Deriving Aerosol Absorption Properties from Solar Ultraviolet Radiation Spectral Measurements at Thessaloniki, Greece
The gap in knowledge regarding the radiative effects of aerosols in the UV region of the solar spectrum is large, mainly due to the lack of systematic measurements of the aerosol single scattering albedo (SSA) and absorption optical depth (AAOD). In the present study, spectral UV measurements perfor...
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doaj-1902bb9cd7d64416a440aaf1744cf9142020-11-25T02:01:12ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922019-09-011118217910.3390/rs11182179rs11182179Deriving Aerosol Absorption Properties from Solar Ultraviolet Radiation Spectral Measurements at Thessaloniki, GreeceIlias Fountoulakis0Athanasios Natsis1Nikolaos Siomos2Theano Drosoglou3Alkiviadis F. Bais4Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Laboratory of Atmospheric Physics, 54124 Thessaloniki, GreeceAristotle University of Thessaloniki, Laboratory of Atmospheric Physics, 54124 Thessaloniki, GreeceAristotle University of Thessaloniki, Laboratory of Atmospheric Physics, 54124 Thessaloniki, GreeceAristotle University of Thessaloniki, Laboratory of Atmospheric Physics, 54124 Thessaloniki, GreeceAristotle University of Thessaloniki, Laboratory of Atmospheric Physics, 54124 Thessaloniki, GreeceThe gap in knowledge regarding the radiative effects of aerosols in the UV region of the solar spectrum is large, mainly due to the lack of systematic measurements of the aerosol single scattering albedo (SSA) and absorption optical depth (AAOD). In the present study, spectral UV measurements performed in Thessaloniki, Greece by a double monochromator Brewer spectrophotometer in the period 1998−2017 are used for the calculation of the aforementioned optical properties. The main uncertainty factors have been described and there is an effort to quantify the overall uncertainties in SSA and AAOD. Analysis of the results suggests that the absorption by aerosols is much stronger in the UV relative to the visible. SSA follows a clear annual pattern ranging from ~0.7 in winter to ~0.85 in summer at wavelengths 320−360 nm, while AAOD peaks in summer and winter. The average AAOD for 2009−2011 is ~50% above the 2003−2006 average, possibly due to increased emissions of absorbing aerosols related to the economic crisis and the metro-railway construction works in the city center.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/11/18/2179solar UV radiationaerosol absorptionSSAAAODspectral measurementsaerosol optical properties |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Ilias Fountoulakis Athanasios Natsis Nikolaos Siomos Theano Drosoglou Alkiviadis F. Bais |
spellingShingle |
Ilias Fountoulakis Athanasios Natsis Nikolaos Siomos Theano Drosoglou Alkiviadis F. Bais Deriving Aerosol Absorption Properties from Solar Ultraviolet Radiation Spectral Measurements at Thessaloniki, Greece Remote Sensing solar UV radiation aerosol absorption SSA AAOD spectral measurements aerosol optical properties |
author_facet |
Ilias Fountoulakis Athanasios Natsis Nikolaos Siomos Theano Drosoglou Alkiviadis F. Bais |
author_sort |
Ilias Fountoulakis |
title |
Deriving Aerosol Absorption Properties from Solar Ultraviolet Radiation Spectral Measurements at Thessaloniki, Greece |
title_short |
Deriving Aerosol Absorption Properties from Solar Ultraviolet Radiation Spectral Measurements at Thessaloniki, Greece |
title_full |
Deriving Aerosol Absorption Properties from Solar Ultraviolet Radiation Spectral Measurements at Thessaloniki, Greece |
title_fullStr |
Deriving Aerosol Absorption Properties from Solar Ultraviolet Radiation Spectral Measurements at Thessaloniki, Greece |
title_full_unstemmed |
Deriving Aerosol Absorption Properties from Solar Ultraviolet Radiation Spectral Measurements at Thessaloniki, Greece |
title_sort |
deriving aerosol absorption properties from solar ultraviolet radiation spectral measurements at thessaloniki, greece |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Remote Sensing |
issn |
2072-4292 |
publishDate |
2019-09-01 |
description |
The gap in knowledge regarding the radiative effects of aerosols in the UV region of the solar spectrum is large, mainly due to the lack of systematic measurements of the aerosol single scattering albedo (SSA) and absorption optical depth (AAOD). In the present study, spectral UV measurements performed in Thessaloniki, Greece by a double monochromator Brewer spectrophotometer in the period 1998−2017 are used for the calculation of the aforementioned optical properties. The main uncertainty factors have been described and there is an effort to quantify the overall uncertainties in SSA and AAOD. Analysis of the results suggests that the absorption by aerosols is much stronger in the UV relative to the visible. SSA follows a clear annual pattern ranging from ~0.7 in winter to ~0.85 in summer at wavelengths 320−360 nm, while AAOD peaks in summer and winter. The average AAOD for 2009−2011 is ~50% above the 2003−2006 average, possibly due to increased emissions of absorbing aerosols related to the economic crisis and the metro-railway construction works in the city center. |
topic |
solar UV radiation aerosol absorption SSA AAOD spectral measurements aerosol optical properties |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/11/18/2179 |
work_keys_str_mv |
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