide evidence that the haze frequency events associated with polluted dust outbreaks were higher for 2014–2015 winter. A closer analysis shows that the advected dust layers over Xuzhou originated from Inner Mongolia and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The study of the occurrence frequency, height, thickness, and optical properties of aloft anthropogenic haze in China will further deepen our understanding and provide a strong basis to assess aerosol impact on transport and the Earth–atmosphere radiative balance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue High Resolution Active Optical Remote Sensing Observations of Aerosols, Clouds and Aerosol-Cloud Interactions and Their Implication to Climate II)

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30 pages, 7884 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Identification of Aerosol Pollution Hotspots in Jiangsu Province of China

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Remote Sens. 2021, 13(14), 2842; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13142842 - 20 Jul 2021

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3197

Abstract

Aerosol optical depth (AOD) is an important atmospheric parameter for climate change assessment, human health, and for total ecological situation studies both regionally and globally. This study used 21-year (2000–2020) high-resolution (1 km) Multiangle Implementation of Atmospheric Correction (MAIAC) algorithm-based AOD from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor onboard the Terra and Aqua satellites. MAIAC AOD was evaluated against Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) data across three sites (Xuzhou-CUMT, NUIST, and Taihu) located in Jiangsu Province. The study also investigated the spatiotemporal distributions and variations in AOD, with associated trends, and measured the impact of meteorology on AOD in the 13 cities of Jiangsu Province. The evaluation results demonstrated a high correlation (r = 0.867~0.929) between MAIAC AOD and AERONET data, with lower root mean squared error (RMSE = 0.130~0.287) and mean absolute error (MAE = 0.091~0.198). In addition, the spatial distribution of AOD was higher (>0.60) in most cities except the southeast of Nantong City (AOD < 0.4). Seasonally, higher AOD was seen in summer (>0.70) than in spring, autumn, and winter, whereas monthly AOD peaked in June (>0.9) and had a minimum in December (<0.4) for all the cities. Frequencies of 0.3 ≤ AOD < 0.4 and 0.4 ≤ AOD < 0.5 were relatively common, indicating a turbid atmosphere, which may be associated with anthropogenic activities, increased emissions, and changes in meteorological circumstances. Trend analysis showed significant increases in AOD during 2000–2009 for all the cities, perhaps reflecting a booming economy and industrial development, with significant emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO₂), and primary aerosols. China’s strict air pollution control policies and control of vehicular emissions helped to decrease AOD from 2010 to 2019, enhancing air quality throughout the study area. A notably similar pattern was observed for AOD and meteorological parameters (LST: land surface temperature, WV: water vapor, and P: precipitation), signifying that meteorology plays a role in terms of increasing and decreasing AOD. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue High Resolution Active Optical Remote Sensing Observations of Aerosols, Clouds and Aerosol-Cloud Interactions and Their Implication to Climate II)

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14 pages, 7272 KiB

Open AccessTechnical Note

Microburst, Windshear, Gust Front, and Vortex Detection in Mega Airport Using a Single Coherent Doppler Wind Lidar

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Remote Sens. 2022, 14(7), 1626; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14071626 - 28 Mar 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2193

Abstract

Accurate wind shear detection is crucial for aviation safety, especially in landing and departure. A new approach for windshear alerting is proposed and demonstrated. This approach monitors orthogonal wind components in multiple runways using single coherent Doppler wind lidar (CDWL). First, the two orthogonal components of the wind field are retrieved from radial speed by an updated variational method. Then, the heading wind and cross wind on different runways are calculated simultaneously, without the location restriction of the single lidar. Finally, a windshear alerting message is generated through quantitatively evaluating the distribution of shear ramps over the monitoring area. The new CDWL-based approach for windshear alerting is implemented at the Beijing Daxing International Airport. The retrieved horizontal wind from the lidar is consistent with that from anemometers. Thanks to its high spatial/temporal resolution, some meteorological phenomena of aviation hazards, including microburst, windshear, gust front, and vortex are well captured. Particularly, all 10 windshear cases reported by crews are successfully identified during the windshear verification experiment, demonstrating the effectiveness and robustness of the new approach. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue High Resolution Active Optical Remote Sensing Observations of Aerosols, Clouds and Aerosol-Cloud Interactions and Their Implication to Climate II)

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