Retrieval of aerosol size distribution from Microtops II sunphotometer in Hong Kong

Kwon Ho Lee, Man Sing Wong, Janet Elizabeth Nichol, Pak Wai Chan

Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A new method has been developed for retrieving Aerosol Size Distribution (ASD) from spectral aerosol optical thickness (AOT) measured by Microtops II sunphotometer. The rationale of this method is based on a Spectral Extinction Fitting Technique (SEFT) between measured and model-simulated aerosol extinctions. Numerical simulation of aerosol extinctions includes seven aerosol microphysical properties and the resulting total of 64,324,260 datasets were used to compare with Microtops II sunphotometer AOT measurements at five wavelengths (340, 500, 675, 870, and 1020 nm). This SEFT method works directly on AOT measurements and does not require any specific inputs of aerosol properties. The accuracy was examined using AERONET inversion products, and the results show a difference between SEFT and AERONET inversion products of bimodal lognormal volume size concentrations, of ± 10%. The SEFT algorithm was applied for two specific conditions (hazy and clear atmospheres) in Hong Kong, and the corresponding ASD retrievals show reasonable agreements with AERONET inversion products.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1712-1719
Number of pages8
JournalAerosol and Air Quality Research
Volume15
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2015

Keywords

  • Aerosol optical thickness
  • Aerosol size distribution
  • Microtops II
  • Spectral extinction fitting technique

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Environmental Chemistry
  • Pollution

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Retrieval of aerosol size distribution from Microtops II sunphotometer in Hong Kong'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this