The satellite mission EarthCARE (Earth Cloud, Aerosol, and Radiation Explorer) of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) was successfully launched in May 2024. The satellite has four instruments on board, namely a high-spectral-resolution lidar called ATLID, a Cloud Profiling Doppler Radar (CPR), a Multi-Spectral Imager (MSI), and a Broad-Band Radiometer (BBR). ATLID provides for the first time directly measured profiles of the extinction and backscatter coefficient (and thus lidar ratio) together with the depolarization ratio at 355 nm from space. Since the start of the measurements, several updates in the ESA's processing chain have been made resulting in different baselines of the products. A first homogenized data set for the entire mission duration processed with one algorithm version, namely Baseline BA, was accomplished in September 2025. We used ground-based multiwavelength-Raman-polarization lidars of PollyNET operating in the framework of the Aerosol, Clouds and Trace gases Research Infrastructure (ACTRIS) to discuss the quality of ATLID profiling products based on golden case studies. The PollyNET lidars measure the same geophysical parameter as EarthCARE, namely profiles of the particle backscatter coefficient, the particle extinction coefficient, and the particle linear depolarization ratio at 355 nm. Seven dedicated cases, for which EarthCARE and the ground-based reference system observed the same atmospheric scene, were selected, spanning several atmospheric conditions (ice clouds, high aerosol load, pristine conditions) and geographic locations (Tropical Atlantic, Europe, Central Asia, and the pristine Southern Hemisphere). Our investigations revealed that ATLID has remarkable profiling capabilities with good signal strength and high vertical resolution. The ATLID profiling product of ESA's processing chain, A-EBD, could resolve the vertical structure of the targeted atmospheric features very well so that the A-EBD backscatter and extinction profiles (at low resolution) matched qualitatively (and mostly quantitatively) with the ground-based reference observations for most investigated atmospheric conditions. The intensive particle quantity lidar ratio is retrieved layer-wise and thus not in the same resolution as the backscatter and extinction products. It matches in many cases with the ground-based reference, but we also detected occasions when the lidar ratio in certain atmospheric regions was significantly deviating from the reference, which then affects either the extinction or backscatter coefficient values. Especially edge effects at the transition of particle layers to clean air seem to be problematic. Concerning ATLID's depolarization ratio, fair agreement was found for strongly scattering and depolarizing features, like ice clouds - especially during nighttime. For the aerosol regime, however, we confirm significant deviations from the ground reference and consider the depolarization ratio in Baselines BA and BB as quantitatively not reliable, especially during daytime. Thus, ATLID's depolarization ratio of Baselines B can be used to discriminate but not to type atmospheric features.In conclusion, we can state that ATLID's optical profiles of Baselines B are ready for scientific exploitation keeping in mind the reported drawbacks (e.g., depolarization ratio offsets, edge effects, occasional retrieval errors, non-complete quality flags). EarthCARE data should therefore be intensively quality checked before using for scientific studies. As EarthCARE's lifetime was recently foreseen to last for more than 10 years and algorithm development continues, such validation efforts stay important and complement other respective validation approaches.

Ground-based lidar stations play a vital role in the validation of spaceborne lidar products. While ground-based measurements have a high temporal resolution, they have limited spatial coverage, which potentially imposes implications for the Calibration and Validation (Cal/Val) of the satellite products. Therefore, in this study, we assess the representativeness of a remote ground-based ACTRIS (Aerosol, Clouds, and Trace Gases Research Infrastructure) station, in Mindelo, Cabo Verde by utilizing the continuous observations of a ground-based PollyNET multiwavelength polarization Raman lidar. This station was selected since Cabo Verde has been a key location for the validation of two recent Earth Explorer missions of the European Space Agency (ESA), namely Aeolus and the Earth Cloud, Aerosol and Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE). The islands are located in the Atlantic Ocean, in the outflow region of the African continent with frequent dust outbreaks, but also smoke advection and, thus, along with the local (marine) boundary layer provide an excellent atmospheric laboratory. Continuous, vertically-resolved aerosol measurements are being conducted with the state-of-the-art multiwavelength polarization Raman lidar PollyXT at Mindelo since June 2021. Based on these observations and in combination with the LIdar climatology of Vertical Aerosol Structure for space-based lidar simulation studie (LIVAS) products available at different radii around Mindelo, a statistical analysis of the optical properties was performed to evaluate the representativeness of the station in the context of aerosol profiling Cal/Val activities. Additionally, three case studies, focusing on different distances from the ground-based station, have been closely examined for a more complete and detailed comparison. Our study results indicate that overall the ground-based station in Mindelo can be considered conditionally representative. According to the monthly analysis, at altitudes where the lofted aerosol (dust) layers occur, lidar observations were very representative for radii up to 300 km around the island, while the boundary-layer characteristics varied. Case studies confirmed the long-term results and revealed that lidar observations of lofted aerosol layers can be representative for radii up to 100 km around Mindelo and at the same time highlighted the importance of spatiotemporal homogeneity of the target. From our findings and especially for the Cabo Verde region, we conclude that it is better to use monthly averaged aerosol profiles for the validation of spaceborne profiles over long times rather than using single overpasses, as representativeness cannot be guaranteed for the latter without additional measures. Thus, using fixed radii around a certain ground site (as e.g., the frequently used 100 km) for validation activities seems to be inappropriate for profile-to-profile comparison without any further considerations. However, we show in our case studies that if representativeness can be guaranteed, also single-profile validation is possible and has its own valuable potential. Additionally, the proposed study can serve as a calibration/validation tool for the remote sensing facilities of the European Aerosol Research Lidar Network (EARLINET).

