Stratospheric Aerosol Effects from Soufriere Volcano as Measured by the SAGE Satellite System.

During its April 1979 eruption series, Soufriere Volcano produced two major stratospheric plumes that the SAGE (Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment) satellite system tracked to West Africa and the North Atlantic Ocean. The total mass of these plumes, whose movement and dispersion are in agreement with those deduced from meteorological data and dispersion theory, was less than 0.5 percent of the global stratospheric aerosol burden; no significant temperature or climate perturbation is therefore expected.

Scanning lidar with a coupled radar safety system.

A small scanning three-wavelength lidar system at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, has been used since 1992 to make atmospheric measurements on stratospheric and upper tropospheric aerosols and on the evolution of aircraft exhaust plumes. Many of these measurements have been made away from the zenith, and, to reduce the hazard to air traffic produced by the laser beam, a radar safety device has been installed. The radar application is original in that the radar beam is made collinear with the laser beam by use of a dichroic mirror that transmits the laser radiation and reflects the microwaves. This mirror is inserted into the outgoing optical path prior to the radiation from both the radar and the laser passing through the independent scanning unit. Tests of the complete system show that the lidar and radar beams remain collocated as they are scanned and that the radar can be used to inhibit the laser prior to an aircraft passing through the beam.

Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment III cloud data product.

The latest in a series of solar occultation satellite instruments, Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) III, was placed into orbit in December 2001, and data were obtained until March 2006. Measurements were made of the extinction attributable to aerosols and cloud at a number of wavelengths between 290 and 1550 nm. The analysis of data obtained by its predecessor, SAGE II, has shown that an intercomparison of such data at two or more wavelengths may be used to separate the effects of cloud and aerosol. This analysis has been done on a routine basis for many years using SAGE II data at 525 and 1020 nm and applied extensively to global studies of tropospheric cloud and aerosol. Here we describe the aerosol-cloud separation algorithm developed for use with the SAGE III data, which uses the extinction at 525, 1020, and 1550 nm. This algorithm is now being used to produce vertical profiles of cloud presence as a standard SAGE III data product. These profiles have a vertical resolution of 0.5 km and cover the altitude range from 6.0 to 30.0 km, and data are presently available from March 2002 onward. An outline is given of the development of this algorithm, the nature of the SAGE III data, and the algorithm performance. To maintain continuity with SAGE II cloud data, the relative performances of the SAGE II and SAGE III algorithms are also examined. An example of the application of the algorithm to SAGE III tropospheric data is shown and discussed.

Deduction of aerosol concentrations from 1.06-microm lidar measurements.

A theoretical study has been made of the problem of deducing tropospheric aerosol mass concentrations from lidar observations at 1.06 microm. Brief results of calculations at other wavelengths are also presented. Experimentally measured aerosol distributions have been used and also simulated by a model, in which lognormal functions are fitted to individual distribution modes. The errors contained in this simple model are shown to be much less than the variations observed in backscattering cross sections. The problem of determination of the accumulation mode concentration, for a pollution aerosol, is analyzed in some detail. Calculations have also been made of the effects of humidity on backscattering cross sections and the results compared with experimental measurements.

Multiwavelength lidar observations of the decay phase of the stratospheric aerosol layer produced by the eruption of mount pinatubo in june 1991.

A small three-wavelength (355-, 532-, and 1064-nm) lidar system at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, has been used since 1992 to make measurements on stratospheric aerosols. The data have been processed to study the decay rate of the stratospheric aerosol layer formed after the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 and its modulation, the aerosol effective radius, and the column mass loading. The stratospheric aerosol decay curves show annual and biennial cycles as well as short-term changes. At 532 nm, the decay time constant was 302 days for the period from February 1992 to August 1994 and had increased to 645 days for the period from September 1994 to December 1997. By 1996 the integrated stratospheric aerosol backscatter had fallen to levels (7.7 x 10(-5) sr(-1) at 532 nm) close to those seen in 1979 and 1989-1991. This decreasing trend was still continuing in 1997, showing no evidence for any anthropogenic contribution to the stratospheric aerosol.

Discrimination of cloud and aerosol in the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment III occultation data.

The Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) III, scheduled for a first launch in mid-1998, will be making measurements of the extinction that is due to aerosols and gases at many wavelengths between 385 and 1550 nm. In the troposphere and wintertime polar stratosphere, extinction will also occur because of the presence of cloud along the optical path from the Sun to the satellite instrument. We describe a method for separating the effects of aerosol and cloud using the extinction at 525, 1020, and 1550 nm and present the results of simulation studies. These studies show that the new method will work well under background nonvolcanic aerosol conditions in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. Under conditions of severe volcanic contamination, the error rate for the separation of aerosol and cloud may rise as high as 30%.

Retrieval analysis of aerosol-size distribution with simulated extinction measurements at SAGE III wavelengths.

The retrieval of aerosol-size distribution from simulated aerosol-extinction-coefficient measurements of the new satellite instrument, the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) III, is investigated. A detailed discussion on the aerosol-size-distribution information content of the SAGE III aerosol-extinction-coefficient measurement is provided. Results of the investigation indicate that unimodal as well as bimodal log-normal size distributions can be inferred. In addition, it is shown that a shape-constraint-free size distribution can be derived from SAGE III aerosol measurements by use of the randomized minimization search technique and the optimal estimation theory.