Aerosol optical properties during the SAMUM-2 experiment

Abstract

A field campaign of the Saharan Mineral Dust Experiment (SAMUM-2) took place in the Cape Verde islands in January-February 2008, to investigate the properties of long-range transported dust over the Atlantic. The Meteorological Institute of the University of Munich deployed a set of active and passive remote sensing instruments: one sun photometer, for the measurement of the direct sun irradiance and sky radiances; a broad-band UV radiometer; and 2 tropospheric lidar systems. The measurements were made in close cooperation with the other participating groups. During the measurement period the aerosol scenario over Cape Verde mostly consisted of a dust layer below 2 km and a smoke layer above 2 km height. The Saharan dust arrived in the site from the NE, whereas the smoke originated in the African equatorial region is transported from the SE. The aerosol load was also very variable over this area, with AOD (500nm) ranging from 0.04 to 0.74. The optical properties of the layers are shown: extinction and particle depolarization ratio profiles at 3 wavelengths, as well as aerosol optical depth (in the range 340-1550nm), Angstrom exponent, size distribution and single scattering albedo.