This paper presents an analysis of the annual cycle of aerosol optical and geometrical properties based on multiwavelength-Raman-polarization lidar measurements for Mindelo, Cabo Verde, from July 2021 to August 2023. A quality-assured data set of more than 70 automatically-calibrated lidar profiles was manually evaluated. For the first time, a two-year time series of, e.g. layer-resolved aerosol optical depth (AOD), lidar ratio profiles, and particle depolarization profiles are presented for Cabo Verde to characterize the complete annual cycle of aerosol in the planetary boundary layer (PBL) and in the lofted aerosol layers. The aerosol conditions over Mindelo are complex with different mixing states of dust and non-dust components. A strong annual cycle was found in the overall aerosol layer top height and the geometrical extent, the AOD, and the dust fraction of the lofted layers. Furthermore, the data was used to explicitly define aerosol-related seasons. The dust season (June-September) is characterized by geometrically and optically thick lofted layers dominated by Saharan dust (up to 7 km height) above a slightly polluted marine PBL. Seasonal mean lidar ratios at 355(532) nm are 34 +/- 18 (32 +/- 19) sr (PBL) and 48 +/- 19 (39 +/- 18) sr (lofted layers). The particle depolarization ratio is <0.05 (PBL) and 0.16 +/- 0.07, 0.22 +/- 0.06, and 0.20 +/- 0.05 (lofted layers) at 355, 532, and 1064 nm. The mixing season (often mixtures of Saharan dust with biomass burning aerosol, November-March) is characterized by a large variability of aerosol with mean lidar ratios of 60 +/- 32 (48 +/- 32) sr at 355 (532) nm and depolarization ratios of 0.09 +/- 0.06, 0.11 +/- 0.07, and 0.16 +/- 0.08 at 355, 532, and 1064 nm in the lofted layers.

In September 2021, volcanic aerosol (mainly freshly formed sulfate plumes) originating from the eruption of Cumbre Vieja on La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain, crossed Cabo Verde at altitudes below 2 km. On 24 September 2021, an extraordinary large aerosol optical depth (AOD) close to 1 (daily mean at 500 nm) was observed at Mindelo, Cabo Verde. This event provided favorable conditions to obtain lidar-derived profiles of extinction and backscatter coefficients, lidar ratio, and depolarization ratio at 355, 532 and 1064 nm in the sulfate aerosol plume. A novel feature of the lidar system operated at Mindelo is the availability of extinction, lidar ratio and depolarization measurements at 1064 nm in addition to the standard wavelengths of 355 and 532 nm. Having measurements of these parameters at all three wavelengths is a major advantage for the aerosol characterization and in aerosol typing efforts as the lidar ratio and the particle linear depolarization ratio are key parameters for this purpose. In this article, we present the key results of the lidar observations obtained on one specific day, namely on 24 September 2021 at 04:38–05:57 UTC, including the first ever measurements of the particle extinction coefficient, the lidar ratio and the depolarization ratio at 1064 nm for volcanic sulfate, and discuss the findings in terms of aerosol optical properties and mass concentrations by comparison with a reference observation (16 September 2021) representing the typical background conditions before the start of the eruptions. We found an unusual high particle extinction coefficient of 721 ± 51, 549 ± 38 and 178 ± 13 Mm−1, as well as an enhanced lidar ratio of 66.9 ± 10.1, 60.2 ± 9.2 and 30.8 ± 8.7 sr at 355, 532 and 1064 nm, respectively, in the sulfate-dominated planetary boundary layer (PBL). The particle linear depolarization ratio was ≤ 0.9 % at all respective wavelengths. It is the first time that lidar-derived intensive aerosol optical properties could be derived for volcanic sulfate at all three wavelengths, and thus it is a highly valuable data set for global aerosol characterization. The lidar analysis also revealed a sulfate-related AOD of about 0.35 ± 0.03 at 532 nm of the total PBL-related AOD of 0.43. The rest of the AOD contribution was caused by a lofted Saharan dust layer extending from 1.4 to 5 km and leading to a total AOD of 0.79 at 532 nm. Volcanic ash contribution to the observed aerosol plumes could be mostly excluded based on trajectory analysis and the observed optical properties. Peak mass concentration was 178.5 ± 44.6 µg m−3 in the volcanic-influenced and sulfate-dominated polluted PBL, showing the hazardous potential of such sulfate plumes to significantly worsen local air quality even at remote locations.

