Intercomparison of MAX-DOAS vertical profile retrieval algorithms: studies on field data from the CINDI-2 campaign

Abstract. Multi-AXis Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS) is a well-established ground-based measurement technique for the detection of aerosols and trace gases particularly in the boundary layer and the lower troposphere: ultraviolet- and visible radiation spectra of skylight are analysed to obtain information on different atmospheric parameters, integrated over the light path from space to the instrument. An appropriate set of spectra recorded under different viewing geometries ("Multi-Axis") allows retrieval of tropospheric aerosol and trace gas vertical distributions by applying numerical inversion methods. The second Cabauw Intercomparison of Nitrogen Dioxide measuring Instruments (CINDI-2) took place in Cabauw (The Netherlands) in September 2016 with the aim of assessing the consistency of MAX-DOAS measurements of tropospheric species (NO2, HCHO, O3, HONO, CHOCHO and O4). This was achieved through the coordinated operation of 36 spectrometers operated by 24 groups from all over the world, together with a wide range of supporting reference observations (in situ analysers, balloon sondes, lidars, Long-Path DOAS, sun photometer and others). In the presented study, the retrieved CINDI-2 MAX-DOAS trace gas (NO2, HCHO) and aerosol vertical profiles of 15 participating groups using different inversion algorithms are compared and validated against the colocated supporting observations. The profiles were found to be in good qualitative agreement: most participants obtained the same features in the retrieved vertical trace gas and aerosol distributions, however sometimes at different altitudes and of different intensity. Under clear sky conditions, the root-mean-square differences of aerosol optical thicknesses, trace gas (NO2, HCHO) vertical columns and surface concentrations among the results of individual participants vary between 0.01–0.1, (1.5–15) x 1014 molec cm-2 and (0.3–8) x 1010 molec cm-3, respectively. For the comparison against supporting observations, these values increase to 0.02–0.2, (11–55) x 1014 molec cm-2 and (0.8–9) x 1010 molec cm-3. It is likely that a large part of this increase is caused by imperfect spatio-temporal overlap of the different observations. In contrast to what is often assumed, the MAX-DOAS vertically integrated extinction profiles and the sun photometer total aerosol optical thickness were found to not necessarily being comparable quantities, unless information on the real aerosol vertical distribution is available to account for the low sensitivity of MAX-DOAS observations at higher altitudes.