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Title: Initial Assessment of the Spectrometer for Sky-Scanning, Sun-Tracking Atmospheric Research (4STAR)-Based Aerosol Retrieval: Sensitivity Study

Abstract

The Spectrometer for Sky-Scanning, Sun-Tracking Atmospheric Research (4STAR) being developed for airborne measurements will offer retrievals of aerosol microphysical and optical properties from multi-angular and multi-spectral measurements of sky radiance and direct-beam sun transmittance. In this study, we assess the expected accuracy of the 4STAR-based aerosol retrieval and its sensitivity to major sources of anticipated perturbations in the 4STAR measurements by adapting a theoretical approach previously developed for the AERONET measurements. The major anticipated perturbations are (1) an apparent enhancement of sky radiance at small scattering angles associated with the necessarily compact design of the 4STAR and (2) and an offset (i.e. uncertainty) of sky radiance calibration independent of scattering angle. The assessment is performed through application of the operational AERONET aerosol retrieval and constructed synthetic 4STAR-like data. Particular attention is given to the impact of these perturbations on the upwelling and downwelling broadband fluxes and the direct aerosol radiative forcing at the bottom and top of the atmosphere. The results from this study suggest that limitations in the accuracy of 4STAR-retrieved particle size distributions and scattering phase functions have diminished impact on the accuracy of retrieved bulk microphysical parameters, permitting quite accurate retrievals of properties including the effective radiusmore » (up to 10%, or 0.03), and the radiatively important optical properties, such as the asymmetry factor (up to 4%, or ±0.02) and single-scattering albedo (up to 6%, or ±0.04). Also, the obtained results indicate that the uncertainties in the retrieved aerosol optical properties are quite small in the context of the calculated fluxes and direct aerosol radiative forcing (up to 15%, or 3 Wm-2).« less

Authors:
; ; ; ; ;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1054044
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-89271
KP1704010
DOE Contract Number:  
AC05-76RL01830
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Atmosphere, 3(4):495-521
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Atmosphere, 3(4):495-521
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
assessment; 4STAR; aerosol; retrieval

Citation Formats

Kassianov, Evgueni I, Flynn, Connor J, Redemann, Jens, Schmid, Beat, Russell, P B, and Sinyuk, Alexander. Initial Assessment of the Spectrometer for Sky-Scanning, Sun-Tracking Atmospheric Research (4STAR)-Based Aerosol Retrieval: Sensitivity Study. United States: N. p., 2012. Web. doi:10.3390/atmos3040495.
Kassianov, Evgueni I, Flynn, Connor J, Redemann, Jens, Schmid, Beat, Russell, P B, & Sinyuk, Alexander. Initial Assessment of the Spectrometer for Sky-Scanning, Sun-Tracking Atmospheric Research (4STAR)-Based Aerosol Retrieval: Sensitivity Study. United States. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos3040495
Kassianov, Evgueni I, Flynn, Connor J, Redemann, Jens, Schmid, Beat, Russell, P B, and Sinyuk, Alexander. 2012. "Initial Assessment of the Spectrometer for Sky-Scanning, Sun-Tracking Atmospheric Research (4STAR)-Based Aerosol Retrieval: Sensitivity Study". United States. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos3040495.
@article{osti_1054044,
title = {Initial Assessment of the Spectrometer for Sky-Scanning, Sun-Tracking Atmospheric Research (4STAR)-Based Aerosol Retrieval: Sensitivity Study},
author = {Kassianov, Evgueni I and Flynn, Connor J and Redemann, Jens and Schmid, Beat and Russell, P B and Sinyuk, Alexander},
abstractNote = {The Spectrometer for Sky-Scanning, Sun-Tracking Atmospheric Research (4STAR) being developed for airborne measurements will offer retrievals of aerosol microphysical and optical properties from multi-angular and multi-spectral measurements of sky radiance and direct-beam sun transmittance. In this study, we assess the expected accuracy of the 4STAR-based aerosol retrieval and its sensitivity to major sources of anticipated perturbations in the 4STAR measurements by adapting a theoretical approach previously developed for the AERONET measurements. The major anticipated perturbations are (1) an apparent enhancement of sky radiance at small scattering angles associated with the necessarily compact design of the 4STAR and (2) and an offset (i.e. uncertainty) of sky radiance calibration independent of scattering angle. The assessment is performed through application of the operational AERONET aerosol retrieval and constructed synthetic 4STAR-like data. Particular attention is given to the impact of these perturbations on the upwelling and downwelling broadband fluxes and the direct aerosol radiative forcing at the bottom and top of the atmosphere. The results from this study suggest that limitations in the accuracy of 4STAR-retrieved particle size distributions and scattering phase functions have diminished impact on the accuracy of retrieved bulk microphysical parameters, permitting quite accurate retrievals of properties including the effective radius (up to 10%, or 0.03), and the radiatively important optical properties, such as the asymmetry factor (up to 4%, or ±0.02) and single-scattering albedo (up to 6%, or ±0.04). Also, the obtained results indicate that the uncertainties in the retrieved aerosol optical properties are quite small in the context of the calculated fluxes and direct aerosol radiative forcing (up to 15%, or 3 Wm-2).},
doi = {10.3390/atmos3040495},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1054044}, journal = {Atmosphere, 3(4):495-521},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Oct 24 00:00:00 EDT 2012},
month = {Wed Oct 24 00:00:00 EDT 2012}
}