The MOSAiC (Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate) expedition was the largest Arctic field campaign ever conducted. MOSAiC offered the unique opportunity to monitor and characterize aerosols and clouds with high vertical resolution up to 30 km height at latitudes from 80 to 90∘ N over an entire year (October 2019 to September 2020). Without a clear knowledge of the complex aerosol layering, vertical structures, and dominant aerosol types and their impact on cloud formation, a full understanding of the meteorological processes in the Arctic, and thus advanced climate change research, is impossible. Widespread ground-based in situ observations in the Arctic are insufficient to provide these required aerosol and cloud data. In this article, a summary of our MOSAiC observations of tropospheric aerosol profiles with a state-of-the-art multiwavelength polarization Raman lidar aboard the icebreaker Polarstern is presented. Particle optical properties, i.e., light-extinction profiles and aerosol optical thickness (AOT), and estimates of cloud-relevant aerosol properties such as the number concentration of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and ice-nucleating particles (INPs) are discussed, separately for the lowest part of the troposphere (atmospheric boundary layer, ABL), within the lower free troposphere (around 2000 m height), and at the cirrus level close to the tropopause. In situ observations of the particle number concentration and INPs aboard Polarstern are included in the study. A strong decrease in the aerosol amount with height in winter and moderate vertical variations in summer were observed in terms of the particle extinction coefficient. The 532 nm light-extinction values dropped from >50 Mm−1 close to the surface to <5 Mm−1 at 4–6 km height in the winter months. Lofted, aged wildfire smoke layers caused a re-increase in the aerosol concentration towards the tropopause. In summer (June to August 2020), much lower particle extinction coefficients, frequently as low as 1–5 Mm−1, were observed in the ABL. Aerosol removal, controlled by in-cloud and below-cloud scavenging processes (widely suppressed in winter and very efficient in summer) in the lowermost 1–2 km of the atmosphere, seems to be the main reason for the strong differences between winter and summer aerosol conditions. A complete annual cycle of the AOT in the central Arctic could be measured. This is a valuable addition to the summertime observations with the sun photometers of the Arctic Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET). In line with the pronounced annual cycle in the aerosol optical properties, typical CCN number concentrations (0.2 % supersaturation level) ranged from 50–500 cm−3 in winter to 10–100 cm−3 in summer in the ABL. In the lower free troposphere (at 2000 m), however, the CCN level was roughly constant throughout the year, with values mostly from 30 to 100 cm−3. A strong contrast between winter and summer was also given in terms of ABL INPs which control ice production in low-level clouds. While soil dust (from surrounding continents) is probably the main INP type during the autumn, winter, and spring months, local sea spray aerosol (with a biogenic aerosol component) seems to dominate the ice nucleation in the ABL during the summer months (June–August). The strong winter vs. summer contrast in the INP number concentration by roughly 2–3 orders of magnitude in the lower troposphere is, however, mainly caused by the strong cloud temperature contrast. A unique event of the MOSAiC expedition was the occurrence of a long-lasting wildfire smoke layer in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. Our observations suggest that the smoke particles frequently triggered cirrus formation close to the tropopause from October 2019 to May 2020.

