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JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH,
VOL. 109,
D16S02,
15 PP., 2004
doi:10.1029/2003JD004047
Aerosol optical characterization by nephelometer and lidar: The Baltimore Supersite experiment during the Canadian forest fire smoke intrusion
Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Fire Science Laboratory, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Missoula, Montana, USA
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
High spatial and temporal resolution elastic backscatter lidar data from Baltimore are analyzed with a near-end approach to
estimate vertical profiles of the aerosol extinction coefficient. The near-end approach makes use of the (1) aerosol scattering
coefficient measured at the surface with a nephelometer (0.530 μm), (2) surface level particle size distribution, and (3)
refractive index calculated using Mie theory to estimate the aerosol extinction coefficient boundary condition for the lidar
equation. There was a broad range of atmospheric turbidity due to a strong haze event, which occurred because of smoke transport
from Canadian forest fires, and led to a wide range of observed atmospheric properties. The index of refraction for aerosols
estimated during the entire study period is 1.5–0.47 i, which is typical for soot. The measured surface level aerosol scattering coefficient ranged from σ
p
= 0.002 to σ
p
= 0.541 km−1, and the computed aerosol extinction coefficient spanned values 
p
= 0.01 to
p
= 1.05 km−1. The derived mass concentration and the mass scattering ranges were 3.96–194 μg m−3 and 0.05–3.260 m2g−1, respectively. The aerosol optical properties were dominated by light absorption by soot.
Received 4 August 2003; accepted 20 May 2004; published 21 July 2004.
Citation: (2004), Aerosol optical characterization by nephelometer and lidar: The Baltimore Supersite experiment during the Canadian forest fire smoke intrusion, J. Geophys. Res., 109, D16S02, doi:10.1029/2003JD004047.
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