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Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., 7, 9769-9793, 2007
www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/7/9769/2007/ doi:10.5194/acpd-7-9769-2007 © Author(s) 2007. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. |
Performance of MAX-DOAS measurements of aerosols at Tsukuba, Japan: a comparison with lidar and sky radiometer measurements
1Frontier Research Center for Global Change, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, 3173-25 Showa-machi, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa 236-0001, Japan
2National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16-2, Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8506, Japan
3Department of Earth Science, Faculty of Sciences, University of Toyama, 3190 Gofuku, Toyama 930-8555, Japan
Abstract. Ground-based Multi-Axis Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS) measurements were performed at Tsukuba, Japan (36.1° N, 140.1° E), in November–December 2006. The measured spectra of scattered sunlight are analyzed by DOAS and optimal estimation methods to retrieve the aerosol optical depth (τ) and the vertical profile of the aerosol extinction coefficient (σ) at 476 nm in the lower troposphere. We characterize these retrieved quantities through comparisons with coincident lidar and sky radiometer measurements. The retrieved σ values for layers of 0–1 and 1–2 km agree with lidar data to within 30% and 60%, respectively, for most cases, including partly cloudy conditions. Results similar to σ at 0–1 km are obtained for the retrieved τ values, demonstrating that MAX-DOAS provides the new, unique aerosol dataset in the lower troposphere.
Citation: Irie, H., Kanaya, Y., Akimoto, H., Iwabuchi, H., Shimizu, A., and Aoki, K.: Performance of MAX-DOAS measurements of aerosols at Tsukuba, Japan: a comparison with lidar and sky radiometer measurements, Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., 7, 9769-9793, doi:10.5194/acpd-7-9769-2007, 2007.