Abstract. From 19 September to 13 December 2021, volcanic eruptions took place at the Cumbre Vieja ridge, Las Palmas, Canary Islands. Thereby, fine ash and volatiles, like sulfur dioxide (SO2), were emitted and transported over hundreds to thousands of kilometers away from the island. Continuous lidar observations with the multiwavelength-Raman-polarization lidar PollyXT were performed at the Ocean Science Center at Mindelo, Cabo Verde, in the framework of the Joint Aeolus-Tropical Atlantic Campaign (JATAC) 2021/2022 enabling the characterization of the atmospheric state above Mindelo during the eruption period. A special feature of the system operated at Mindelo is, that measurements of the particle extinction coefficient, the particle extinction-to-backscatter ratio (lidar ratio) and the particle linear depolarization ratio are available at all three wavelengths (355, 532 and 1064 nm). The typical aerosol conditions over Mindelo are a clean marine planetary boundary layer (PBL) up to approx. 1 km and above a Saharan dust layer (SAL, up to 6 km) during northern hemispheric summer and fall. A particle extinction coefficient smaller than 200 Mm−1, a lidar ratio smaller than 30 sr and a particle linear depolarization ratio close to 0 % have been typically observed within the planetary boundary layer, while a lidar ratio between 40 and 60 sr and a linear depolarization ratio between 20 and 30 % are characteristic for the SAL above. In contrast, during the time of the volcanic eruptions, a strongly polluted PBL was observed on specific days beginning on the 23 September 2021, whereby the particle extinction coefficient and the lidar ratio increased up to 800 Mm−1 and 80 sr (at 355 nm), respectively. On 24 September, the aerosol optical depth, determined by an AERONET (Aerosol Robotic Network) sun photometer, was as high as 0.9 and 1.1 (daily averages at 500 and 340 nm). HYSPLIT (Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory) trajectories indicate air mass transport from Canary Islands to Mindelo at heights below 2 km. The observed pollution in the PBL over Mindelo is attributed to sulfate aerosol from the volcanic eruption at Las Palmas as the particle linear depolarization ratio was low (≤ 3 %) and, thus, does not indicate non-spherical particles, such as Saharan dust or volcanic ash. We thus conclude that sulfate aerosol formed from gaseous precursors during the transport (2–3 days for a distance of 1500 km) from Las Palmas towards Cabo Verde. No indications of volcanic ash over Mindelo were found in the SAL. This finding is supported by the HYSPLIT trajectories, which show that air masses in higher altitudes originate from the African continent and not from the Canary Islands.

From 19 September to 13 December 2021, a volcanic eruption took place at Las Palmas, Canary Islands. Thereby, fine ash and volatiles, like SO2, were emitted and transported over hundreds to thousand kilometers away from the island [1]. At the same time, continuous lidar observations with the multiwavelength-Raman-polarization lidar PollyXT were performed at the Ocean Science Center Mindelo (16.878°N, 24.995°W), Cabo Verde, in the frame of the JATAC-campaign 2021/2022. During autumn, typical aerosol conditions over Mindelo, as detected by the lidar, are a clean marine boundary layer up to approx. 1 km and a Saharan dust layer (up to 6 km) above. In the boundary layer, an extinction coefficient of less than 200 Mm-1 and a lidar ratio smaller than 40 sr is typically observed while a lidar ratio between 40 and 60 sr and a depolarization ratio between 20 and 30 % is typically found for the Saharan dust properties. Instead, during the time of the volcanic eruption, a strongly polluted planetary boundary layer (PBL) was observed beginning 23 of September, whereby the extinction coefficient and the lidar ratio increased up to 800 Mm-1 and 60 to 80 sr, respectively. On specific days, the aerosol optical depth, determined by an AERONET sun photometer, was as high as 1.0 (at 500 nm). Due to the small depolarization ratio around 0 % in the PBL and Hysplit trajectories indicating air masses coming from Canary Islands, the observed pollution over Mindelo can be attributed to sulfates emitted by the volcanic eruption at Las Palmas. No indications for volcanic ash over Mindelo were found, neither in the PBL nor in the lofted layer (mainly Saharan dust). This is furthermore supported by Hysplit trajectories, which show that air masses in higher altitudes come from the African continent and not from the Canary Islands. The potential of Aeolus to capture the volcanic plume on its way to Cabo Verde will also be assessed using the aerosol spin-off products (L2A) of the most recently available baseline. References[1] Carracedo, J. C., Troll, V. R., Day, J. M., Geiger, H., Aulinas, M., Soler, V., ... & Albert, H. (2022). The 2021 eruption of the Cumbre Vieja Volcanic Ridge on La Palma, Canary Islands. Geology Today, 38(3), 94-107.

