title: Aerosol lidar intercomparison in the framework of the EARLINET project. 3. Raman lidar algorithm for aerosol extinction, backscatter, and lidar ratio.
abstract: An intercomparison of the algorithms used to retrieve aerosol extinction and backscatter starting from Raman lidar signals has been performed by 11 groups of lidar scientists involved in the European Aerosol Research Lidar Network (EARLINET). This intercomparison is part of an extended quality assurance program performed on aerosol lidars in the EARLINET. Lidar instruments and aerosol backscatter algorithms were tested separately. The Raman lidar algorithms were tested by use of synthetic lidar data, simulated at 355, 532, 386, and 607 nm, with realistic experimental and atmospheric conditions taken into account. The intercomparison demonstrates that the data-handling procedures used by all the lidar groups provide satisfactory results. Extinction profiles show mean deviations from the correct solution within 10% in the planetary boundary layer (PBL), and backscatter profiles, retrieved by use of algorithms based on the combined Raman elastic-backscatter lidar technique, show mean deviations from solutions within 20% up to 2 km. The intercomparison was also carried out for the lidar ratio and produced profiles that show a mean deviation from the solution within 20% in the PBL. The mean value of this parameter was also calculated within a lofted aerosol layer at higher altitudes that is representative of typical layers related to special events such as Saharan dust outbreaks, forest fires, and volcanic eruptions. Here deviations were within 15%.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Metodologie per l'Analisi Ambientale, Consiglio Nazionale delle Richerche, Contrada S Loja, 85050 Tito Scalo (Potenza), Italy. pappalardo@imaa.cnr.it
authors.forename: Gelsomina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pappalardo
authors.forename: Aldo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Amodeo
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pandolfi
authors.forename: Ulla
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Wandinger
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ansmann
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bösenberg
authors.forename: Volker
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Matthias
authors.forename: Vassilis
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Amiridis
authors.forename: Ferdinando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: De Tomasi
authors.forename: Max
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Frioud
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Larlori
authors.forename: Leonce
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Komguem
authors.forename: Alexandros
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Papayannis
authors.forename: Francesc
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rocadenbosch
authors.forename: Xuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang