Particle Turbulent Mass Flux Retrievals through Novel Remote Sensing Methodology

AJMAL RASHEEDA SATHEESH, Sabin Kasparoglu, Bethany Sutherland, Nicholas Meskhidze, Markus Petters, NC State University

     Abstract Number: 418
     Working Group: Aerosol Physical Chemistry and Microphysics

Abstract
Over the past decade, active sensors for aerosol retrievals, such as lidars and radars, have developed rapidly. These sensors can retrieve information on vertical velocity, aerosol extinction, and backscatter, and provide aerosol chemical composition-specific information at different heights above the surface. In this study, we report the application of a vertically pointing coherent Doppler Lidar (DL) and the University of Wisconsin High Spectral Resolution Lidar (UW-HSRL) for inferring aerosol vertical turbulent mass fluxes at different altitudes throughout the day. The data were collected at the DOE ARM SGP site in Oklahoma in 2020 and the TRACER campaign in La Porte, Texas, in 2022. The DL system retrieved vertical velocity and attenuated backscatter while the UW-HSRL derived profiles of aerosol backscatter, extinction, and depolarization ratio. Aerosol mass concentration at 12-m above ground was derived using aerosol number concentration and size distribution (in a range between 180 nm to 3 µm) data collected by Printed Optical Particle Spectrometer (POPS). Aerosol mass fluxes were calculated assuming that the relationship between aerosol backscatter and mass measured near ground holds for the entire planetary boundary layer. In addition to estimates of the turbulent aerosol mass flux, aerosol depolarization and lidar ratios reported by HSRL are used for inferring chemical proxies of aerosols. We anticipate that the methodology developed in this study can have several applications, including the estimations of the aerosol mass flux into the clouds.