Ground-based observations of horizontal winds have been performed at Leipzig (51.35 degrees N, 12.43 degrees E), Germany, and at Punta Arenas (53.15 degrees S, 70.91 degrees W), Chile, in the framework of the German initiative EVAA (Experimental Validation and Assimilation of Aeolus observations) with respect to the validation of the Mie and Rayleigh wind products of Aeolus (L2B data). In Leipzig, at the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS), radiosondes have been launched for the Aeolus overpasses on each Friday (ascending orbit) since the middle of May 2019. In Punta Arenas, scanning Doppler cloud radar observations have been performed in the framework of the DACAPO-PESO campaign (dacapo.tropos.de) for more than 3 years from the end of 2018 until the end of 2021 and could be used to validate Aeolus measurements on its ascending and descending orbits. We present two case studies and long-term statistics of the horizontal winds derived with the ground-based reference instruments compared to Aeolus horizontal line-of-sight (HLOS) winds. The wind products of Aeolus considered are the Mie cloudy and Rayleigh clear products. It was found that the deviation of the Aeolus HLOS winds from the ground reference is usually of Gaussian shape, which allowed the use of the median bias and the scaled median absolute deviation (MAD) for the determination of the systematic and random errors of Aeolus wind products, respectively. The case study from August 2020 with impressive atmospheric conditions at Punta Arenas shows that Aeolus is able to capture strong wind speeds of up to more than 100ms 1. The long-term validation was performed in Punta Arenas covering the period from December 2018 to November 2021 and in Leipzig from May 2019 until September 2022. This analysis showed that the systematic error of the Aeolus wind products could be significantly lowered during the mission lifetime with the changes introduced into the processing chain (different versions are called baselines). While in the early mission phase, systematic errors of more than 2ms 1 (absolute values) were observed for both wind types (Mie and Rayleigh), these biases could be reduced with the algorithm improvements, such as the introduction of the correction for temperature fluctuations at the main telescope of Aeolus (M1 temperature correction) with Baseline 09. Hence, since Baseline 10, a significant improvement in the Aeolus data was found, leading to a low systematic error (close to 0ms 1) and similar values for the midlatitudinal sites in both hemispheres. The random errors for both wind products were first decreasing with an increasing baseline but later increasing again due to performance losses of the Aeolus lidar instrument. Nevertheless, no significant increase in the systematic error in the Aeolus wind products was found. Thus, one can conclude that the uncertainty introduced by the reduced atmospheric return signal received by Aeolus mostly affects the random error. Even when considering all the challenges during the mission, we can confirm the general validity of Aeolus observations during its lifetime. Therefore, this space explorer mission could demonstrate that it is possible to perform active wind observations from space with the applied technique.

In the framework of the Joint Aeolus Tropical Atlantic Campaign (JATAC), a temporary ground-based ACTRIS aerosol remote sensing station has been setup by TROPOS at the Ocean Science Center Mindelo (OSCM) in June 2021. The instrumental capabilities for aerosol profiling at the OSCM comprise a multiwavelength-Raman-polarization lidar Polly XT and an AERONET sun photometer. Furthermore, a scanning HALO photonics Doppler lidar is utilized to study the dynamics near the observational site. Continuous 24/7 observations have been performed since June 2021, thus covering the four intensive observational periods of JATAC (July 2021, September 2021, June 2022, September 2022).In this presentation, we want to discuss the capabilities of Aeolus to observe the aerosol conditions including the Saharan dust layer (SAL) above the Cabo Verdean islands. The time series of the ground-based PollyXT lidar from June 2021 until today has shown, that dust is omnipresent above the local boundary layer in the summer months. The maximum dust layer top height has been observed in July with 7 km. The SAL top height has then decreased to 3 km in November. Some rainy periods were observed in September/October, especially in the year 2022 for the fourth intensive JATAC campaign.We will utilize the direct Aeolus overpasses over Mindelo each Friday during these four periods (and for other seasons) to make a long(er)-term assessment of the Aeolus aerosol capabilities (L2A) involving also products from the most recent algorithm versions (Baselines). Due to the capabilities of the ground-based PollyXT lidar, we can directly compare the 2 main products of Aeolus: The extinction coefficient and the co-polar backscatter coefficient. Doing so, we can also quantify the influence of the missing polarization component in the Aeolus aerosol products which is important for the planning of the potential Aeolus follow-on mission, for which the polarization capabilities are still under discussion.Finally, the lessons learnt from the current Aeolus Cal/Val on Cabo Verde can be also used for the upcoming EarthCARE mission as TROPOS has started to setup a permanent ACTRIS aerosol and cloud remote sensing supersite at Mindelo.

