ACE_GFAT · Development of retrieval techniques for aerosol microphysical characterization from multi-wavelength space-borne lidar and radiometric measurements
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2016-02-01 → 2018-01-31
- EU contribution
- €158,122
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF-EF-RI
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Development of retrieval techniques for aerosol microphysical characterization from multi-wavelength space-borne lidar and radiometric measurements
The main goal of the ACE_GFAT project was to study the optimum capabilities of a lidar system to be deployed in the upcoming Aerosols – Clouds – Ecosystems (ACE) NASA space mission. To that end, during this project we continue the collaboration started by Dr. Daniel Perez-Ramirez (coordinator of the project) with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (Greenbelt, Maryland, USA) and expanded the collaborations with secondments at the University of Lille (France). The studies have focussed on the evaluation of different lidar capabalities for obtaining vertical profiles of aerosol microphysical properties from space lidar measurements and also on studying the yields of different lidar space systems. The proposed studies are of relevance for the society because will help to better understand the mechanisms of formation of clouds and the interaction of aerosols with radiation. Also, the studies performed during the ACE_GFAT project are being essential to define the feasibility of space lidar system in terms of costs/risks, which directly impact on society as such space programs rely mostly on public taxes. The overall objective of the ACE_GFAT projectwas successfully obtained through the different objectives: • Simulations of Multi-Wavelength lidar for ACE • High temporal-resolution of aerosol microphysical properties • Combination of backscattering lidar and ground-based measurements
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
This work focuses in establishing a collaboration between NASA and the Atmospheric Physics Group of the University of Granada (GFAT) in the framework of the upcoming Aerosol-Cloud-Ecosystems (ACE) mission. Such collaboration will create a good environment for the progress in the atmospheric sciences and advance our knowledge of the Earth-Atmosphere radiative system. The research activity focuses on performing lidar ACE simulations studies that includes defining the optimum capabilities of such system in order to obtain aerosol microphysical properties under the accuracy and errors claimed in ACE white paper. The techniques to be used are regularization and Linear Estimation (LE), and special emphasis will be paid to the retrieval of coarse particles predominance. In this context GFAT offers a unique environment thanks to the possibility of evaluating these techniques by MW ground-based lidar and to its large set of in-situ and radiometric instrumentation. The advances in LE will be used to perform high temporal-resolution of fine and coarse mode of columnar aerosol properties using measurements of aerosol optical depth (AOD) by AERONET sun-photometers. This will be done combined with the Spectral Deconvolution Algorithm (SDA+). Finally, as GFAT operates one of the few star-photometers in the world, we will evaluate the potentiality of improving lidar retrievals using AOD from star-photometry. In this context, a secondment with the Laboratory of Atmospheric Optics at the University of Lille (LOA) is planned to extend night-time retrievals of the GARRLiC algorithm, and thus obtain vertical profiles of particle volume through an easy deployment of backscatter elastic lidar and star-photometry.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- UNIVERSIDAD DE GRANADA · GranadaCoordinatorSpain
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union