There is a gap between the need for city-wide air-quality simulations considering the intra-urban variability and mircoscale dispersion features and the computational capacities that conventional urban microscale models require. This gap can be bridged by targeting model applications on the gray zone situated between the mesoscale and large-eddy scale. The urban dispersion model CAIRDIO is a new contribution to the class of computational-fluid dynamics models operating in this scale range. It uses a diffuse-obstacle boundary method to represent buildings as physical obstacles at gray-zone resolutions in the order of tens of meters. The main objective of this approach is to find an acceptable compromise between computationally inexpensive grid sizes for spatially comprehensive applications and the required accuracy in the description of building and boundary-layer effects. In this paper, CAIRDIO is applied on the simulation of black carbon and particulate matter dispersion for an entire mid-size city using a uniform horizontal grid spacing of 40 m. For model evaluation, measurements from five operational air monitoring stations representative for the urban background and high-traffic roads are used. The comparison also includes the mesoscale host simulation, which provides the boundary conditions. The measurements show a dominant influence of the mixing layer evolution at background sites, and therefore both the mesoscale and large-eddy simulation (LES) results are in good agreement with the observed air pollution levels. In contrast, at the high-traffic sites the proximity to emissions and the interactions with the building environment lead to a significantly amplified diurnal variability in pollutant concentrations. These urban road conditions can only be reasonably well represented by CAIRDIO while the meosocale simulation indiscriminately reproduces a typical urban-background profile, resulting in a large positive model bias. Remaining model discrepancies are further addressed by a grid-spacing sensitivity study using offline-nested refined domains. The results show that modeled peak concentrations within street canyons can be further improved by decreasing the horizontal grid spacing down to 10 m, but not beyond. Obviously, the default grid spacing of 40 m is too coarse to represent the specific environment within narrow street canyons. The accuracy gains from the grid refinements are still only modest compared to the remaining model error, which to a large extent can be attributed to uncertainties in the emissions. Finally, the study shows that the proposed gray-scale modeling is a promising downscaling approach for urban air-quality applications. The results, however, also show that aspects other than the actual resolution of flow patterns and numerical effects can determine the simulations at the urban microscale.

An advanced multiwavelength polarization Raman lidar was operated aboard the icebreaker Polarstern during the MOSAiC (Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate) expedition to continuously monitor aerosol and cloud layers in the central Arctic up to 30 km height. The expedition lasted from September 2019 to October 2020 and measurements were mostly taken between 85 and 88.5∘ N. The lidar was integrated into a complex remote-sensing infrastructure aboard the Polarstern. In this article, novel lidar techniques, innovative concepts to study aerosol–cloud interaction in the Arctic, and unique MOSAiC findings will be presented. The highlight of the lidar measurements was the detection of a 10 km deep wildfire smoke layer over the North Pole region between 7–8 km and 17–18 km height with an aerosol optical thickness (AOT) at 532 nm of around 0.1 (in October–November 2019) and 0.05 from December to March. The dual-wavelength Raman lidar technique allowed us to unambiguously identify smoke as the dominating aerosol type in the aerosol layer in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS). An additional contribution to the 532 nm AOT by volcanic sulfate aerosol (Raikoke eruption) was estimated to always be lower than 15 %. The optical and microphysical properties of the UTLS smoke layer are presented in an accompanying paper (Ohneiser et al., 2021). This smoke event offered the unique opportunity to study the influence of organic aerosol particles (serving as ice-nucleating particles, INPs) on cirrus formation in the upper troposphere. An example of a closure study is presented to explain our concept of investigating aerosol–cloud interaction in this field. The smoke particles were obviously able to control the evolution of the cirrus system and caused low ice crystal number concentration. After the discussion of two typical Arctic haze events, we present a case study of the evolution of a long-lasting mixed-phase cloud layer embedded in Arctic haze in the free troposphere. The recently introduced dual-field-of-view polarization lidar technique was applied, for the first time, to mixed-phase cloud observations in order to determine the microphysical properties of the water droplets. The mixed-phase cloud closure experiment (based on combined lidar and radar observations) indicated that the observed aerosol levels controlled the number concentrations of nucleated droplets and ice crystals.

Abstract. During the one-year MOSAiC (Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate) expedition the German icebreaker Polarstern drifted through the Arctic Ocean ice from October 2019 to May 2020, mainly at latitudes between 85° N and 88.5° N. A multiwavelength polarization Raman lidar was operated aboard the research vessel and continuously monitored aerosol and cloud layers up to 30 km height. The highlight of the lidar measurements was the detection of a persistent, 10 km deep wildfire smoke layer in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) from about 7–8 km to 17–18 km height. The smoke layer was present throughout the winter half year until the polar vortex, the strongest of the last 40 years, collapsed in late April 2020. The smoke originated from major fire events, especially from extraordinarily intense and long-lasting Siberian fires in July and August 2019. In this article, we summarize the main findings of our seven-month smoke observations and characterize the aerosol properties and decay of the stratospheric perturbation in terms of geometrical, optical, and microphysical properties. The UTLS aerosol optical thickness (AOT) at 532 nm ranged from 0.05–0.12 in October–November 2019 and was of the order of 0.03–0.06 during the central winter months (December–February). As an unambiguous sign of the dominance of smoke, the particle extinction-to-backscatter ratio (lidar ratio) at 355 nm was found to be much lower than the respective 532 nm lidar ratio. Mean values were 55 sr (355 nm) and 85 sr (532 nm). We further present a review of previous height resolved Arctic aerosol observations (remote sensing) in our study. For the first time, a coherent and representative view on the aerosol layering features in the Central Arctic from the surface up to 27 km height during the winter half year is presented. Finally, a potential impact of the wildfire smoke aerosol on the record-breaking ozone depletion over the Arctic in the spring of 2020 is discussed based on smoke, ozone, and polar stratospheric cloud observations.

During the 1-year MOSAiC (Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate) expedition, the German icebreaker Polarstern drifted through Arctic Ocean ice from October 2019 to May 2020, mainly at latitudes between 85 and 88.5∘ N. A multiwavelength polarization Raman lidar was operated on board the research vessel and continuously monitored aerosol and cloud layers up to a height of 30 km. During our mission, we expected to observe a thin residual volcanic aerosol layer in the stratosphere, originating from the Raikoke volcanic eruption in June 2019, with an aerosol optical thickness (AOT) of 0.005–0.01 at 500 nm over the North Pole area during the winter season. However, the highlight of our measurements was the detection of a persistent, 10 km deep aerosol layer in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS), from about 7–8 to 17–18 km height, with clear and unambiguous wildfire smoke signatures up to 12 km and an order of magnitude higher AOT of around 0.1 in the autumn of 2019. Case studies are presented to explain the specific optical fingerprints of aged wildfire smoke in detail. The pronounced aerosol layer was present throughout the winter half-year until the strong polar vortex began to collapse in late April 2020. We hypothesize that the detected smoke originated from extraordinarily intense and long-lasting wildfires in central and eastern Siberia in July and August 2019 and may have reached the tropopause layer by the self-lifting process. In this article, we summarize the main findings of our 7-month smoke observations and characterize the aerosol in terms of geometrical, optical, and microphysical properties. The UTLS AOT at 532 nm ranged from 0.05–0.12 in October–November 2019 and 0.03–0.06 during the main winter season. The Raikoke aerosol fraction was estimated to always be lower than 15 %. We assume that the volcanic aerosol was above the smoke layer (above 13 km height). As an unambiguous sign of the dominance of smoke in the main aerosol layer from 7–13 km height, the particle extinction-to-backscatter ratio (lidar ratio) at 355 nm was found to be much lower than at 532 nm, with mean values of 55 and 85 sr, respectively. The 355–532 nm Ångström exponent of around 0.65 also clearly indicated the presence of smoke aerosol. For the first time, we show a distinct view of the aerosol layering features in the High Arctic from the surface up to 30 km height during the winter half-year. Finally, we provide a vertically resolved view on the late winter and early spring conditions regarding ozone depletion, smoke occurrence, and polar stratospheric cloud formation. The latter will largely stimulate research on a potential impact of the unexpected stratospheric aerosol perturbation on the record-breaking ozone depletion in the Arctic in spring 2020.

Der ESA-Satellit Aeolus wurde im August 2018 mit dem Ziel gestartet, durch globale Messungen von Windprofilen die Wettervorhersage zu verbessern. Dazu hat Aeolus das High-Spectral-Resolution (HSR) Doppler-Lidar ALADIN (Atmospheric Laser Doppler Instrument) an Bord, welches es ermöglicht, vertikale Profile einer Windkomponente (West-Ost) aktiv zu messen. Diese Messungen werden inzwischen von mehreren Wetterdiensten assimiliert und es konnte ein positiver Einfluss auf die Vorhersagen gezeigt werden. Zusätzlich zu den Windprofilen können mit diesem Lidar auch Aerosol- und Wolkenprofile als Nebenprodukte gemessen werden. Es ist das erste Mal, dass so eine komplexe Technik vom Weltall aus zum Einsatz kommt und bedarf daher einer ausgiebigen Validierung. Ein wichtiger Beitrag zur Validierung der Wind- und Aerosolprodukte von Aeolus wurde dabei in dem Kooperationsprojekt EVAA (Experimentelle Validierung und Assimilation von Aeolus-Beobachtungen) zwischen der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, dem deutschen Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), dem Deutschen Wetterdienst (DWD) sowie dem Leibniz-Institut für Troposphärenforschung (TROPOS) geleistet. Anhand von bodengebundenen Wind- und Aerosol-Referenzmessungen als auch durch Radiosonden, konnten wichtige Erkenntnisse über den zeitlichen Verlauf sowie die Charakteristik des systematischen und zufälligen Fehlers der Aeolus-Beobachtungen gewonnen werden. Durch die Assimilation der Aeolus-Messungen im Wettermodell ICON des DWD, konnte ihr Einfluss auf die Wettervorhersage quantifiziert werden. In diesem Beitrag wollen wir die Ergebnisse von unseren Langzeit-Vergleichsmessungen mit Radiosonden in Leipzig, Punta Arenas (Chile) und Radar-Windprofilern über Deutschland präsentieren und das Potential und die Grenzen von Aeolus diskutieren. Um die Verbesserung der Wettervorhersage durch die neuartigen Windbeobachtungen zu quantifizieren, wird ihr Einfluss im Wettermodell ICON demonstriert. Zusätzlich werden wir einen Einblick in die Möglichkeiten der Aerosolprofilmessungen von Aeolus gegeben. Dazu wird als Beispiel der Transport von Rauchaerosol von den Bränden in Kalifornien im Jahre 2020 bis nach Mitteleuropa diskutiert. Damals waren große Mengen Rauch über Leipzig gemessen wurden, die für eine sichtliche Abschwächung des Sonnenlichts sorgten. Diese Rauchschwaden konnten sowohl von Aeolus als auch mit einem bodengebundenen Forschungslidar, genannt PollyXT, beobachtet werden und sind daher ein hervorragendes Beispiel, um die Potentiale von Aeolus bzgl. Aerosol- und Wolkenmessungen zu diskutieren.

Abstract. An advanced multiwavelength polarization Raman lidar was operated aboard the icebreaker Polarstern during the MOSAiC (Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate) expedition, lasting from September 2019 to October 2020, to contiuously monitor aerosol and cloud layers in the Central Arctic up to 30 km height at latitudes mostly between 85° N and 88.5° N. The lidar was integrated in a complex remote sensing infrastructure aboard Polarstern. Modern aerosol lidar methods and new lidar techniques and concepts to explore aerosol-cloud interaction were applied for the first time in the Central Arctic. Aim of the introductory article is to provide an overview of the observational spectrum of the lidar products for representative measurement cases. Highlight of the lidar measurements was the detection of a 10 km deep wildfire smoke layer over the North Pole area from, on average, 7 km to 17 km height with an aerosol optical thickness (AOT) at 532 nm around 0.1 (in October–November 2019) and 0.05 from December to mid of March 2020. The wildfire smoke was trapped within the extraordinarily strong polar vortex and remained detectable until the beginning of May 2020. Arctic haze was also monitored and characterized in terms of backscatter, extinction, and extinction-to-backscatter ratio at 355 and 532 nm. High lidar ratios from 60–100 sr in lofted mixed haze and smoke plumes are indicative for the presence of strongly light-absorbing fine-mode particles. The AOT at 532 nm was of the order of 0.025 for the tropospheric haze layers. In addition, so-called cloud closure experiments were applied to Arctic mixed-phase cloud and cirrus observations. The good match between cloud condensation nucleus concentration (CCNC) and cloud droplet number concentration (CDNC) and, on the other hand, between ice-nucleating particle concentration (INPC) and ice crystal number concentration (ICNC) indicated a clear influence of aerosol particles on the evolution of the cloud systems. CDNC was mostly between 20 and 100 cm−3 in the liquid-water dominated cloud top layer. ICNC was of the order of 0.1–1 L−1. The study of the impact of wildfire smoke particles on cirrus formation revealed that heterogeneous ice formation with smoke particles (organic aerosol particles) as INPs may have prevailed. ICNC values of 10–40 L−1 were clearly below ICNC levels that would indicate homogeneous freezing.